Me, either.
“It’s been years.” I tried to cross one leg over the other, realized that was uncomfortable as fuck, and then fidgeted in my chair until I resigned myself to manspreading. Theo could deal. There wasn’t anyone on my other side. “Not every bad mood I have is because of her. That would be?—”
“Pathetic?”
I tried not to flinch. Tried to arrange my facial features so he wouldn’t know that he’d just cut open a chasm of pain in my chest.
“I was going to say unreasonable.” I grimaced. “But sure, yeah, let’s go with pathetic. You really do know how to pick a man up when he’s feeling down, bro.”
“Why do you care if I’m calling it pathetic? Unless…every bad mood you haveisbecause of her.”
There was a pregnant pause while I considered whether to say the scary parts aloud or not.
And then decided to lie through my teeth.
Even while knowing Theo would see right through it.
“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t care.” I shrugged and jabbed at the tiny screen on the back of the seat in front of me. “Do you think there’s any good movies on here?”
About a year ago, my brother secretly moved his friend’s sister into his apartment when he realized that she was pregnant and needed a place to stay on the down-low. He claimed it was because he needed a puppy-sitter for when he was gone at away games during the season, but he’d had a crush on Gemma Briggs for years, and from the moment I saw the two of them together, I knew there was definitely some hot and heavy shit going on behind the scenes.
And now we were here, in the backyard of Noah’s new suburban mansion, celebrating his engagement. Noah had their daughter, Delilah, strapped to his chest, and Gemma was beaming from ear to ear next to him.
“Congratulations!” I hollered across the green space, which was slowly filling with people. Theo and I maneuvered through the tables of food and drinks until we made it to the newly engaged couple. “Young love,” I sighed dramatically, my lips stretching into a wide grin as I drew them both into a simultaneous hug, baby included. “It’s so sweet, isn’t it?”
“You know we’re both older than you, right?” Noah laughed, clapping me on the back. “And why are you talking like Mom? Have you been crashing bridge nights with her friends again?”
“Maybe.” I released both of them so I could crouch to give Delilah a little boop on her nose. This was the second time meeting my niece; Theo and I had come out with my parents a few weeks after her birth.
“He goes every week,” Theo cut in before giving his own soft congratulations and a round of tight, firm hugs.
“I need to get my dose of small-town gossip,” I said, waving a dismissive hand. “But let’s focus on the important thing here.”
“The happy couple?” Theo drawled.
“Yeah, sure, okay, but what about the newdigs?” I looked around the exterior of Noah’s massive new home, which I knew had been a surprise to Gemma, a part of the proposal. They’d been living in Noah’s apartment in Boston and had been wanting something with a yard for Delilah and their dog, who wascurrently zooming around with Chloe, my other niece, courtesy of my only sister, Natalie.
Who appeared to be nowhere in sight.
Eh, Chloe was fine. She was nearly ten years old. And by nearly ten years old, I meant that she turned nine just last month and then immediately sent me a birthday countdown to her tenth birthday.
“What do you think of it, Gemma?” I gestured to the house and the yard and their little domestic lifestyle.
Adorable.
Cute.
I wasn’t jealous at all, of course.
It didn’t feel like someone was carving into my heart with a knife, gutting out all the things I wanted but couldn’t have.
Not one little bit.
“It’s…” She shook her head in disbelief. Poor girl seemed a little overwhelmed by it all, but I knew Gemma could handle the London family antics. This was what she and Noah both wanted, had planned for. I suspected it just came a little earlier than Gemma thought it might, but it had been killing Noah not to put a ring on Gemma’s finger and lock that shit down. “It’s beautiful. I’m still speechless. Thank you bothsomuch for coming, for flying all the way here.”
“We wouldn’t miss it,” Theo said smoothly, giving a rare warm smile to Gemma.
“No, we would not. A chance to celebrate thatwe—” I flicked a finger between Theo and me. “—made this happen?” I cleared my throat. “It also helped that Noah sent us plane tickets.”
