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“Fine. Real hot gravy. The point is, the past pain matters less. It’s just different, Lachlan,” Gus said. “And you have to trust us on that. Being married isdifferent.”
“It sure as hell is,” Brody said.
“But neither of you ever had relationships before you got married. Charity is my longest term relationship. It just didn’t include sex until last night.”
“Still not the same,” Brody said.
“Whatever. I’m not the last man standing anymore.”
“Hell,” Gus said. “I’m happy for you. Really. I just hope that it ends up being everything that you wanted.”
“Why wouldn’t it be? We don’t have any secrets from each other.”
“You’ve never lived with her. You’ve never lived with anybody.”
“I practically do. Anyway, she’s coming over for dinner tonight. Preferably at your place, Gus, since you have the big kitchen table and your wife makes great food.”
“I will be sure to notify her,” Gus said. “Because she’s going to think this is a hoot.”
“Yeah. Well. Hopefully, her sister didn’t call to say that I broke her heart or anything.”
“You didn’t sleep with her, did you?”
“No,” he said. “Give me a little credit, please.”
“Well, good. Look, I’m happy for you, Lachlan. I just don’t want you to make any messes in my life,” Gus said.
“No messes made,” Lachlan said. “Trust me. Everything is good. No worries at all.”
“Well, congratulations. We’ll have to find something extra unpleasant for you to do today,” Gus said.
“Yeah, buddy,” said Brody.
“I hate you both.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHARITYDIDN’TKNOWwhat she should wear to her big family engagement dinner. She felt like she should’ve talked to Lachlan just a little more about it. It was good. She was happy they were having it. A get-together with the whole family. She loved Lachlan’s family. And that made her feel even more resolute in her decision to marry him. Because...it was good. Of course it was. Marrying him. It was wonderful. She would have not only Lachlan, but his whole family, too.
She wore the black dress again, because it was pretty, and it had done its job on their date night, after all.
She drove over to Gus’s house and parked next to all the trucks in the driveway. She was joining this family. The thought made her heart flutter rapidly. Would she go to bed with Lachlan tonight? She probably would. They probably would always.
That thought made her want to jump out of her skin a little bit. She had gone fromnevergoing to bed with someone even once in her whole life, to the prospect of doing it every night.
She understood that was what she had always been committing herself to when it came to marriage, but they had jumped into this head first, and without a lot of thought, so it just seemed...different.
And it was Lachlan.
So there was that.
What had happened between them last night—and this morning—wasn’t companionable. It wasn’t soft or easy. It had pulled her apart. Wrecked her. Made her a new creation.
She was still not sure what she thought about it or felt about it.
When she walked in, everyone was there and they let out a hugewhoop.
All the women raced toward her. She had never really been...involved in their lives. The marriages were fairly recent, but still, she was Lachlan’s friend. But now she would be their sister-in-law. A wife, not a friend, and she wondered if that shifted things slightly. If she would be expected to hang out with them at family gatherings. It stood to reason, she supposed. It was often when she and Lachlan saw each other on a given day, when there was a family event, so of course they hung out with each other, and not along gender lines. But now she would be living with him. Well. Soon. So maybe it would be her chance for a reprieve from him. Which was something she had never imagined wanting or needing. She still couldn’t.
