She clears her throat. “Wow.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Henley asks as he comes back over to us, handing me a bowl of popcorn and a spoon.
Dilynne grows confused. “Uh, why is there a spoon in that bowl of popcorn?”
“Because that’s how Elodie eats it.”
Dilynne’s eyes nearly fall out of her head. “Okay, who are you and what have you done with my brother?”
Henley’s face transforms into the annoyed look that he normally has. “Jesus, Dil. Calm down.”
She stabs a finger into the center of his chest. “No, you are acting really weird, okay?”
Laney is giggling behind her hand. “Dilynne, isn’t it obvious?” she says.
“Is what obvious?”
“He likes his nanny,” Laney announces, drawing the attention of the entire room to us now. My cheeks instantly grow hot.
“Thank you for that,” Henley mutters before turning to me. “I’m sorry in advance for what is about to happen.”
Rhonan and Elliot race over to us like teenage girls that just heard the juiciest secret ever. “Holy shit. Did I just hear what I think I heard?”
Henley groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Please just leave us alone.”
Rhonan slaps him on the back. “No can do, my friend.” Then he turns to me, brushing a hand through his thick, dirty blonde hair. “I just want to point out that I caught his crush on you before everyone else.”
“Uh, no you did not,” Dilynne counters. “I warned her first.”
Elliot grumbles. “Dear lord, Dilynne. It’s not a fucking contest.”
“No one asked you, Grumpzilla.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Laney interjects, pointing to the windows where the game is still happening. “Need I remind you that we’re here to watch Fletcher play, not interfere in Henley and Elodie’s…situation,” she finishes, unsure of how to classify what we are. And that makes two of us. “So, kindly return to the window and watch the game because if Fletcher asks you about a play and you don’t know what he’s talking about, you know how irritated he’s going to get.”
Rhonan and Elliot begrudgingly leave the group. Dilynne looks at Laney. “Me too?”
“Yes. I just want to speak to Elodie and Henley alone for a minute, and then we’ll be right there.”
She rolls her eyes. “You act like I shouldn’t be privy to this conversation.”
“The way you just reacted proved that you shouldn’t.”
Stomping off in annoyance, Dilynne finds a seat right at the glass, propping her feet up while sipping on her drink.
By the time Laney turns back to Henley and me, my pulse is firing so fast, I can feel my entire body shaking. “Sorry about outing you, but it was sort of obvious. You two all right?”
Henley pulls me into his chest, kissing the top of my head, calming me almost instantly. “I knew this was going to happen.”
“Welcome to the club,” Laney mutters. “I love our group, I do. But when something shifts, you’d think the damn world was ending. Just know that if there’s anyone who understands the scrutiny you feel, it’s me and Fletcher.”
Henley nods. “Thank you for that, Laney.” He peers down at me before asking, “Are you okay? I told you this game would be a lot to handle.”
“I’m fine. Just trying to balance everything.”
He tips my chin up and kisses my lips. “There’s nothing for you to balance. I don’t give a shit what any of them think, okay? I’m just trying to focus on you, so if you can do the same for me, we’ll be fine.”
The sincerity in his voice is such a difference from the irritation I picked up when I first met him over two months ago. “Okay.”
