“Hey, Ave,” Jace shouted from the phone, which was still on speaker.
Her eyes flared and she ran toward him. “Yes!”
She grabbed the phone, but before she could run away with it, he grabbed her arm. “Wait.” With his thumb, he wiped off a smear of chocolate icing. “There.”
“Thanks, Daddy!”
Warmth skitteredthrough Sadie’s chest at the scene in front of her. Cody and Eastern had just stepped back inside with the tray of barbecued meat. Avery was still talking to her uncle Jace on the phone, while Kayden, Tilly and Harper worked in the kitchen.
She’d offered to help—heck, she’d just about begged—but every time, she’d been told to relax because everything was just about done.
Even though Eastern and his brothers didn’t have their parents around anymore, that didn’t take away from their family bond. Everyone in this roomfeltlike family. They felt connected and protective of one another. You could feel the love.
This…this was what she’d known was missing the morning of her wedding. This was what she’d been craving.
Eastern came to stand beside her, slipping an arm around her waist. “You doing okay, honey?”
She leaned into him. “Yeah, I love your family.”
“They love you too.”
She looked at him, words on her tongue. Words she’d barely admitted to herself, let alone out loud. Words she wanted to say to him, but it felt too soon.
Itwastoo soon, right? To tell someone you were falling in love with them when you’d only really just started dating? But then, she couldn’t control how quickly she fell for someone either.
“Oh, sugar!”
Sadie looked up to see Harper frowning. She put her hands to her hips. “We’re out of mustard.”
“Can we use something else?” Sadie asked.
“I could, but the salad’s supposed to have a honey-mustard dressing.”
“I’ll run out,” Tilly said, already moving around the counter.
“I’ll come with you,” Sadie added.
Eastern frowned. “I can go.”
She shook her head. “No. Stay with your family. We won’t be long. Enjoy your time with your brothers and keep Avery out of the cupcakes.”
His lips twitched before he tugged her against his body. “Don’t take long, or I’m coming to find you.”
He probably would too. She kissed him before following Tilly out the door. A few minutes later, Sadie was in the passenger seat as Tilly drove Kayden’s truck.
“Don’t let me crash this thing,” she said quietly. “Kayden will kill me.”
“Oh yeah, a truck to most men is like a baby.”
She laughed. “No, he’ll kill me becauseI’minside. I don’t think he’d care much about the truck.”
Something kicked in Sadie’s belly. Another thing to love about this family—the men were tough, but when it came to the women they loved, they lovedhard.
If she was falling in love with Eastern, was it possible he was falling for her too? The idea that he wasn’t, that she was alone in this, made fear crawl up her throat.
“You and Eastern seem to be doing well,” Tilly said, cutting through Sadie’s thoughts.
“Yeah, we are. He was hesitant at first, a combination of our age difference, me being so fresh out of a relationship, and my bond with Avery. But then it was like a switch was flipped and since then, he’s been a hundred percent in.”
