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I reached over and grasped his hand, threading our fingers together. “You know if you want to fly somewhere, I can probably find a way to take you, right? Or I still have connections at United and can get you some passes.”
He looked away from me out the window. I felt his hand twitch a little. “Thanks, but, um… I think money’s going to be tight for a little while until I get the full-time placement at Wilton. Right now I’m—”
“Yeah, of course,” I said quickly, cutting him off. “I forgot about that. Well, it’s there when you get more settled and want to make plans.”
He squeezed my hand. “Thanks. I kind of daydream about taking Fia and Bella to Disney someday.”
We talked the rest of the drive about dream trips we’d each wanted to take. When he mentioned a place I’d been, I told him what I knew about it. The drive went quickly, and before I knew it, we were pulling into Millie and Kirk’s driveway.
And there, on the front porch, stood Kirk’s brother, Ty.
My ex.
29
Teo
At first, I assumed the beautiful man on the front porch was Jack’s brother-in-law, Kirk.
“You didn’t tell me Millie was married to a hottie,” I teased as Jack parked the truck. When he didn’t answer, I looked over at him. Jack’s jaw was tight, and his entire body was tense right along with it.
Jack took a deep breath and turned to me. “Listen—”
Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a happy screech and the slightly pregnant woman from the front porch came rushing out to greet us.
“She looks like you,” I said, noticing they shared the same shiny dirty-blond hair and angular chin. Millie’s nose was slightly more turned up at the end which made her look younger instead of the two years older I knew her to be. Jack and I had talked at length about our sisters when we’d spent too much time together in Goose Bay. In a way, I felt like I already knew Millie because Jack absolutely adored her and talked about her often.
She ripped open the door to the SUV and yanked me out, engulfing me in a hug I hadn’t been expecting.
“Oh my god, you’re fucking adorable,” she said. Then she lowered her voice so only I could hear her. “He thinks the world of you, just so you know.”
My face pretty much self-combusted right there on the spot. Part of me wanted to tell her that I thought the world of him as well, but then I remembered that she was a meddling sister who thought the two of us were dating. Of course she was going to push us together regardless of Jack’s true feelings.
Also, I was single by choice. It was my new identity, and I was trying to wear it like a rainbow T-shirt, out and proud. When, in reality, it was tight and itchy and I was desperate to rip it off.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said when she released me from her clutches. “I’m Teo.”
“We’re so happy you’re here! Come inside and meet my husband. He’s opening some wine.”
I glanced at the man I’d assumed was Kirk. He was busy hugging the shit out of Jack. “Oh,” I said stupidly.
Millie glanced at the pair and froze. “Right. That’s, ah… my brother-in-law. Ty. He decided to surprise us this weekend.”
Oh. Ty the ex. Ty, the drop-dead gorgeous ex. Ty, the man who was still in love with Jack when Jack walked away. Perfect.
“Oh,” I said again. Jack turned and shot me a searching glance. I tried smiling, but it felt like I’d just set all my teeth out on the front lawn for polishing. “Great. How wonderful for you. For us. For all of us. Many hands make quick work… is what… someone always said. Not sure who. But it’s true though. I’ve always found that—”
Jack saved me from more stupid word vomit by calling out my name and reaching out a hand for me with an encouraging smile. “Ty, this is my boyfriend, Teo Parisi. Tee, this is Tyler Nosen, Kirk’s brother.”
I reached out a hand to shake. Ty’s face was surprised but friendly. He looked me up and down but not in a creepy way, more curiosity than anything else. “Nice to meet you, Teo. I didn’t realize Jack was in a relationship.” He said the word relationship in a deliberate way that made me want to melt into the grass and slither away. Jack’s hand tightened around mine as if he could read my mind.
I opened my mouth to say, Me neither, as a joke, but then closed it abruptly. Better safe than sorry.
Millie grabbed my elbow and pulled me toward the door, saying something about needing to meet Kirk to get the wine flowing ASAP. She wasn’t wrong. If there was one thing this awkward as hell shindig needed, it was alcohol to really loosen tongues.
