“How are you just now realizing this?” I laughed, leaning back on my hands. “It’s not like you haven’t seen it before.”
Cleo waved her hand dramatically. “Yes, but now this is going to be inside of me.”
“Hey, hey,” I said, pushing up. “We’ll go slow, okay? And whatever position you want.”
She bit her lip. “Can I still be on top?”
“If that makes you more comfortable, absolutely.” I didn’t care how it happened, as long as she was okay. “If there’s any pain, though, you’ll have to either push through it or stop. I won’t be able to do that for you.”
“Yeah, okay,” she mumbled, nodding and moving closer. I could feel the way her body trembled in my arms, or maybe it was my own. I wasn’t sure.
“I loveyou,” I whispered, making sure she understood the emphasis on the word.
My love wasn’t conditional. It wasn’t there because we were about to have sex. It wasn’t there because I was riding a high from everything we’d done so far. I loved her because she was the single most important thing in my life.
Her gaze met mine, and she smiled. “I love you, too.”
cleo
. . .
“You’re here late.”
I looked up to find Lennox standing in the doorway of Josie’s office. Even though she was champing at the bit to come back, our sister was still out on her semi-forced maternity leave. Every time she wandered up to the barn or the main house, she had deep circles beneath her eyes and clothes littered in spit-up stains, so we’d tell her to march her happy ass back home.
Stella, as cute as she was, was a bit clingy to both her parents. When Lincoln walked out of the room, she cried. Every time Josie sat her down for two seconds, she screamed. The only exception was when our dad was present. I already knew that girl was going to be spoiled rotten by the time her first birthday came around.
But Josie being out meant no one was handling the admin work full-time. Mom and I split it when we could, and Lennox hopped in when Bishop didn’t need her help on the back of a horse. With the camp taking so much of my time and attention, though, I hadn’t had a chance to dig into the emails and invoices like I should’ve been.
I nodded toward the computer. “It’s only 6:30. Besides, no rest for the wicked, or however the saying goes.”
“Oh yeah, I get that,” Lennox said. She sauntered forward, sitting down in one of the jade green chairs Josie had bought, and propped her feet on the desk. “That’s what Bishop mutters every night before bed when I’m still curled up with one of my books.”
“He’s not wrong,” I snickered.
She stuck her tongue out. “Are you almost ready to go?”
“To bed? Uh, no,” I told her, confused. “Ready to go where—oh shit.” Josie was coming over to the main house for a girls’ night, while Bishop helped Lincoln drink a few beers and Dad got cuddle time with his new favorite girl.
I’d been looking forward to it since we made the plans a few weeks ago, but that’d been before Grady came barreling back into my life and sent me spiraling. It turned out actively trying not to think about someone only made you think of them more. Who knew?
The issue was I was supposed to be on snack duty, and I had completely forgotten.
“Lucky for you, I loaded up on all the chips and dips anyone could ever want. I’m talking salsa, guac, and queso—the holy trinity—hummus, French onion, spinach and artichoke, ranch?—”
“What the hell, Len?”
“—and ranch dip,” she finished, ticking them all off her fingers.
“Did you buy the whole freaking store? What about the stuff you were supposed to get?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Look, y’all put me on drinks for a reason, and as always, I delivered. I tried volunteering for the main course, and Mom shot me down. Then I tried to take desserts, and Josie stole that—even though this whole evening was supposed to be a way for her to relax—and you had snacks.”
“So, you stole the snacks?”
“Is it stealing if you forgot?”
I mean, I guess she had a point, but it didn’t make me feel any less shitty. Usually, I was the one picking up after my sisters, anticipating anything that might go wrong and what I’d need to do to make sure things ran smoothly.
