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“Yes! We came back to go carol for the neighbors, and Rhyett and Pax broke out champagne, and then everybody is gonna watch A Knight’s Tale, and cuddle the puppies and what do you mean by soon?”
“How do you do that?” Broderick muttered as I just blinked back at her. “Do you take micro inhales or something?”
“Stop changing the fucking subject and tell me what the hell is going on or I’m really going to show off my lung capacity.”
“We’re going to tell them,” I repeated, glancing over my shoulder to Broderick. “But we’re navigating the logistics and want to be prepared with well thought out answers on how we’ll make this work before we tell the guys.”
Broderick stepped in closer, settling his hand at the low of my back in silent reassurance. “I’m sure all three of us can agree going out there before we’re ready to answer all their questions is as good as stepping in front of a firing squad.”
“Can you understand why we don’t want the family to know yet?” I added pleadingly.
“Maybe. Maybe a bit.” She immediately seemed to think better of her statement. "But then you shouldn’t be boinking in the bathroom at Christmas fucking dinner.”
“Boinking?” I barked right as Broderick busted out laughing.
“I mean, dinner was over hours ago, and we thought you all were at the festival for a while yet.”
A little furrow pinched in her brows, brown eyes flicking between us, and then down to where his fingers had slid across my back to hug my hip, pulling me into his side. “How long?”
“I’m going to New York tonight?—”
“Tonight!?” she yipped. I just continued; tone dulcet as if soothing a panicked animal.
“And then Broderick and I will talk and make some decisions. We’ll present this to them together once we have a strategy.”
“No. Not how long before you two tell them. How long have you been doing this?” She pointed an accusatory finger between us before crossing her arms over her chest and rocking back on a foot.
Not sure how to summarize an eternity of pining, I opted for the simple truth. “Just since the conference last month.”
“Sweet baby cheeses! I knew something was going on!” she squeaked before her hands flew up to cover her mouth. When she threw her fists down to her sides, I got the distinct impression of a ginger Tinker Bell throwing a tantrum. This time in a stage whisper, she said, “At pie night! I knew! I knew you were there for him.”
I scratched at the back of my head, brows winging up as I slowly smiled over my shoulder at him. But Noel’s mouth had popped open, and she danced in place.
“You weren’t writing at the coffee shop at six in the goddamn morning, were you?” I shook my head, grimacing at her volume as she barked, “This whole time?!”
“Shhh,” Broderick and I both hissed together, stepping toward her, although what either of us would do to shut her up was beyond me.
“No, no. No shushing me. You don’t get to shush me when you’ve been lying to your brothers—your best friends,” she added, leveling Broderick with a glare.
“I know. I know, and I’m sorry. We want to tell them ourselves; we just want them to know we’ve put a lot of thought into this whole thing. That neither of us is taking this lightly.”
She blinked before saying, “Why on earth would either of them think that? You two are obviously made for each other.”
“Jameson certainly won’t see it that way,” Broderick spoke up, his anxiety dripping from the words.
“He might surprise you, you don’t know,” she argued. “But either way, don’t you think he has a right to react however he’s going to react?”
“Yes,” we answered together.
“Just let me solve the where I’m living part, so Broderick can weigh his options.” I reached out, grabbing both her shoulders, and holding my ground when she turned her face toward the door, as if she could peer through it back to her fiancé, clearly uneasy with the whole concept. “It was important to me that Broderick didn’t lose his friendship with the guys if things didn’t work out between us. I only wanted them to know once they wouldn’t feel like they had to protect me.”
“And now?” she asked, voice softer, gaze still on that steady rotation.
“Now we’re…”
“Figuring things out,” Broderick summarized. “I was just offered tenure back in Mistyvale. El’s possibly moving to Manhattan. There are a lot of factors at play.”
“Factors Rhyett and Jameson will expect answers for,” I emphasized. She sucked down a hard breath, blowing it out with just as much gusto before giving us one curt nod and turning for the door.
