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“If I’d known you were here without your family, I would have said something,” I muttered at him, keeping my voice low. I was angry with myself for not asking him what he was doing for Turkey Day, and just assuming he’d be okay. “I should have realized.”
“How? I should have told you, but part of me thought, maybe, at least Sutton would make it, and I didn’t want to worry you,” he said. Typical Arlo making others feel better about themselves. He placed a hand on my thigh, and I covered it. “Thank you,” he added.
“You’re my boyfriend.”
He paused a moment. “I like that. And thank you for checking on me.”
“I had an ulterior motive—Charlie wanted you to see him dressed in his pumpkin suit, and I also need a good linebacker for family football.”
“I knew it.”
“One more thing though.”
I glanced at him, and he was staring at me with a soft smile. “Yeah?”
“Love you, Arlo.”
The smiled widened. “Love you, too.”
ChapterTwenty-Two
Arlo
I didn’t havemuch to say in the car over; I didn’t really want to be grumpy that I wasn’t seeing Sutton and Trace, or that I hadn’t heard from them yet, but it was hard.
Then, the first message from my brothers came as we were only ten minutes from the Byrne house—Trace in a suit and tie grimacing, with the message he was ready to go into the tiger’s den to get brownie points for his career. It made me feel all the guilt I’d had imagining him having fun away from me with another family. He signed it off that he loved me, and I was quick to send a message back explaining that I was spending Thanksgiving with the Byrnes, as if that had been the plan all along.
Sutton’s message followed not long after, a picture of him grinning, his face painted in team colors, followed by a sad face, and a simple message that he wished he could be home because he missed me and Trace.
I was honest and said I’d wanted him here too, but I added details about what I was doing, and sent him good luck wishes for his game, which I promised I’d follow on social media.
Then, I sent a smiling selfie to both of my brothers, and it was a genuine smile. I was okay with their lives moving in directions away from me because it meant I’d somehow done my job right after taking over from Mom and Dad. I was proud of them both.
“Okay?” Jax asked.
I glanced at him with a smile. “Yeah.”
“You’ve forgiven me for kidnapping you?”
Of course, I had. “I’ll never forgive you,” I deadpanned.
He chuckled and reached over and grasped my hand. “You know you loved it.”
“Whatever.” My grin was so wide it hurt.
We drove on for a little longer, his hand still clasping mine, and then, without warning, he released my hand, pulled off the road, and killed the engine, turning in his seat to face me.
“Before we get there, I want to talk about kissing you,” he announced.
I was one hundred percent behind this, but had the nagging feeling that the statement was more than just a demand for sexy times.
“Okay, I’ll keep off the PDAs. I get it.”
“No, I mean, I want to kiss you in front of everyone, yeah? Or maybe not kiss, but I want them all to know how I feel.” He tugged me closer and stole a kiss that left me breathless. “Even my girls.”
I’d forgotten—this was the first time his daughters would be seeing him since their grand adventure to France, plus their first time meeting their cousin.
I felt warm with love, and important people knowing about us made me smile. “I’d like that.”
