Jenny slides a beer my way across the coffee table. "Here. You look like you need it more than I do."
I crack it open, take a long pull. The cold hits good. "Thanks."
Bella shifts Jax to her hip, eyes on me. "So. You and Lucky. Still disgustingly in love?"
I feel my cheeks heat but I don't bother hiding the smile. "Disgustingly. He just told me he loves me in front of the whole damn room like it's nothing."
Brooke grins. "That's our Lucky. Went from 'I don't do feelings' to 'mine forever' in record time."
Bri laughs. "Told you. Once they lock in, they lock in hard."
I glance toward the hallway. The door's still shut. Voices murmur behind it, low and tense. My stomach twists again.
Chloe notices. "Hey. He's got this. They've all got this. We've been through lockdowns before. Always comes out the other side."
I nod, force a breath. "Yeah. I know."
Sophie kicks her feet off the coffee table, leans forward with her elbows on her knees, eyes sparkling like she's about to get the juiciest gossip. "Okay, enough lockdown talk. Distract yourself, girl. Tell us what's been going on with you two? Spill. All of it."
I take another pull from the beer, set the bottle down on the table with a soft clink. The kids are zooming cars around the carpet, making vroom noises, but the women are all laser-focused on me now.
I shrug one shoulder. "Nothing really. We kind of got into a fight last night."
Bella's eyebrows shoot up. "Wait, what? You two seemed glued together when you walked in."
"Yeah, well." I lean back into the couch, Jax still tugging on my shirt sleeve. "My ex showed up at my job out of nowhere. Total surprise. He was being his usual charming asshole self, trying to 'talk.' Started with the fake concern, then the guilt trips, then that low voice he uses when he's about to flip. I know the signs. My chest got tight, breathing went shallow, vision tunneled. Full panic attack right there behind the counter. I barely got out a text to Lucky before I had to leave work and go home."
Brooke winces hard. "Shit. The ex who used to..."
"Yeah. That one." I rub my thumb over the condensation on the bottle. "I texted Lucky that I needed him, then nothing. Hours of silence. I got home, locked the door, curled up in my closetwith my panic attack and two cats. I thought maybe he was done dealing with my baggage, maybe he saw the text and decided I was too much drama. All the worst shit spiraling in my head."
Chloe's toddler toddles over and plops a toy truck in my lap. I hand it back with a small smile. "Then around eight the door bangs open. Lucky storms in, still in his cut, eyes wild like he sprinted the whole way. He bangs on my bedroom door. When I open it, he saw how wrecked I looked."
Bri nods slow. "They hate when we spiral because of something they could've fixed faster."
"Right? So we did a lot of talking and he told me they were wrapped up with all this drama,” I point my finger to the ceiling and circle it around, “When they were finished and he finally checked his phone he saw my text then dropped everything and hauled ass to me."
Sophie whistles low. "That's some ride-or-die energy."
"Yeah." I feel my cheeks heat a little. "We talked for hours. We laid it all out. Then we... made up." I smirk despite myself. "A lot."
Bella bounces Jax on her knee. "Multiple rounds?"
"Multiple rounds," I admit.
Brooke rubs her belly. "That's huge. You went from panic attack to locked-in overnight."
"Feels like it." I glance toward the hallway again. The church door's still shut. "But yeah. Things are better than ever. Scary better. Like I can actually picture the future with him now."
Jenny leans over, clinks her water bottle against my beer. "To panic attacks turning into the best makeup sex of your life."
We all crack up, trying to keep it quiet so the kids don't repeat anything. Carlie's twins look up like they sense the energy shift, then go right back to crashing cars.
I exhale, shoulders finally loosening a little. "Thanks for listening. I needed that."
"Anytime," Bella says. "We're family now. You panic, we catch you. Then we tease you about the makeup sex."
I roll my eyes but I'm grinning. "Fair."
