AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ellie’s eyebrows wing up to her hair. “I do?”
“Mm-hmm. He usually starts the night by putting a bunch of money in the jar, too.” Cody laughs.
Ellie widens her eyes at me. She very much wants more detail on that tidbit of information.
“Later,” I mouth to her. She narrows her eyes, very obviously threatening bodily harm if I don’t tell her.
“Cody, you want an ice cream before you get ready for bed?” I ask.
“Yes, please.”
The three of us sit at the island and catch up on our lives. It really has been entirely too long since I’ve spent time with Ellie. I’ve been so busy these past few weeks, and my weekends have been spent with Nolan and Cody. I feel pretty guilty about that, actually. Ellie asks Cody what he’s been up to recently, and he drops the bomb about Bryce.
I grimace. I’m really gonna hear it now. Shit. Having Nolan around to vent to, I sort of forgot to tell Ellie about our visit a couple of weeks ago.
“Wow, you guys have been busy.” Ellie’s eyes are shooting daggers at me so sharp I’d be bleeding out on the floor if they were real.
“Yeah, that’s why we haven’t been able to hang out in a while.” Cody finishes off his ice cream and jumps down from his stool. “I’m going to brush my teeth. Come on, Cash.”
Our sweet pup follows him like the good boy he is, and I’m left with my best friend who is spitting mad at me right now.
“I’m sorry, Ells. I swear I was going to tell you everything tonight.”
“But you didn’t think I’d want to know when it was actually happening? Have you seen Bryce again since the first time? No, hold that thought. I need to finish yelling at you first, and then you can talk.” She swallows, but then her shoulders droop. “Why wouldn’t you tell me? About any of it? Nolan or Bryce or anything.”
The hurt is shining from her eyes, and I can’t take it. I stand from my stool and move in to hug her. “There are a lot of reasons for not talking to you about Nolan, and I swear I’ll tell you all of them. The Bryce thing… well, that’s a little more complicated. I’m so used to dealing with that shit on my own that I just wasn’t thinking straight. Nolan was here when he called, and he was so steady and comforting that I just went into planning mode instead of freaking out.”
Ellie sighs. “I guess I can get behind Nolan being the one to comfort you instead of me, even if I’m super fucking jealous, and I plan on making him pay for it later.”
I laugh. “Come get me drunk, and I swear I’ll spill every detail from beginning to end.”
“Deal.”
We collect our snacks, setting them up in the living room for best vegging success. I check on Cody to make sure he’s showered and ready for bed. He’s got his book propped up on his belly, his knees bent and his feet tucked up by his butt.
“Just wanted to say good night.” I sit down by his hip.
“Could you turn my music on? You and Aunt Ellie can get kind of noisy when you have girls’ nights.”
I smirk at him. “Of course. Try not to stay up too late reading, okay? I know it’s Friday, but you’ve got a birthday party tomorrow afternoon that you won’t want to be too tired to attend.”
“I won’t. Promise.”
I kiss him on the forehead. “I love you, baby. Have sweet dreams.”
“’Night, Mom.”
I walk back out to the living room and flop down onto the couch. Ellie hands me a pre-opened drink with a smile. Hopefully, that means she’s not too mad at me anymore. She’s going to get her revenge with a million questions, but I don’t mind that too much.
“Okay, take a sip and start from the beginning.”
I take a big gulp and decide where the beginning is. “I guess New Year’s is when things first started. We both drank entirely too much, and we kissed when the ball dropped.”
“How was it?”
“One of the best kisses of my life.”
Ellie squeals. “Okay, continue.”
