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“RONAN, BABY!!!” someone screams behind us, just as we reach her door.
I turn to see a blonde man with huge, and I really mean it, huge blue eyes and long eyelashes. He is tall, really muscular and honestly, way bigger than I expected. To say he is built like a grizzly bear would be an understatement. I saw many photos of him, but none of them do him justice. The guy is really handsome. She runs up to him, hugging him tightly, squishing the poor bear on her hip.
“Oh, Corey! I missed you so much! Happy birthday, oldie,” she cries into his chest as he laughs.
“I missed you too! Thank you, kid!” He lets go of her, and connects his eyes with me. “Now move, I have to greet your man.”
I extend my hand to him, but he pulls me into a hug. I stand there awkwardly for a moment, before wrapping my hands around his back. He rocks us side to side excitedly.
I am…flabbergasted.
I didn’t expect this mountain of a man to be so sweet. Who in their right mind hugs a complete stranger? And why is he so soft? I thought muscles were supposed to be hard. I know what it feels like to hug Jensen, but I literally just sank into this dude.
“Sorry, Noah!” he says, finally letting go of me. “I got a bit overly excited, I heard so much about you, I feel like I almost know you.”
“From my brother, I suppose? Happy birthday!” I say, straightening my T-shirt, winking at him as he takes a sip of his drink.
The poor man almost chokes on it and I laugh, patting him on the shoulder.
“I am happy to finally meet you,” I say. “Be good to him, he’s been through a lot.”
“Be good to my Ronan,” he responds, extending his hand, as if to make a deal with me, “she deserves the world.”
I take his hand and shake it, making an agreement for each of us to take care of the other’s person. I like him. I give him my present, and he grabs it along with the bear he got from Ronan.
“I have to leave and mingle with the rest of the party for a bit, but I will probably be on the deck behind the house later, so come and find me. I quickly get overwhelmed by all of this.” He shrinks his shoulder and toodles away.
“Is Jensen coming?” I yell behind him.
“No, he was afraid of seeing you.” Corey laughs, waving his hand above his head.
We watch him run down the stairs, leaning on Ronan’s old bedroom door.
“What a sweet guy,” I say, following her inside.
“He is the best,” she adds.
I look around and all I can see is her. Everything is dark green and smells like her. Like cherries and sugar. Like mine. She looks around with a soft, teary look in her eyes, touching the furniture with her fingertips. Standing in front of the mirror, she turns to look at me.
“He didn’t change a thing,” she whispers. “Everything looks the same. He even keeps it clean.”
“He really cares about you.”
“He raised me. He was there when I had no one else. He made me school lunches and took me everywhere with him. He hid his addiction from me.”
She sits on the bed and I follow, sitting next to her.
“I found him overdosed when I was fifteen and forced him into rehab. I spent all the money I had saved up since I was a kid to pay for the first few months of it.” She wipes a lonely tear that rolls over her lower eyelashes. “He was in for two years. After he got out, he rented this place out, and had me move in with him. At twenty-five he was more of a parent than Christine ever was.”
“You two went through a lot together.” I run my fingers down her arm, soothing her, thinking about a fifteen year old kid growing up way too fast.
“He saved my life just as much as I saved his. To pay me back, he paid for my veterinary school.”
She snuggles into my side, hugging me tightly.
“It means the world to me that you are here right now, in the core of everything good I've ever known since I was a child.”
“There’s no place I’d rather be.”
