I put down the dishes I’ve been drying and listen for sounds of life. The line crackles, and I hear Wolfie clear his throat.
“So, you and Maren, huh?”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck. A heavy weight sinks to the pit of my stomach. This is not how I wanted this conversation to go.
“She talked to you?”
He grunts. I guess that means yes.
“Listen, Wolfie, I asked her not to. This isn’t how I wanted you to find out. I wanted to be the one to tell you.”
“What the fuck, Hayes? I thought I could trust you.”
Another punch in the gut. This is going worse than I thought.
“I know. I’m sorry, man. I should have talked to you about this sooner.”
“No shit. What the actual fuck? You need to start talking, and you need to start talking now. What the hell has been going on right under my nose?”
I sigh and run my hands roughly over my face. Fine. If Wolfie wants the truth, then it’s the truth he’ll get.
“All right, fine. Honestly? I’m a fucking kamikaze, man.”
“You’re a what?”
“A kamikaze. A suicide bomber. All those relationships I’ve jumped into and destroyed in the past? I sabotaged every single one of them.”
He pauses. “Okay . . .”
“Because they weren’t Maren. I’ve been in love with her for years. I was just too scared and too blind to do anything about it. I love your sister, man. And she loves me too. I hope you can accept that.”
Silence again. I can practically hear my heart pounding through my chest.
Finally, Wolfie chuckles. “Then you should be with her. Treat her like a queen.”
Relief floods my body. Every fear, every worry, every stress I’ve been holding on to for the past few weeks is gone in the blink of an eye. We have Wolfie’s blessing. We can be together, for real, all the way now.
“I promise I will. Thanks, Wolfie.”
He hangs up with a click, and I let the phone drop to the counter.
There’s only one thing left on my mind. I have to go tell Maren.
Later that afternoon, I’m sitting in a coffee shop, one hand interlaced with Maren’s, the other resting on her knee. We’re across the table from Rosie and Don, who’s starting to grow on me—even if it still makes my skin crawl to see his arm around my grandma’s shoulders.
Rosie hasn’t stopped smiling since we told her the news. Honestly, neither have we.
Having Wolfie’s blessing means we can stop sneaking around and be a couple out in the open, something I don’t think I realized my grandma was rooting so hard for. Hell, I think she was about ready to just go tell Wolfie herself if one of us didn’t do it soon.
“Well, aren’t the four of us quite a sight,” Rosie says, a wide smile crinkling the corners of her eyes.
Don rubs her shoulder and gives her a peck on the cheek. If I weren’t so damn happy about Wolfie’s blessing, that’s exactly the kind of thing that would have bugged me.
Maren runs her thumb over my fingers and gives me a reassuring look. She knows me so well. Too well, almost. That’s what makes us such a great team.
“You know, Rosie, we wouldn’t be here without you,” Maren says with a grateful shake of her head. “Really. Thank you for believing in us, even when we didn’t.”
“That’s my Rosie,” Don says, beaming at my grandma. “She’s a light.”
Maren squeezes my fingers. I know what she’s trying to tell me. Don’t even think about it. They’re adorable. Let Rosie be happy.
“I knew you kids would figure it out,” Rosie says with a wave.
“Your meddling says otherwise,” I say, half under my breath, and Maren swats my arm.
Rosie chuckles. “You two just needed a little encouragement, that’s all. The connection between you was plain to see. To the trained eye, that is.”
Maren and I exchange a glance. She smiles, and my heart squeezes. God, I love this girl.
“That right there, that look between you. It’s precious. Hold on to that,” Don says.
Rosie nods. “You’ll need it. Along with kindness and respect. Your relationship will suffer without them.”
Maren smiles. “Any other advice from your experience?”
Rosie screws her mouth up into a tight line for a moment while she thinks. Then it unwinds into a soft smile as she places her hand on Don’s knee. “All that stuff about how you should never go to bed angry? Bullshit. Sometimes it’s okay to sleep it off and try again in the morning.”
My ears perk up. I was expecting a generic platitude. This is genuine, coming from someone who really wants to help us.
Maren and I turn our attention to Don, who’s currently gazing at Rosie with the most admiration I’ve ever seen one person give to another.
“Always put the other person’s needs first,” he says, staring seriously into Rosie’s eyes. “Even when it’s hard. Even when it’s uncomfortable. Even when you think your needs are really important. Love is sacrifice, and your actions should reflect that.”
Wow. A real stunner of an answer from Don. I guess I need to give this guy more of a chance than I thought.
Rosie leans over and places a small kiss on his cheek, and Maren rests her head on my shoulder.
This isn’t the kind of family unit I ever envisioned for myself, with just me, my girlfriend, my grandma, and my grandma’s boyfriend. But right now, at this moment, the four of us feel like a family.
Of course, my family is more than this. It’s also the guys I work with—Wolfie, Caleb, Connor, and Ever. They’re my chosen family, the people I choose to be around. And Maren, well, she’s the girl I chose a long time ago.
I can’t believe how lucky I am to have her now. And there’s no way I’m letting her go.
EPILOGUE
MAREN
“I’m gonna need a break after this,” Caleb grumbles.
A very old, very heavy vanity is hoisted haphazardly over his shoulder as he follows Wolfie’s lead up the
