Turning to Colleen and Kent again, I gesture over to the notepad. Colleen hands Bea over to Kent, who snuggles her close like a football.
“Everything is here. Obviously, you have my phone number, and I have my charger just in case. Phone number for the hotel is here,” I say, pointing to the phone number I’d scrawled at the bottom. “I have milk thawing and there’s more in the freezer. Bottles are all set up and sanitized. Don’t worry about sanitizing them when you’re done, I’ll do that when I get back tomorrow. There are enough to not have to use any more than once. Diapers, wipes, diaper cream, pjs are all ready to go, too.”
Kent hands Bea over to me and I clutch her close. This is the first time I’ve ever been away from her and I’m starting to panic. I breathe in her baby scent. They’ll be fine for one night. I get to go and be a normal woman for one single night. Nothing catastrophic is going to happen.
“If we have any issues, I will call you,” Colleen says gently, sensing my rising panic. “But we’ll be fine.”
“I know,” I whisper, my eyes meeting hers over Bea’s dark head that I have pressed close to my own. I press another kiss to the top of her head, then her chubby little cheek, before handing her over. I fight away the sting of tears in my nose and blink the moisture from my eyes. I’m leaving for like, eighteen hours, not eighteen months, for goodness’ sake! I can do this!
Grabbing my bag from beside the door, I smile at them all, then blow them all kisses. “Have a good night, Mom!” Colleen calls, holding Bea’s hand and waving it, making my infant belly laugh.
“You all have so much fun tonight! I love you,” I murmur to them as a whole, and then I’m forcing myself out the front door.
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I dig it out as I walk over to my minivan. I smile shakily and lift the phone to my ear. “How’d you know I’d need you to call me?”
“Because I know how hard it is to leave them for the first time,” Vi says in response. “My first overnight shift at the hospital after Hols was born, I was an absolute train wreck.”
I laugh, sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. I blow out my breath and lean my head back against the headrest. I stare out the windshield at my little duplex, imagining all of them inside. They’re going to have the best night, I know it. So why is it so hard to do something forme? Admittedly, I know why. “This is my first time away from Bea… and my first time away from any of them since Logan died.”
“I get it. They’ll be perfectly fine. We’re going to eat trash food, drink wine, and watch the swooniest rom-coms we can find.”
“You’re right, this is going to be great,” I murmur, glancing in the rearview mirror as I back out of the driveway. “I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes, and Scottie should be there soon, too.”
“Awesome,” Vi sing-songs. “See you soon!”
Half an hour later, Vi and I are sitting cross legged on one of the two queen sized beds in the hotel room, a bag of Doritos propped up between us and sipping on White Claws when there’s a knock on the door. Vi jumps up and heads to the door, swinging it open. She’s big into yoga and pilates, and she’s all curvy and toned and ridiculously beautiful in a matching lounge set in a jade green waffle weave fabric. The woman is stunning.
“Hey, you found us!” she says with a smile, opening the door wider to let Scottie inside. She’s got an army style canvas bag slung over one shoulder and a grocery bag in the other hand. Scottie follows Vi further into the room, setting her bagdown by the other bed, and then places the grocery bag on the foot of the bed that I’m still sitting on. Her strawberry blonde hair is piled up on top of her head in an artfully messy topknot, and freckles dot across her nose and cheeks. She’s wearing a tightly fitted pair of athletic leggings in a dark navy color and a plain white tank top that shows off her athletic figure. I don’t fully remember the first time I met her—the very brief meeting we had outside of Shifty’s when Cal and I had been drunk—but I do remember the second time, after they’d been rescued from Quell’s Peak. It was obvious how absolutely enamored my brother was with her, even then. I’m still thankful she came into his life, as unorthodox as their beginning was. I stand from the bed, adjusting my shirt over my middle as I do.
“Thank you for dragging me out tonight, I needed this,” she says with a smile and steps over to me. She hugs me tight, just for a few seconds, and I’m reminded of just how grateful I am to have these two women inmylife.
“I can’t have a mandated girl’s night out without my bonus sister and bestie. Especially since your guys are still gone. Do they have any idea of when they’ll be back?”
I ask the question as nonchalantly as I can as Scottie and I pull apart, though I think they both can tell I’m fishing for information on Xander. Vi grins over at Scottie then at me.
“Last Rowan said, probably a few more days at least,” she says, grinning widely. “Are you missing your hot neighbor?”
I groan, flopping back down onto my butt on the bed we’d just been sitting on. “Violette.”
But she laughs and waves her hand at Scottie as they both climb onto the bed, too. “Oh come on, I want to hear all the gossip about you and Xander.”
“Whoa, but there’s no me and Xander—” I rush to say, sitting up straighter, my eyes ping-ponging between the two women. “Like, we’re literally just neighbors.”
“Mmhmm,” Vi murmurs, though the inflection in her tone says she doesn’t believe that for a millisecond. I groan again.
“Your brother is handling this way better than I expected,” Scottie laughs, grinning.
“Ohmygod, there’s nothing for him tohandle!” I exclaim, my cheeks heating. “There’s nothing going on between Xander and me.Nothing.”
The lie makes my throat tight. They don’t need to know about how he’d seen me half naked. Or what he’d said to me standing on my porch. How his eyes had taken on that dark, dangerous glint to them as he’d stared at me. They definitely don’t need to know that I had given myself a self-induced orgasm once I’d gotten back into bed replaying those heated words. It had taken every ounce of self control I had not to make any noise as I’d done it, too. I take a large gulp of my drink.
“He’s my neighbor and my brother’s best friend. And his boss. I do not have a thing for my hot neighbor,” I insist again. Even though it’s a bold faced lie.
She side eyes me with a glare. “I’ll say the same thing I said to him; there’s no lying here.” Well, shit.
“But you do admit that he’s hot.” I glare at Scottie over the rim of my seltzer. She winks then. “Well, for the record, I think he’s got a thing for his hot neighbor, too.”
The jealousy that flashes through me is so unexpected I jolt. I can’t help it, I run through all of our nearby neighbors, trying to figure out who she’s talking about, but I’m left coming up blank. Well, guess that puts an end to this stupid crush I’ve been fighting for months.
