“I love you,” I said into his hair.
He tightened his arms around my neck and didn’t answer with words.
He didn’t need to.
CHAPTER 30
TAYLOR
We pulledinto Ethan and Bell’s driveway just after noon with a case of wine Sebastian had specially selected for the occasion.
Bell answered the door before I could knock, wearing an apron with an eggplant stitched on its front.
“Real subtle,” I snarked as he stepped aside to welcome us inside.
He looped one arm around Sebastian's shoulders and the other around mine, leading us toward the kitchen. "Be nice, or I'll tell Sebastian how you were sweating bullets on the plane back from Nashville," he said under his breath, then dropped his voice to mimic mine. “My best friend is coming with me to Thanksgiving. He's super into wine. He’s going to go shopping for us. What does everyone like?”
“Shut up,” I said, knocking against him and feeling my face turn red. “It wasn't like that.”
“Close enough,” he sing-songed, breaking away before I could punch him.
“Cute,” Sebastian whispered just before we reached the kitchen, where Ethan was standing at the stove, four pots going at once.
His sister Rachel, whom I’d met that first Thanksgiving Bell and I had played for the Marauders, was standing at the large center island chopping onions, while his brother Ryan chomped on a roll, watching a wall-mounted television that was showing a football game.
Rachel looked up and smiled. She had Ethan’s dark eyes, but none of his stoic reserve. “Hey, Taylor. It’s been forever.”
“Hi, Rach,” I greeted, leaning in for a quick hug.
“Hey, T,” Ryan said, lifting his hand in an absent-minded wave, never pulling his eyes from the game. “Long time no see.”
Ryan ran a youth hockey camp that I’d volunteered at a couple of times. He was a good guy, loud and affable—the direct opposite of his brother.
I turned, gesturing behind me to where Sebastian was setting the wine on the counter. “That’s Sebastian, my college roommate. He’s in town working on the Bancroft campaign.”
“Oh, interesting.” Rachel wiped her hands on a dish towel and shook Sebastian’s hand. “How’s that going?”
“Could be better; could be worse,” he answered vaguely, which made her laugh.
“Say no more.”
Ethan nodded at Sebastian in a way that, from him, constituted a warm welcome as Bell pulled the bottles out of the box one by one and lined them up on the counter. He paused on one that featured a drawing of a stately chateau and a very French name rendered in old-fashioned script. “Oh, I like this one.”
“The lady at the shop said it pairs well with turkey, so I grabbed three.”
“Nice.” Bell nodded approvingly and continued unloading the wine.
Just then, Ryan's son Will came around the corner. Like Ethan and Bell before him, he played hockey at ThackerayCollege. He'd been drafted in the first round by the San Diego Riptide, but had decided to stay in school to get his degree. He was linking up with the team in May after graduation.
“Hey, Uncle E. Do you want me to set up the folding tables now or—” He stopped mid-stride, his eyes flicking between Sebastian and me as if noticing us for the first time. It might have been my imagination, but I swore I saw him stand up a little straighter. “Hello.”
“Hey, Will,” I said in greeting, though he barely paid me any attention, stepping forward to extend his hand Sebastian's way. “I’m Will.”
“Sebastian. Nice to meet you, Will.”
“I’ve never seen you at one of these things before,” he said, his eyes making a quick, appreciative sweep over my boyfriend that he even didn’t bother to hide. “I definitely would have remembered.”
Will was also the biggest fucking flirt I'd ever met, which was saying something given who his uncle was married to.
