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“Beg him for what?” Mark asks, our heads swiveling between the two. “He obviously made his choice…”
All of us look at Mark with surprised looks, his eyes darting between all of us.
“What?” he asks, confusion lacing his tone.
“Since when do you side with the chick in any romantic situation?” I ask, my fingers sinking into the hole of Billie’s jeans, causing her breath to catch as I wink when her eyes meet mine.
“What are you talking about?” Mark says defensively, and as if rehearsed, all of us burst out laughing.
“Come on, man, out of all of us, you’re the one that has gone through every woman in this town not giving a shit about what anyone thinks of you,” Cash says through a smile.
Mark has always been the playboy of our bunch. He got lucky in the gene pool and added in the fact that Max was his twin and they looked identical, it added a sense of mystery to them. But Max was always reserved, quiet, and in love with Addison since the moment I met them. But Mark? Mark decided the term “sowing your wild oats” was his motto for life and lived by it to the fullest. I honestly don’t even know if there is a girl in this town that he hasn’t slept with.
“What’s so wrong with playing the field? I’m still young, I’ve got time to settle down. No need to rush me into it like all of you fools… no offense,” he quickly states after Kate and Hannah both growl in his direction.
Addison just laughs, that is until Luna begins to cry, her cupcake gone and the disaster left in its wake.
“I’ll take her,” Max says, her little hands reaching for him as he stands. “I’ll be right back,” he whispers before bending down and kissing Addison softly on the lips. When he walks out of the room, all eyes are on her.
“Have you guys picked a date for the wedding yet?” Kate asks, but Addison shakes her head.
“No, we’re enjoying life right now and honestly all I need is Max and Luna, a piece of paper isn’t changing that.”
Billie eyes her empty finger, my eyes catching her fingers playing with the empty space her ring used to sit.
“Then why did you say yes if you don’t want to get married?” Billie asks, all eyes swiveling our way and her back straightens. “Shit, I didn’t mean anything by that, I’m just curious. If you’re impartial to getting married, why agree in the first place?”
Valid question.
“All of these guys know this already, but when Max and I first got together, I was pregnant with Luna, but Max wasn’t the father.”
Billie keeps still, not giving away the fact that I know she’s shocked right now.
“Max vowed to protect me and my unborn baby no matter what, and that included asking me to marry him before Luna was born. I said no. I didn’t want his protective nature to cloud what was happening between us, but then after she was born, he asked again and it seemed right, you know? The ring is the symbol of his love and devotion to me and our daughter and right now that’s all I need.”
Silence rings as Billie smiles, her fingers lacing with mine under the table.
“That’s really beautiful. I’m glad you found him.”
Addison smiles, nodding. Billie looks to her left and sees the clock on the wall and stills. “Shit, is that the time?” she asks, her eyes widening.
I nod, taking my fingers and rubbing the back of her neck as she looks between all of us sitting at the table.
“I hate to do this, but I have a client I need to meet in like an hour and I need to get home and get my equipment before I head over.”
“Okay, let’s go,” I state before she shakes her head and kisses me lightly.
“No, you stay. I’ll call an Uber.”
I start to protest but her phone is already out of her pocket and before I can say a word, an Uber is on its way and she’s standing up.
“I’m really sorry to ditch you, but I spent months trying to get this client into my books and I don’t want to miss it.”
Everyone nods, telling her it’s okay and I excuse myself as I walk her to the front door.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you back to our place?” The second I say our place, I smile, loving the idea of what that means for our future.
Her eyes soften as she gets on her tiptoes and kisses my lips.
