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“Sutton,” he started, making my shoulders droop, “it’sfine. I left when your dad called me. I brought some files with me, and I stopped at home to grab my laptop and change my clothes. I got a lot done while you were sleeping.”
The horrors just kept coming! They were quickly adding up to a nightmare.
“I’m so sorry, Holden. You missed work and you had to deal with vomit. I’m so, so sorry.”
He reached across the table and gave my wrist a quick squeeze.
“Hey, it’s okay. I wanted to be here.” I hated how much my stupid heart soared at those words and how much I hoped they were true. “Plus, it’s not like the firm is going to fire me for missing an afternoon of work. Law firms revolve around billable hours anyway, not attendance. And I’m in good with the partners.”
I forced a smile to my lips, lamely rewarding his joke. “Okay, but feel free to block my parents’ number.”
He laughed, shaking his head and turning his attention back to our late-night dinner. When we finished eating, we worked side by side closing the containers and placing them in the fridge. I was once again thrilled by how natural the whole thing felt. Holden said he wasn’t tired and I lied, saying I was wide awake too. We settled next to each other on the couch, the right side of my body pressed against his from knee to shoulder, neither of us moving to put more space between us. Holden reached for the remote, turning on the TV as if he paid rent. He navigated to the recorded section of the menu and I clapped my hands together when I saw his selection.
“You recordedPrison Wife?”
“I figured you wouldn’t want to miss the new episode.” He hit play, then set the remote on the arm of the couch and tossed the throw over both our laps.
It didn’t take long for my eyelids to start feeling heavy, and I caught my head bobbing from side to side and forward a few times. There was no way I was leaving this spot, though, so I valiantly fought sleep, almost losing the battle.
“Sorry,” I said around a yawn. “I always seem to be falling asleep on you.”
“I don’t mind.” He threw his arm across the back of the couch, and I leaned even farther into him. “As long as it’s not a comment on my company.”
I smiled even though he couldn’t see my face. I was so warm and cozy, existing in that fuzzy space between awareness and sleep.
“You’re not at all what I expected,” I murmured.
“What did you expect?” I could feel his breath on my temple, and I let my eyes close, savoring the closeness.
“Honestly? An arrogant asshole,” I confessed, and because I was in that vague space that seemed disconnected from real life, I went on, “I heard you at the church picnic the day you talked to Macon about cheating on Cam with Sissy. I heard everything, that you had talked to Macon. I heard your grandaddy call my family trash.”
His body went from relaxed to rigid as I spoke. He shifted in his seat so he could look at me, his serious eyes meeting my tired ones.
“Sutton.” His hand brushed the damp hair off my face. “I’m sorry you heard that, and I’m even sorrier that he said it. I did talk to Macon about messing around with Sissy while he was dating Cam, but it had nothing to do with your family. Cam didn’t deserve that from himorher alleged best friend. I told him it was wrong, and I...I warned him not to mess with Sissy at all.”
“You don’t have to apologize or explain. It was a long time ago, Holden, and even if you agreed with your grandaddy back then, people can grow and change. I know I have. It wasn’t fair of me to hold one minute against you for so long.”
He sighed, eyes searching my face — for what, I didn’t know.
“Idoneed to apologize. I stand by everything I said about Sissy back then. She has not changed at all, and I can’t apologize for warning Macon to stay away from her.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I muttered, tilting my head so he could see my grin. “I think she’s gotten worse.”
He answered my grin with a small one of his own.
“Well, you might be right about that. She’s not my first choice for sister-in-law and that’s the nicest thing I can think of to say about her.” Then his grin disappeared, the furrow between his brow appearing in its place. “Still, it was wrong of me to let them talk about your family like that. I should have said something. At the time, things were...complicated with my family, and all I knew about yours was Sissy. I was still young and stupid enough to believe some of my grandfather’s bullshit, too. It’s important to me that you know how much I like and respect your dad. Your mom too. They’re good people.”
“Even if they produced Sissy?”
“I’ll never believe that she wasn’t actually adopted.”
“Or a changeling,” I suggested. “I’m glad that I was wrong about you, and that you gave us a chance despite Sissy.”
“Me too.” That hand came back, his fingers trailing down my cheek and then pulling the edge of the throw up around my shoulders. “Me too.”
I knew there were things left unsaid — things we still needed to talk about — but that admission had left me emotionally drained. So I let my head rest against his shoulder, and his arm moved from the back off the couch to pull me in closer. And I knew, the same way I knew that the moon was shining dimly just outside my window, that I was falling in love with Holden St. James.
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