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As soon as I pull back and see Sammy’s real tears, I devolve into my own. Warm, strong arms wrap around me and pull me close, and I nearly drop right into a faint right then. Chase Dawson, my ultimate crush, is comforting me physically, right now.
Just breathe, Brooke. It’s just a hug, not an invitation to touch his penis.
Benji stands up from underneath the table then and perches himself in a seated position right beside my legs.
But all I can focus on is Chase’s voice as it vibrates against me as he talks to my sister over my head. “Let me give you my sister Mo’s number too. She and my brother-in-law have lived in the city for years and own a restaurant, and I know she’d be really happy to be a friend or a source of information or anything you need as you’re getting acquainted there. She probably even knows some people who’d be willing to babysit—or even be willing to babysit herself—if you want to get some alone time.”
Goodness, this man. Is he even real?
You have a manuscript filled with a hundred thousand words based on fantasies revolving around him. Safe to say, he is very much real.
I finally find it in me to disengage from Chase’s embrace—let me tell you, it’s not easy—and address Sammy directly as I hand her the keys to my apartment. “Chase is right. I met his sister once, and she’s such a nice person. Really fun too.”
Benji adjusts his position. He’s still right by my feet, but now he’s lying down instead of sitting at high alert.
And my sister stares down at the keys in her hand like she can’t decide if they’re a mirage or the tool to unlock heaven. “Goodness,” she mutters and then looks up at both Chase and me. “Thank you both so much. I seriously cannot believe you’re doing this for me, B.”
I shrug. “I’m not even doing anything.”
“You are, though.” She grabs me by the jaw and plants sloppy kisses on both of my cheeks. I laugh and wiggle and wipe at the slobber. When she meets my gaze again, her eyes are seriously somber. “You’re doing everything.”
“Okay, Sammy, jeez,” I complain with a swipe to my eyes and a spin that settles me right back where I started. “Let my eyeballs rest already!”
Sammy snort-laughs, and I pull her in for one final hug. “I’ll text you with all the information I can think of that you might need, and I’ll send you Chase’s sister’s number too.”
Chase gives a thumbs-up, and Sammy giggles.
I swear, the dark circles under her pretty bluish-green eyes have gotten lighter in an instant.
“I love you,” Sammy says as she backs away and points at me. “You’re gonna kill this tour!”
I laugh and shake my head as she grabs both of my nephews by the shoulders and leads them out of the entrance door at nearly a run. It’s completely different from her entrance, and enough to confirm I’ve done the right thing. Even if I go home to a Hulk-smashed apartment, it’ll be worth it.
“I’m pretty sure you just told your sister she won the lottery.”
I nod. “She’s been living with my parents for weeks. Trust me, I did.”
After Sammy headed out, there were only twenty or so people left to see before the first official meet-and-greet of my Netflix tour in Hometown, Ohio, was over.
And holy shit, am I relieved.
And starving.
There’s only one restaurant in town that stays open late enough to accommodate Chase’s and my celebratory dinner, but I wouldn’t care if I were eating cardboard at this point. The local wing place, Bone and Batter, is even better.
Benji, a true chicken connoisseur, is also thankful for the pieces I keep feeding him under the table.
I take a sip of my beer glass of wine—this isn’t exactly a fancy establishment—and Chase somehow manages to make eating wings look dignified. I swear, I’ve never seen someone twist the bones out of the meat before so that they could eat the wing without getting sauce and scraps all over their face.
Still, after all the personal revelations Chase witnessed tonight, I’ve been a little quieter than my normal ballbusting self.
I never really thought Chase would meet Jamie—or my family, for that matter—ever. It was a bit of a shock to the system.
“You’re not the only one with an ex, you know? You don’t have to be weirded out at all,” Chase finally says, reading my mind with a freakiness I could easily mistake for some “meant-to-be” shit if I let myself.
“I just… Well, I guess I never expected him to show up there—and I really didn’t expect him to bring his new wife.” I laugh at myself, and it sounds a little deranged. “He’s a good man. He always was. The two of us just wanted completely different things. He wanted what we grew up with. I wanted anything but.”
