“Yeah. Some of us talked about it. But Ransom kept having these meetings with the designers, and they started talking to us about how we’d want our places finished and what kind of furniture we wanted. By the time it was built, all of us were so fucking invested, no way would we let anyone else stay in the apartments we designed.”
“He’s so smart,” she says with awe.
“Yeah, he is. It turned out great, though. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed everyone until we were back together. Now we’re always meeting up, either at each other’s places or at work, or in the gym. We’re closer than ever, which is mostly a good thing. Except when they see too fucking much and start interfering in our lives.”
“Fucking Colt,” she says with a sneer.
“Fucking Colt.” I agree, biting down my laugh. She’s so adorable. I’m having a really hard time holding onto my mad at Colt. At least until I think about white-knuckling it during that drive. We’re really lucky things didn’t go a whole lot worse.
Cara slaps her hands on my chest. “We need to,” she stops, staring at her hands, sliding them down to my pecs and squeezing. “Beep, beep,” she mutters, then shakes her head and looks up at me. My chest shakes with laughter. Fucking adorable. “Colt. We need to teach him a lesson. What do we do?”
I let my evil genius smile play on my lips. “I have so many ideas.”
32
CARA
“R emember to play it cool,” Declan whispers in my ear just before we pull the door open. “Shut up. This isn’t my first rodeo. I know the plan. Keep cool, let him apologize, and we nail him when he least expects it.”
“Right,” he says, bouncing on his toes in excitement. “Let’s go!”
It’s been an amazing day. My drunk has mostly been soaked up by the world’s best burger. We walked around, holding hands, being tourists. And we laughed. A lot. Seeing the world through Declan’s eyes is an amazing experience. He’s completely adorable explaining the differences between Pokemon while at the same time staring down anyone who gets too close to me. I’ve never felt that protected, that taken care of, maybe in my entire life.
It’s different with parents. My dad was a pitbull when it came to our safety. I didn’t think I’d ever find that again. But it was an overprotectiveness that bordered on crazy. Thank god he had two of us to split his attention. I never would have made it out of the house otherwise.
As a grown-ass woman, I can handle my life. And honestly, if I had to deal with Colt’s level of protectiveness, I would lose my ever-loving mind. Declan’s, on the other hand, straddles that line between overbearing and sexy. The hand on my back, the insistence on walking on the curb side of the sidewalk, the way he uses his body as a barrier between me and a crowd. All of it feels really, really good.
But right now, all those protective vibes have been shoved to the side as he nearly levitates with excitement. He’s standing there, bouncing, waving me frantically through the door.
“Ok, ok. I’m coming. Why are you so excited? Haven’t you done this before?”
“No. Come on.” He drags me towards the large group in the lobby. They’re all there. All the brothers, Colton’s wife Evie, her daughter Mia —currently on Zach’s shoulders— Holly, and Becca. And they’re louder than the indoor skydiving fan behind them.
Colt sees us and breaks away from the group, heading straight for us. Here we go. He stops right in front of us, eyes darting between Declan and me.
“I’m so fucking sorry. I never meant for any of this shit to happen.” He drops to the floor and wraps his arms around my feet. “Please, tell me you’ll forgive me. I promise never to fuck with...well, I promise to try not…shit, I promise I’ll never arrange for you two to be stuck together again. I promise I’ll never bribe pilots to leave you again. There. Those are true.” He drops his cheek on the top of my foot pathetically.
I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing. I meet Declan’s eyes, and he’s not laughing. He crouches down next to Colt.
“Brother,” he says, waiting for Colt to roll over and look at him. “I get you were coming from a good place, but what you did is fucked up. And it could have been really bad. You and me, we’ll be having words later.”
Colt seems to relax at that. He and Declan exchange nods, then focus back on me.
“You’re supposed to be my friend Horsey. Friends don’t manipulate and lie and force people to do things. That’s not ok.”
He lets go of my feet, rising to his knees, head almost at boob level. “I know. It was a complete dick move. If it’s any consolation, Evie almost called off the wedding when she found out what I did.”
I glance at Evie. She’s wearing a gentle smile, the same gentle smile she wore the night Bree and I showed up at the hospital. She gives me a nod.
“That actually makes me feel a little better.” I lean down, tucking my cheek against his. “You made me feel like I didn’t matter,” I whisper. “Don’t do it again.”
He swallows thickly, eyes glassy. “I only did it because I think you two should be together. I never meant to make you feel that way.”
“I know. But what would you do if some guy manipulated Mia the same way?”
His face blanches, and I see it finally click. “Right. Fuck that. I’d tear the fucker apart.”
“Right. So I accept your apology, but please understand, you started a war, my friend, and I will finish it.”