“Not yet,” Mum replies, and I roll my eyes. “We’ll see you tomorrow and have you over for dinner in the next couple of weeks. Send me any specifications you have for what I need to do to make it work for you.”
“Thank you. I want to hug you, but I’m not there yet. I will be.”
Her smile makes my heart open a little more.
As I wave them goodbye, I say, “Connor and Senna, can we chat before you go?”
Senna nods for both of them.
“Rosie, I’ll be up in a bit. I meant to say, I’m happy to take the sofa. Sorry I couldn’t get an extra room for you.”
“I can’t believe the great Niki Coulter couldn’t get two rooms instead of one,” she says with a wink. “You’re trying to seduce me.”
“You know there’s something big in town called the Grand Prix?” I nudge her. “Make the most of the room. Grab something from the mini bar. You don’t need to look after me now. Have a bath or whatever.”
She sighs and tips her head. “I haven’t had a bath in years.”
An idea pops into my head, and I drag my hand across the nape of my neck. “Wait at the bar for ten minutes. I’ll be back in a second.”
“When you’re up to something, you pull on the back of your neck.”
I roll my eyes and smirk. “Just wait here.”
Rosie stands in the lift. Her brows furrow, and I wink as the doors close.
Connor and Senna hold hands, giggling at the bar. Their happiness gives them the glow I yearn for. I’ll get there. I’ll be worthy of the woman I’m falling for.
I rub my hair, trying not to hide my scars. I glance left and right, but no one stares at me.
“Where did you get your haircut?” Connor asks as I join them.
“Rosie did it yesterday,” I say before ordering a gin. The staff knows me, thanks to Rosie’s preparation, and they make it to my cleanlinessspecifications.
As I turn, I catch my sister’s knowing glance. “What?”
“She really likes you,” Connor says.
I sigh loudly.
“He’s right. I don’t want to sound like the team gossip, but she does. She cares about you and shines brighter when you’re around. I saw her at the team coffee shop. The second you walked in, it was like a Christmas village when all the lights are turned on at once. Happiness twinkles from her when you’re close,” Senna says.
“That was a lot more poetic than what I said,” Connor grunts folding his arms.
“Stop showing off those forearms.”
“You love it.”
“Can you two not right now?” I say, breaking up their moment. “It doesn’t matter what you say about Christmas lights. Tabi’s the most important person for her, as she should be, and when she sees me, she sees someone who adds complications.”
“Then show her what it could be like. Go big,” Connor says.
Senna jumps in. “No, don’t listen to him. Don’t go big. Be genuine. Tell her how you feel and that you’re there for her and want to be there for Tabi as well. You two act more like boyfriend and girlfriend than boss and assistant. Show her what you can give her.”
“A guy with health anxiety who panics about a meal with his family?”
My sister holds her hands up as if she’s about to touch me but stops. “Sorry. Sometimes I want to shake you.”
I shrug. I want to shake me, too.
