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I exchanged a smile with Wren. Our plan was in motion now, and I could only hope that she was open to the idea that life looked the same as it had when she was a little girl. But she’d shut down the possibilities when her dad left. The only thing that had changed was her. But we could get that carefree girl back. I knew it.
“I’ll go along with your silly plan because it will make you happy.”
I cocked my brow. “That’s the only reason?”
She sighed and then chuckled. “I’m curious to see what you have planned. This should be interesting.”
I winked at her. “And fun. Don’t forget how much fun I can be—”
“Wecan be fun,” Wren interrupted.
I held up a hand, showing I felt contrite. “Sorry, Wren.Weare so much fun.”
“You two are incorrigible.” But Everly said it with a smile.
“And you love us for it.”
Everly nodded and grinned. “I do. I love you both.”
I sucked in a breath because I wanted her to say she loved me as more than friends. Maybe even when we made love. It was too much. We weren’t there yet, but I could feel it in my chest. That things with her would be different.
“We love you too, Everly,” Wren said, her expression serious.
“That’s why we’re doing this. You need an intervention.” I wanted her to give life another chance. To stop looking at the world through the tinted glasses she’d put on when her father left. Maybe it was naïve to think we could be the ones to make her see things differently. But why not? We knew her best.
We cleaned up dinner and headed into the living room. I’d purchased a large sectional at some point, wanting to make this home a place Wren looked forward to coming to. The cushions felt like you were sitting on a cloud. The TV was mounted over the fireplace.
I turned off the light and lit the fireplace because Wren said it would add to the ambiance we were going for. Wren created a nest of blankets on the floor, something she’d done since she was little, and got comfortable.
I threw my legs up on the ottoman and beckoned Everly to sit next to me. She huffed a breath as she settled in beside me. She probably wanted to keep up appearances while Wren was here. But I just needed her close.
“We starting withCinderella?” I asked Wren.
“Yup.”
I searched the app to find the classic movie and hit play.
Everly snuggled into my side, her head on my chest and her hand on my stomach. “I haven’t watched this since I was a little girl.”
“That’s the idea. Just let go of everything and enjoy it like you did then.”
I couldn’t focus on the movie. I’d seen it a billion times when Wren was younger, but also because Everly’s hand had drifted to my thigh. And my dick noticed. I was fighting the erection every time she shifted her hand.
Whenever I snuck a look at her, she was lost in the movie. Was she remembering how much she enjoyed this movie? Or was she thinking about how ridiculous it was? That no prince would come to rescue the girl from her wicked stepsisters?
I couldn’t see her expression. I just held her close, willing her to feel something, anything other than the apathy that had been coursing through her body for the last eighteen years or so.
At some point, Wren requested popcorn, and I told the girls to watch the movie while I got it. I filled a small bowl for Wren, and one larger one for me and Everly to share.
I wanted to share, to create those moments when our fingers touched by accident. I wanted to feel like a teenager again on my first date. When every movement was closely tracked and examined. Did she want me to hold her hand?
I never had that with Everly. Instead, I’d successfully kept her in the friend zone. I ignored the fear in my chest that I might ruin everything and held the bowl in my lap. She crossed her legs on the couch like she was a kid and dug in. She always loved popcorn.
Everly confided once that her mother always worried about money after her father left, and she wasn’t allowed to get popcorn the few times her mother took her to the cinema on special occasions like her birthday. I’d always remembered it, even though she only told me once, and made sure to offer to buy it if we went out, or make it if we stayed in.
I wanted to spoil Everly. I wanted to show her that she was the Cinderella to my Prince Charming. My chest felt like it was close to bursting with this new revelation. I’d thought I’d stayed close to her over the years, to protect her, to be the friend she needed, when all along, I must have been harboring this attraction. Even if it was buried deep.
I wanted her.
