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She picks at her nails, pretending like she’s focused only on her task and not hesitating to say something else. “I’m not sure that staying with Drake is the best choice right now. He’s great, but Rachel showed up this morning, and I kind of felt like I was intruding.”
“What do you mean? Did something happen?”
“No, not really,” she’s quick to say. “I just don’t feel like that’s where I belong right now. Does the invitation still stand? For me to stay with you? All of us under one roof will be, well, a lot at first, but if we’re going to raise this baby together, we need to get to know each other better.”
Relief blooms in my chest at her words. Maybe if she moves in, she’ll see that we can make this thing work, and she’ll stick around.
“Of course. There’s plenty of space. It’s a four bedroom, so Em and I each have our own space, Willow has hers, and then we have a guest room just in case.”
“Just in case you knock up your vacation girlfriend and have to move her in overnight?”
“Precisely.” I smile at her. “You can stay as long as you want. You and the baby.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me. We’re in this thing together, right?” I reach across the table and grab her hands in mine.
When she looks at them joined, she smiles for just a moment before pulling away a second time. Her actions tell me exactly what I need to know, and it fucking hurts.
“About us, Chase,” she begins. “I don’t think I’m ready for this to be a thing. There’s still too much to take care of right now, with Emily and Willow, and I don’t want to force ourselves into a box just because we’re having a child together. In fact, I think that responsibility just gives us more reason to take things slow.”
“I understand. But we do need to decide on what we’re going to tell people.”
She looks stricken. “Oh my god.”
“Honestly, it’s probably best if we just tell the truth.”
“What will they think about us? About me?”
“What does it matter? The only opinions I care about are yours, Willow’s, and Emily’s. Emily already invited you into our home, and I promise she truly wants you there. She wants to get to know you. Like I said, most people in town don’t care about our situation. They’ve long since gotten over the oddity of it all.”
“Oh, they’ll care about this.”
“I won’t bullshit you. Will people talk? Sure. But I don’t think anyone will be malicious, and if they are, fuck them. It’s none of their business,” I tell her.
She’s quiet, looking at me like I have no possible idea how hard this could be. She’s probably right. This is my home. These are my people. If anyone’s going to face backlash, it will be her, not me. And certainly not Emily.
Addison doesn’t know me well enough to know that I won’t let them say or do anything to her, which is exactly why she needs to stay in the first place. She needs to know she can trust me.
“The way you left the cabins hurt, Chase. And finding out about Willow and Emily so unexpectedly hurt too. I know you’ve apologized, and I want to forgive you, but I’m still working through that. I don’t know how long it’s going to take.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Addison. I don’t want to force anything between us, either. Just know that I’m willing to put in the work if you are.” I lean forward and look at her with a silent plea. “If we give this a chance—a real, honest to god chance—I think we could turn this into something amazing.”
