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“It’s okay.” She laughed, her breath grazing the skin of my neck.
Fuck.
“I know I caught you off guard.” She pulled away from me as cold air billowed from her mouth. “Are you gonna invite me in or…?”
God, is she still not even in the house? “Jesus. Of course!” I waved my hand, urging her inside. “I don’t know where my head is. Come in.”
My heart sank to the pit of my gut in anticipation of having to introduce her to Morgan.
“Does Rafe know you’re in Boston?” I asked.
She looked around and lowered her voice. “No. I wanted to surprise him.”
“When did you get back?”
“I got in late last night. I was jetlagged and slept most of the day away.”
“Are you back home permanently now or just visiting?”
“I decided to come back for good.”
My stomach churned. Of course, I was happy she was back—for Rafe—but I wasn’t prepared. Not in the least.
“The last he told me, you were considering staying a bit longer. That’s why I’m so surprised.”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “I changed my mind.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“I assume he’s home?” she asked.
“Who?” I asked in a daze.
“Rafe…”
“Oh. Right.” I laughed. “He’s upstairs.” Jesus. Get your fucking shit together.
It was one thing to block someone’s existence out of your mind when you were an ocean apart. But having her in front of me like this was something entirely different. I hadn’t forgotten a damn thing, apparently. It was like my feelings had been hiding all this time and decided to jump out in this moment, as if this were my surprise party.
“Dax, who’s here?”
Here we go.
Morgan appeared behind me. I couldn’t even turn to face her for fear she’d know something was off just by looking at my face.
Wren forced a huge smile and said, “You must be Morgan. Rafe’s told me all about you.”
He has?
Morgan’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not Rafe’s girlfriend, are you?”
Wren laughed nervously. “No, I’m his sister.”
“I was gonna say. You don’t look sixteen!” She laughed. “Oh, gosh. What a surprise. Wren, right?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“You’re back from Europe, then…obviously.”
“I decided to move back, yes. He has no idea. I’m here to surprise him.”
Morgan clapped her hands together. “He’s going to be elated.”
Did we just have a mild earthquake in freaking Massachusetts, or is that my head causing the room to sway?
Since Morgan entered the room, Wren hadn’t looked at me once. I knew this because I hadn’t taken my eyes off her. The food I’d just eaten felt like it was going to come back up.
Wren finally glanced over at me long enough to ask, “Mind if I head upstairs?”
“Of course not. He’s doing his homework. He’s gonna freak out when he sees you…in a good way.”
Not the bad way in which I’m currently freaking out.
“Okay. I’m gonna go see him.”
My eyes followed as she ran up the stairs, the beat of her footsteps matching the thundering inside my chest.
Wren hadn’t even made it to the top yet when Morgan said, “Wow, she’s cute.”
How the hell am I supposed to respond to that?
I didn’t have to because Rafe’s jovial screech from upstairs filled the air. Morgan and I turned to each other, and despite everything, I couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across my face. I was so damn happy he had his sister back, even if it would take some getting used to for me, to say the least.
I listened to them talking and laughing for a moment before Morgan snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Gosh, you know who she’d be perfect for?”
“Huh?”
“Dylan. I think Wren would be perfect for him. Don’t you?”
Dylan Valeri was an associate who worked under Morgan at her law firm. He was about Wren’s age, an uncomfortably great-looking guy, and a decent dude. Actually, he was a truly nice guy whom I’d had many conversations with. He had a damn good head on his shoulders and his shit together. Sadly, if it didn’t fuck me up inside to think about them together, I might’ve thought to set them up, too. Instead, I currently wanted to skin him alive.
She interrupted my thoughts. “How old is she?”
I paused. “Around twenty-seven. Maybe almost twenty-eight.”
Like I don’t know exactly when she’ll be turning twenty-eight—on June third.
“That’s perfect. He’s twenty-eight. We’ll have to invite them over for dinner at the same time or something.”
Could this situation get any worse? Would I eventually tell Morgan about Wren and me? It would be easier for everyone involved if she didn’t know. The fewer people who knew, the better. But how could I keep something like that a secret from someone I expected honesty from in return?
I could still hear Rafe and Wren talking upstairs. Deciding to give them privacy, I walked over to the sink and began cleaning some of the dishes.
“Those are already clean,” Morgan called out. “I just had them drying over to the side.”
