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“Ready to head inside?” he asks gently, his deep timbering voice quiet in the snowy evening.
“I’m ready,” I say back, taking his hand and walking up to the door, Rhys and Adam following close behind.
The door opens the moment we step foot on the porch, Dot’s smiling face greeting us excitedly. “Come in, come in! It’s freezing out here.”
Adam practically pushes us into the house, chattering his teeth dramatically. “You heard the lady! It’s motherfucking freezing out here!”
“My mom did not say motherfucking,” Riggs points out, walking even slower and pausing to let Rhys and I move in before blocking Adam. “Oops, sorry. Didn’t see you there.”
Adam glares at Riggs before using his two fingers to point at his eyes and back at Riggs in the universal I’m watching you sign. Rhys helps me take off my boots and jacket, sighing exasperatedly at the guys again.
My face flushes with the memory of earlier and what happened when he was frustrated the last time. Rhys catches my eye with a teasing, sexy look before winking at me and setting my panties on fire.
It takes all of my effort to force myself to look away and walk into the house. The smell of food definitely helps pull me forward to where everyone is in the living room. Hayley is sitting on the couch with her new girlfriend, chatting away with Poppy.
Poppy and Dot have become the ultimate best friends since we introduced them to each other. If there was ever a platonic pair more made for each other than Dot and Poppy, I would be downright shocked. They’re soulmates that came together as friends in this life.
“Lay!” Hayley shouts when she sees me, jumping up from the couch excitedly. “I’m so glad you guys could make it!”
“As if we’d ever miss your birthday,” I respond, smiling from ear to ear from her infectious enthusiasm. “Happy birthday, Hayley.”
“Thank you! I want you to meet my girlfriend,” Hayley says, her face flushing. The woman walks up at her words, standing shyly just behind her shoulder. “This is Kate. Kate, this is my sister-in-law, Alayna.”
Kate smiles at me, her light brown eyes darting between me and Hayley nervously. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Hayley slips an arm through Kate’s and squeezes it lovingly. She looks up at her with more confidence and surety after the simple gesture. It warms my heart to see Hayley and Kate together, both of them shining with happiness when they look at each other.
Kate is the opposite to Hayley in many ways. Her chestnut brown hair is pulled up away from her face, accentuating her small features that make her almost pixie-like. She’s about an inch shorter than I am, which really just brings together the pixie-like look. Hayley on the other hand is tall with long blonde hair and light blue eyes, just like her brother.
Hayley takes my hand and squeezes it gently then walks back to the couch with Kate on her arm. Poppy pats the seat next to her happily, inviting me to sit with her. A pair of arms come around my waist before I can sit down and pull me into their lap in the open seat.
Adam’s brightly coloured tattoos stand out against the purple of my shirt. With a fake glare behind me, I settle in against him instead of fighting it. Rhys and Riggs come in with Dot, platters of appetizers in their hands.
Instead of being rude and yanking the platter of pickle spears out of Rhys’ hands, I turn to Poppy and smile. “Hi, Poppy. It’s so good to see you again.”
“Hello, sweet girl. How are you feeling?” Poppy asks, her brown eyes sparkling as she looks between me and Adam. “These men of yours aren’t giving you too much trouble, I hope?”
“We’re treating her like the queen she is,” Adam responds, rubbing a hand up and down my back sweetly.
Poppy looks at me with one raised eyebrow. “Is that true? Or is he pulling my leg?”
Laughing at her teasing, I pat the side of Adam’s denim clad leg. “I’d like to say he’s pulling your leg so I could tease him more, but I’d be lying. They treat me better than a queen, honestly.”
“As they should, my dear. As they should.” Poppy nods in approval at us.
Riggs hands me a plate filled with food, winking at me when my smile kicks up five notches. My stomach growls loudly, making Adam chuckle behind me, his hand moving around my waist to hold onto my lower abdomen.
“Did you need a drink, babe?” Rhys asks after I dig in, standing near the doorway. I shake my head no in response to him since my mouth is full of delicious food. He chuckles and heads to the kitchen to help Dot with the last few items.
Once all the food is brought in, we all sit around the living room, munching on food and talking. The food is so good I have to remind myself not to overeat and make myself sick. There’s so much of it, and we all eat until we feel like we’re going to explode. Dot even made homemade black forest cake for dessert that was so good I thought I was going to cry.
Kate even gets more animated and comes out of her shell as the night goes on. Hayley is positively glowing with pride watching her get to know everyone.
The talk goes from everyone’s lives to hilarious stories of Hayley, Hudson, and even Hannah. That goes on for a while before Dot takes Poppy to show her the new books she picked up last week. Rhys, Hayley, Kate, and Adam have started a game of Mario Kart across the room, their shit-talking and banter making me chuckle under my breath.
The amount of laughter in the room is heartwarming and beautiful. There’s only one memory I have that comes close to the ones I’ve made with this new family around me and that’s from when my parents were still alive.
It’s one of the only memories I have left from the time before my life turned to hell. Dancing around the room in a beautiful party dress, I laugh with my dad who’s spinning me around in circles. My mom stands off to the side with a few other people, but her eyes are on me and my dad, the love in her eyes shining across the room clear as day.
