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“Yes,” I sighed.

“But?”

I laughed silently. “You’re bossy when you’re half asleep.”

Another nuzzle. “Spill.”

Was there any point in dismissing him? Knowing Everett he’d sit up and ask questions until he was satisfied. And getting him all riled up when he was supposed to be sleeping wasn’t my goal. So I told him. “I was just thinking about my mother’s visit.”

But confessing had the exact opposite effect I was hoping for. He froze, then rolled me onto my back, looking down at me in the faint light. His hand cupped my face, his thumb stroking my cheek. “I will never leave you.” He glanced away. “Unless you ask me to, but even then I’m not so sure.”

“I know.”

“Good. Are you sad? Mad? In pain?”

I wasn’t any of those things, not with my favorite person looking down at me like I was the only thing that mattered in the whole world. “It’s not your job to fix what she did.”

“That’s not what I mean. I want to know where your head is at. I want you to know I’m here for you. I want you to be happy.”

That was fair. “I’m frustrated she’s here but I’m not spinning out. It’s more like I’m taking stock.” I stroked his cheek. “And I know you’re here. I know you’re not going anywhere.”

He grinned. “I’m really looking forward to Isaac’s reaction in the morning.”

“See? We have lots of good things to look forward to.”

He hummed, then kissed me soundly before tucking me back into him. “Get some sleep, baby.”

And even though my mind was spinning, my body calmed as it was surrounded by all of Everett’s warm comfort. The next thing I knew I was asleep, dreaming of afternoons walking the beach with a camera in my hand and Everett laughing.

I woke up before Everett but we had our plan in place for letting Isaac and Kate in on our new relationship status, so I followed the script, slipping into his t-shirt before heading to the kitchen for coffee.

Since we both had later schedules—his later than mine—the plan was to putter around the house in his shirt until Isaac or Kate noticed.

Okay, it wasn’t a complicated plan. It was pretty simple, actually. But we thought it was fun. Why else would I be in the house in little more than Everett’s shirt?

We didn’t know if Kate would be around. Sometimes she went into the office during normal work hours. Sometimes she kept later hours more in line with the game schedule. Really it just depended on what fires she was putting out at the time. Everett said she’d been coming to work with Isaac for the last few days so we were hoping both of them would be here for the big reveal.

The only reason we teased Seth was because he deserved it. Everett enjoyed every second of luring our best friend in and surprising him. But with Isaac he just wanted the joy of seeing his brother’s face light up.

So we were going about what we thought a normal morning might look like. I poured myself a cup of coffee and was just blowing the steam away when I heard footsteps coming from the other side of the house.

I could slip back into Everett’s room and grab him, or I could let this play out. I decided to see what happened.

“Morning Willa!” Isaac said as he went to the coffee pot. He wore a t-shirt and mesh athletic shorts, his hair messy from sleep. “Oh man, Rosie was something this morning. I don’t know what’s gotten into her these days. She won’t wake up, won’t eat breakfast, then fights us all the way to school where she leaps out of the car to see her friends. You’d think someone so excited to be at school wouldn’t make getting there so hard.”

Kate joined him in a blue robe. She rested her head between his shoulder blades and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Who are you talking to, babe?”

“Willa.” He gestured at me with one hand as he made a second mug for his wife.

“Morning Willa.” She yawned, then froze, stood up straight, mouth hanging open. “Willa? What…what are you doing here?”

Isaac frowned. His forehead crinkled. Then his eyes bugged. He pointed at me. “You’re wearing Everett’s shirt!”

I looked down at the shirt. It had the marina’s logo on it. “This is indeed Everett’s shirt.” Although technically it was our shirt. It was too soft not to lay at least a partial claim to it.

Kate covered her mouth. “Oh my god. Oh my god!”

“Did you sleep on the couch? Is something wrong?” Isaac couldn’t seem to compute that I slept in Everett’s bed last night.