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If she ever decides to give in and let Nate marry her like he wants, she will officially have one of the best sets of in-laws on the planet. Though I have to say, they’re tied with another certain set of parents I know. Not mine, of course.His.
I swallow, shaking away the thought.
“Bright side is they won’t be getting into town until around five,” Mia adds with a grin.
“True!” Lolli agrees.
My brows snap together, and I decide they’re not joking. Seems I’m not the only one time got away from today. “It’s five thirty.” I break the bad news.
Lolli swings her glare to Mia, who laughs loudly, and I watch the two as I move Deaton from one arm to the other, swinging slightly as he grows more and more restless.
Fussy baby or not, I can’t help but smile as I listen to the two bicker like sisters.
Lolli lets out a little growl. “I gotta get out of this before they get back and?—”
“We’re back!”
Lolli cuts off at the sudden intruding voice, the shouted words coming from the front of the house, and like being dipped in liquid nitrogen, we freeze instantly.
My stomach drops to my feet, a cool sweat breaking out over my palms.
Oh god. No, no, no…
My eyes snap up, locking with the girls’. The panic whirling its way through me is reflected on both their faces, none of our reactions related to the reasons of the others’, but the reason for mine is secret. Not the best kept one, but a secret nonetheless.
A soft thunk snaps us out of our stupor, and at once, we start moving.
Mia hurries to unzip Lolli while Lolli reaches up, yanking clips from her long, dark hair.
I spin on my heels, doing everything I can to escape, my hand wrapping around the handle of the door, fully prepared to race through the back side of the house so no one sees me.
I’m not ready for this. I thought I could put on a brave face, but it turns out I’m not brave. I feel sick at the mere thought, and I just…cannot.
I need a little more?—
The door is shoved open from the other side, and I yelp, nearly knocking myself off balance, but then my eyes snap up to the newcomer. I swallow my tongue.
It’s as if cement is injected into my veins, every inch of me growing heavy before turning to stone. My pulse pounds, then plummets as my eyes lock on a pair of pensive brown ones so familiar, I could pick them out in a lineup of hundreds.
My fingers curl into Deaton’s blanket, and I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
Those dark eyes narrow, searching, seeing.
Softening.
My stomach flips and twists, and I can’t tell if it’s unease or elation. Or downright dread.
How can they still turn so tender when trained on me?
“What’s wrong?” His words are a low demand, and I want to scream and cry at the same time.
“Nothing.”Everything. “Everything’s fine.”
“She needs help with Deaton,” Lolli says, calling me out.
“Lolli,” I hiss, my head snapping her way briefly. I try to stay focused on her, but it’s too obvious, not to mentionhard,so I slowly move them back to the man before me.
And he is a man. I swear, every time I see him, there’s a little something about him that’s changed. Sometimes it’s subtle, a shorter haircut than the time before or a deeper tan than the one his olive skin keeps all year—a result of the endless hours he puts in on the football field or natural, I couldn’t say. Other times it’s more than that. His shoulders have grown wider in the year since I met him, his jaw sharper. His hands…
