When he didn’t move to let us in, Chloe hesitantly said, “We can always come back?” making the words sound like a question. “We should probably come back.”
At that, Briggs quickly blinked before taking in the two of us, as if just considering that we were there together.
Not that I blamed him.
He stepped back and opened the door wider. “Kaia just went down for a nap. Lainey’s on the couch and waiting to see you,” he said to Chloe, then stopped me with a pointed look as soon as I crossed the threshold. “Thatch just called and said I was needed over there. Do you need me to stay?”
“No.” The short word was filled with doubt and seemed to surprise him even more than my showing up had.
“You’re here to see my wife,” he said softly, the words somehow a statement instead of a question. When I nodded, heonce again stated, “Not to give me a decision you shouldn’t be making yet.”
My hands curled into fists at my sides because I already knew what I would choose at the end of these two weeks, just as I knew I would try talking myself out of it. “Correct.”
His head slanted in a way that let me know he was questioningwhyI would be here to see Lainey, but I knew he wouldn’t ask.
Still, I found myself explaining, “Felt like I could use girl talk, or something.”
From the way Briggs’ eyebrows shot up at the wordsgirl talk, I knew the idea sounded just as insane to him as it did to me. He also probably didn’t believe a word of it.
Thankfully, he just gave a subtle dip of his head and watched me pass.
With each step closer to the living room, where I could hear Chloe’s excited voice and Lainey’s responses—that were much more subdued than usual—my stomach twisted and dipped until I wondered if I was going to be sick too.
But that was ridiculous.
I didn’t get sick, and I didn’t have a reason to be now.
It was just girl talk. It was just...me, trying to figure out what exactly I was doing here.
I sank into the large chair, leaving me far from where Chloe was sitting on the opposite end of the couch from Lainey. Her wild blonde curls were also piled messily onto her head, and she looked pale and exhausted in a way I’d never seen her. And yet, she looked beyond happy that we were here.
She also hadn’t looked surprised when I walked in, so Chloe must’ve warned her.
Briggs dipped low to whisper something to Lainey before tipping her head back so she was smiling up at him, and I shiftedmy attention to the floor to give them some sense of privacy until he left.
“Swoon,” Chloe said, earning a laugh from Lainey.
Even though the sound ended on a confirming hum, Lainey teased, “Says the girl who sends me daily updates about her real-life novel.” Lainey made a face. “Y’all arealmosttoo nauseating to be around.”
Chloe scoffed in mock-offense, and Lainey held up her tea in a placating motion.
“I saidalmost.”
Chloe just smiled as if she wasn’t bothered by that in the least before her expression shifted into something more mischievous. “Speaking of nauseating...”
I held back a sigh and resisted the urge to bounce my legs. If this was girl talk, I wasn’t sure I wanted it...
I still wasn’t even sure why I was here.
“I knew it!” Chloe whisper-cried victoriously before I realized she was actually crying over something I had clearly missed.
They both were.
And hugging.
I looked toward the front door, the urge to leave even stronger because I wasn’t a hugger. Or a crier—well, not including these past few months, because Hudson Gray liked to destroy things, like my soul. Andwhyhad I asked to come here?
“Are you so excited? Is Asher? How far along are you?” Chloe asked in rapid fire, bringing my attention back to them in time to see Lainey brush a few tears from her cheeks, her smile nearly as bright as Chloe’s.
