Letting out a sigh, he takes another, longer sip. He puts the bottle on the table and turns to face me. I stare into his beautiful, bright eyes, unsure of what he’s about to say to me.
“Thank you,” he says again, getting up and opening his arms, offering a hug. I stand and hug him willingly. He doesn’t let go for a long time.
“I’ll clean up in here. You can go watch a movie,” Gus says.
“No, I’ll clean,” Wade says, grabbing the bottle off the table and taking it with him to the sink. “But I’m eating Oreos when I’m done.”
I laugh. “I’ll make sure they don’t eat them all.”
Gus stays to help Wade clean up, while Rhett and I dig through the movies and settle on Annie—one of my childhood favorites. We get it all set up and on the menu while we wait for the guys in the kitchen to finish up.
Wade comes in with the package of Oreos and a tall glass of milk. He sits on the end and puts the glass down, the package on his lap. Gus stands in front of me, gesturing at the space between me and Rhett, so I push over. He sits, forcing me to scoot even closer to Wade. The couch isn’t big enough to fit three people comfortably, but four… we’re squished. But it doesn’t feel bad. Like everything else with these men, it just feels right. Comfortable. Fun.
“You want one?” Wade asks as he dunks the Oreo in the milk.
“Sure.”
He lifts the cookie from the milk, using his other hand to catch the drips and brings it to my mouth.
“Open,” he says, laughing at the mess. “Hurry, it’s dripping.”
I laugh as I open my mouth and take the bite, my mouth full of milky-cookie.
Rhett starts the movie, and we sit together on the couch with Wade feeding me cookies and Gus reaching across me to steal some from the package. He feeds one to Rhett, and it’s adorable.
This is all so normal. So right.
For once, I think this is where I belong.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Daisy
Themorningsunpeeksthrough the curtain, shining across my eyes. I groan, turning on my side and realizing the hardness beneath me. Memories of last night flood back.
The double-movie night. Pushing the couch back to make more room on the floor so we could lay out blankets and pillows and sleep together. All of us.
Gus is sleeping in front of me, breathing softly. Beyond him is Rhett. I see his hair is a mess even from here.
And behind me… is Wade. But I can’t feel him, meaning… I don’t know if he is still human. I don’t know if he made it through the night. And if he didn’t, I don’t know what that means for them.
I don’t know what changed in him to make him come into the house yesterday, eat dinner with us, watch a movie and stay. He’s been hot and cold for a while, so it’s not entirely surprising, but this time felt different than the others. Maybe it was just a change of heart, but for the first time, it felt like he was trying, like he wanted something.
And we know that’s all it takes.
But was it real? Or did he somehow find out? Rhett had been bugging us to tell him. Did he? Was Wade putting on a facade to see if it would work? If he did, Wade may never recover mentally from this. Everything has been going so well, but this could be the thing that brings everyone down. That brings us all back to the beginning, to who we were before.
To who I was before I knew that people turning into chickens was a possibility. Before I knew that curses were real. Before I knew what it felt like to be wanted and appreciated, andhappy.
And what about them? If Wade knows, wanting to be here may never be for the right reasons… meaning he’d be stuck here forever. Would Rhett and Gus stay here with him? Would I stay longer to help them figure it out?
Time is dwindling down for me too. I only have until the end of the summer, which is a little over a month away. And the closer I get, the more I don’t want to leave either.
I take a deep breath, preparing myself to look behind me, not sure what I’ll see. Will it be a human? Will Wade be there, fast asleep like everyone else? Or will it be the beautiful dark red chicken with the hard stare?
I’m halfway there when an arm comes around my waist, and I pause out of shock. The man behind me freezes too, like he didn’t realize what he did. Like maybe he did it in his sleep, but now he’s awake.
“Sorry,” he mutters, lifting his arm.
