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“You went to tell Liddy in person?”
“Yeah. She’s so excited for us.” Echo bounces in the back seat.
“That’s great!” And I really am happy for them. I don’t know two more deserving people.
But something is tearing a jagged gash through my chest. It’s wrong. Sad. Ugly.
Envy.
“What’s even better? Both of my sisters are expecting baby number two, so our munchkin will have cousins to play with.”
“Perfect,” I say, trying not to feel kicked in the teeth.
But it’s not Echo’s fault. I blame Hadley for the fact I’m alone. She cheated. She crushed me. She found me lacking.
Is that really fair, though? She’s been gone more than five years, and it seems wrong to blame a dead woman. Besides, I’d rather blame Parker.
Isn’t the blame yours? You made choices…
“March sounds so far away, but I’ll be a mom. I’m panicking with all the things I have to do…” Echo goes on.
Thankfully, Hayes talks her down and fills the conversational gap. I’m on autopilot as I pull up to Maxon and Keeley’s place about fifteen minutes before the party starts.
My oldest brother comes out to greet me, holding his little redheaded daughter. She’s nearly four, and like her mama, all she wants to do is sing.
“Hey!” Maxon helps Echo out of the car and brings her in for a hug.
Since I moved here, my family has embraced my friends. The fact they’re like extended siblings is evident when Griff, Harlow, Bethany, Evan, and their spouses all spill outside to greet them.
It’s great to see everyone, but I can’t stop scanning the lanai and looking through the big accordion doors into the house. “Corinne here yet?”
“Afraid she’ll run away if you let her out of your sight, bro?” Harlow teases, bumping my shoulder and generally giving me shit, as she always does.
“Ha. Don’t you have a husband you can torment?”
Noah Weston approaches, still in amazing athletic shape, despite having retired nearly five years ago. “I took the night off.”
“Nope. You said I do to this she-devil—no idea what you were thinking—”
“That she looked hot in a red bikini.”
“Eww. Stop,” I protest. “And come…do whatever it is you do to manage her.”
“What? Huh?” He puts his hand to his ear and acts confused. “I can’t hear. Old football injury.”
“You’re full of shit.”
“If you’re just now figuring that out, you’re not as smart as the rest of us.” Griff saunters up, laughing—until Noah mock punches his arm.
Suddenly, Maxon joins the fray, now minus Kailani, and the three of them exchange insults while chasing each other on the nearby patch of grass. Hayes jumps in, as if he’s been away a mere day or two, not months.
“Men.” Harlow just shakes her head, eliciting a laugh from Echo. “To answer your question, Corinne is on her way.”
“Good.” I straighten my tie, my stomach knotted. Tonight is make or break, and I’m anxious to see her. “Thanks.”
Evan and his wife, Nia, appear, talking business with his best friend and CFO, Sebastian Shaw. The man’s wife plants a hand on his arm, breathing in and out as she lays her palm over her distended belly.
She looks ready to pop. “Hey, Sloan. You okay?”
“Fine. Just feeling like the side of a barn.”
“I think you look beautiful,” Sebastian says. “You give me an hour and I’ll prove it.”
“You’re not touching me anymore.”
“That’s what you said after the last time I got you pregnant. You forget how persuasive I can be…”
I grimace. “TMI, you two.”
Bas laughs and holds out his hand. “You’re just jealous.”
A week ago I would have laughed and told him he was crazy. Now…I think he’s right.
Keeley maneuvers the group inside by whistling loudly and reminding everyone that the guests will begin arriving shortly. The crowd meanders to the kitchen at the back of the house. The morons rumbling in the grass filter in last.
Under the comfort of spinning ceiling fans, Maxon pulls me away from the others. “How are you holding up? You ready for this?”
Hopefully. “Corinne and I have been working out the details.”
“Can you two look like you’re in love?”
“I think so.” We’re about to find out…but I’m not so nervous about that. In a handful of minutes, she’ll meet my family. I want them to like her. No, they will. I know it. I’m anxious about her feeling welcome.
Why? She’s temporary. Our engagement is a big lie. It shouldn’t matter.
But for some reason, it does.
“Tell me the story you concocted about how you two met.”
I open my mouth to recite our rehearsed spiel when I catch sight of Corinne out of the corner of my eye, hovering inside the doorway.
When I turn to look at her, my mouth drops open.
Harlow’s stylist arranged her long hair into loose, beachy curls. Her makeup is light but artful, accenting her expressive dark eyes that look almost too big for her delicate face. Her lips are painted a soft, earthy pink. And her dress? Holy hell, after a glance, I’m melting.
