“Why am I in the air?” Nolan asked in an adorably confused voice.
“You’ll be on solid ground soon enough. Don’t worry.” Wilder patted his ass.
Sliding out of my seat, I waddled after them as they made their way toward the house, giggling the entire way. I was so slow now, they had to wait for me at the door.
“What on earth happened here?” Preston asked as he and Merrick entered the room and saw Wilder carrying Nolan.
“The dentist happened,” I replied.
They both nodded, like that explained everything.
“I feel like air. Am I air?” Nolan asked as he was lowered onto the couch.
“You aresomething, all right.” Preston laughed, crossing his arms.
Grabbing a bottle of water, I sat beside Nolan on the couch and tried handing it to him. He looked at the bottle like it was going to attack him.
“Why did you wait so long for this appointment?” I asked.
The look he gave me made me believe he thought the answer was obvious. “For Preston. Duh.”
We all looked at each other. Of all the different answers I expected, that wasn’t one of them.
“Can you explain that a bit better?” I asked softly.
“Well, I knew because it hurt so much, there was a chance I was going to need more work done. I’ve had dental work before, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t really have a filter when I’m medicated.” As he spoke, his eyes went slightly crossed while he waved his hand at himself, so I wasn’t sure he was even making sense in his own mind.
“No shit, Sherlock.” Merrick snorted.
“So why didn’t you go to the dentist? Were you scared of saying something?” I prodded.
Nolan nodded. “Even though I’m really mad at you…” He pointed at Preston. “…I’mreallymad because it’s been a stressful few monthsbecauseof you. I didn’t want you to getkilledin that camp. So…”
He blinked slowly, his expression softening.
“I didn’t want to accidentally blurt anything out in front of the wrong people about who you were. You know, while I was like this. So, because I love you, you stupid idiot...I waited.”
Preston’s face was a mix of emotions. Shock, concern, and confusion. “You did that for me?”
Nolan attempted a nod, but it was more of a circle. “Yeah, of course. We’re family.”
“Come here, you dumb idiot.” Preston sighed, hauling Nolan into a hug. “Let’s go get you a popsicle, because your mouth is going to be sore when the meds wear off…”
“And I’ll make some soup for dinner,” Merrick said, already heading into the kitchen.
I settled on the couch, loads of pillows and blankets around me, preparing for a fun family night at home.
Something I could get used to.
Nolan let Preston take care of the popsicle and sank onto the couch next to me, giving me a dopey smile.
“I fucking love you, Hailey.” His words were somewhat slurred, but my heart still lurched at the words.
Oh.
It had kind of snuck up on me, but yeah.Yes, I was in love with Nolan. I was in love with myentirepack, but we hadn’t actually said the words yet.
“I love you too,” I said softly, kissing him on the side of the head as he gasped in childlike surprise.
