“Me too,” Breaker says.
“We’re headed out as well,” Jeff says. “We came over to say bye.”
I stand and give Jeff and my mom a hug, making sure to squeeze them extra tight. It was good seeing them again. I’ve been so wrapped up in my hectic life that I’ve missed spending time with them. Hopefully things are slowing down now, though, so we can plan more things like this.
Together, as a group, we head to the front door, where we all exchange hugs, thank-yous and goodbyes. Once the door is shut, Huxley turns toward me and asks, “What did they say to you?”
I chuckle and head into the kitchen to start cleaning up. “Afraid they said something that would deter me away from you?”
“Yes.”
“It’s going to take a lot more than a story about your fly being down to tear me away.”
He groans and leans against the counter. “They didn’t.”
I pin him with a look. “Was it for the cross-breeze?”
The look in his eyes is absolutely murderous, and it just makes me laugh even more.
“You’re no longer allowed to talk to them.”
“Such a shame,” I say. “We got along very well.” Since we already took care of the food earlier, I just stick the dishes in the dishwasher and then turn toward Huxley. “I’d love to talk to them more. They seem really grounded.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you would.” When I close the dishwasher, he comes up to me and tugs on my hand, pulling me in close. “Did you have fun today?”
“I did.” I smooth my hand up his chest. “But I do have to ask you something.”
“What’s that?”
“That phone call you made—”
“It’s not a big deal, Lottie.” He starts to move away, but I stop him.
“It’s a big deal to me. I’m not sure you realize this, but you made Jeff’s year. He works so hard on our front yard, and to be recognized like that, it means everything to him.” I force Huxley to look at me. “When did you make the phone call?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Because it does. When did you make it?”
He lets out a deep sigh. “I don’t know, like four weeks ago.”
“Four weeks ago?” I ask, astonished. “As in, right after we met?”
He pulls on his neck. “Yeah, probably around then. But like I said, it doesn’t matter.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I say, reaching up to him and gripping his cheek. “Huxley, you did this out of the kindness of your heart, because you knew it meant a lot to someone else. Not many people would stop to do something like that.”
“We don’t have to make a big deal out of this.”
I pause and observe him. The fidgetiness of his body. The inability to look me in the eyes. “You don’t accept compliments very well, do you?”
“I don’t think it’s necessary to make a big deal out of something that, in the grand scheme of things, was small on my end.”
“But it wasn’t small,” I counter. “It wasn’t small at all. You made Jeff, a man so special to me, happy. You truly made his year, Huxley. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that.”
He grips my hips and leans forward, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”
He takes my hand and guides me up the stairs to his bedroom. The entire way, I keep thinking about how things have changed, and so quickly. We went from being at each other’s throats with insults to not wanting to let each other go. Kelsey was right—there really is a fine line between love and hate, and we crossed over it.
“I don’t feel comfortable with this,” I say as we wait for Dave and Ellie to show up. “We need to tell them.”
Huxley looks just as uncomfortable as I feel. “I know, but I don’t know how to fucking do it. I still haven’t secured the deal, because he keeps cancelling on me.”
We’re waiting outside a tall brick building for a newborn class. Dave asked if we wanted to join them, and of course, Huxley—still on his quest to secure Dave’s properties—said yes. But now that we’re here, it doesn’t feel right at all, especially since we’re actually together now.
“What do you think he’d do if he actually knew the pregnancy thing wasn’t true?”
“I don’t know,” Huxley says, looking out toward the street. “I’m pretty sure he’d never do business with me, because I lied. And my worst fear would be the news getting out to everyone around us, all the people I work with. It could be absolutely disastrous.”