“Isn’t that one of the love languages?” I drain the last of my drink. “I’m out. How are you two still up? It’s your wedding. You should be exhausted.”
“Adrenaline,” Nora says.
“It’s called happiness,” West says.
“I hate you both.” I grab my dinner jacket from where I’d thrown it over a chair, and leave the happy couple behind. Ialmostmake it into the house before I hear Nora’s little shriek.
I shouldn’t look back, but a lifetime of looking after her is a hard instinct to shake. West is carrying her over his shoulder with a broad grin.
Nope, I don’t need to see that.
Fairhaven is quiet in the way a house can only be after a noisy party. I can’t even make out the sound of James and Alex playing pool in the library. Maybe they’ve given up, too.
I head to the guest room that Paige and I share. I open the door quietly and find the room mostly dark aside from a single bedside lamp.
She’s lying on her side, eyes closed.
I shut the door firmly behind me and start undressing. “I know you’re not sleeping,” I say.
Paige huffs and turns onto her back. “How do you always know?”
“I know you.”
“That’s scary, you know.” Her face is an oval circle above the cover, and her hair is wild on the pillow. She hadn’t bothered braiding it tonight.
“You find it charming.” I undo my belt buckle and tug the pants off. “Are you still annoyed?”
“A little.”
“Have you cooled off enough for me to come and hold you?” I ask and pull back the covers on my side.
She gives me a pensive look that I can tell is all bluster. But I wait, playing along.
“Yes,” she finally says.
“Good.” I head into the bathroom and brush my teeth. When I return, she’s on her side facing me, and there’s a little furrow between her brows.
I get in beside her and reach for her. She comes immediately, sliding into my hold and resting her head on my bare chest. It feels like I can finally take a deep breath again.
She always does that. Makes me feel like the world is right.
“What happened?” I press my lips to her forehead. It had been a silly question that she hadn’t known the answer to. One Alex had thrown out. She’d pretended to be a sore loser with a wide smile and had stalked off to bed.
But not all of it had been an act.
Paige sighs. Her hair tickles my skin. “It’s silly, maybe. But I didn’t like not knowing that about you.”
My lips tug. “That my nickname as a kid was Rafou?”
“Yes. There are so many little facts I don’t know yet, and I want to know all of them.”
“Most are objectively boring.”
“Still. I want to know it all.” She turns, resting her chin against her hand, and looks at me. “Even though they know more about you than I do, I still love your friends. And your family.”
I brush her hair back and let the smile take over my face completely. “You do?”
“Yes. I feel accepted, and welcomed, and…” She blinks a few times. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had this. I guess this just reminded me of how much there’s still to discover.”
