She was in Cabo with you.There are pictures on her feed, and you’re in the background.
She’s made this her mission after I heard from my cousin with more details.
Maybe.
You should reach out to her.I think she lives in the suburbs, which is weird, right?Like she moved to the Chicago area right before or something.
Now that she mentions it, it sounds vaguely familiar.Like I told the girl we could meet up or I’d show her around.Fuck.
Oh, give me 10.Tanner is a very unhappy boy right now.
I blow out a breath, and when I look up from my phone, all my friends are staring at me.
“It’s… the Tanner’s mother thing.My cousin got back to me and got me a name.Hadley has been searching and…” I lift my phone.“Found her.”
“You’re still looking for her?”Foster asks, going to the mini bar and taking a drink.
“Hey, asshole, we’re leaving,” Hayes says.
Foster tips the can in my direction.“Clearly not yet.Kodiak needs a little intervention.”He sits back down.
I sigh.“He deserves a mom.”
Foster’s eyebrows lift as he cracks open the can.“Seems like he already has one.”
“Hadley isn’t his mom.”
Decker doesn’t say anything.
When I look at him, he’s got an expression on his face I can’t read.“What?”
“I’m kind of with my brother here,” Decker says.“Maybe because Hazel is mine in every sense but blood, but I don’t think it matters.She loves Tanner like he’s hers.”
Hadley’s never said that.We’ve never discussed anything like that.And I would never presume to put that on her.Although it is a reality that if she’s going to seriously date me, Tanner will be a part of our lives.
“I feel the same.I mean, Lake, Linc, and Monroe… they’re mine as much as Flora.”Hayes shoves his hands in his pockets.
I flip my phone around in my hand.It felt weird when I brought the search up to Hadley yesterday, but she was excited, going for her phone immediately.As if she wanted to find out just as badly as I once did.
“Just because she’s with me doesn’t mean she wants a kid.”I drop my insecurity right into the middle of our conversation.
They all stare at me as though I missed a routine ground ball.
“Half the reason you fell for her is how she is with your kid,” Foster says.
I open my mouth.
“Don’t try to deny it.It’s true,” he continues, tipping back his head.
“Sure, that was part of it, but it’s more than that.”
Hayes sits down.“Hey, you don’t have to describe it to us.We all get it.”
“You think I can explain why the hell I love Callie?”
“Hey now,” Hayes warns.
Foster gives him an annoyed expression.“I have reasons and could list them, but I can’t explain how I knew she was the one.It was just this feeling that came over me and has only grown every day.”
