“You asked how big his—”
The growl that came from Nix had Bobby snapping her mouth closed, and once again I couldn’t stop the bubble of laughter.
McKenna narrowed her eyes on Bobby. The death stare did nothing to stop the smirk on the other woman’s face.
“I think I should leave,” Holden croaked, and I glanced up at him.
Holy sweet mercy, Holden was blushing.
“Are you…are you…” I couldn’t get the sputtered words out of my mouth to form a complete sentence because I was bent over in laughter.
“Charleigh,” he grunted.
“I can’t…believe…you…are,” I said through my amusement.
“Like I said, we need to beat feet before the scorecards come out. I know one of them has a size chart hidden somewhere.”
Holden’s groan only fueled my mirth but I was sober enough to tell him. “Don’t worry, honey, I have your back.”
“Thanks,” he grumbled.
“Great. Now Holden’s slot will go unfilled,” Bobby groused.
And I was left wondering if there really was a scorecard, and if there was, did I want to see it?
“That might work in Holden’s favor depending on the order of names,” Nixon teased.
“We sort by size,” Bobby deadpanned.
“Well, then there’s no need to shuffle—you can scratch Holden in on the bottom.”
My eyes widened at Nixon’s comment. Was he being factitious or serious?
Holden shook his head and the pink in his cheeks deepened.
“Have they seen you?”
“Baby.” Holden chuckled.
Now I had to know. Holden was unusually large; if his name would be on the bottom of the list, I feared for the safety and well-being of the women around me.
“Seriously?”
“Charleigh, he’s joking.”
“Thank God. I was getting ready to ask how any of them walked if you were—”
I didn’t get the rest of what I was saying out because Holden tugged me so hard I face-planted into his chest. One of his hands rested on the back of my head and he held me in place.
“Fucking hell.” His voice rumbled against my cheek and his body shook with silent laughter.
“Now I have to know. I heard the evidence of what Chasin’s packin’ when I lived with him and Evie. I didn’t need verbal confirmation in inches,” Bobby continued her tirade. “But now I’m worried about our girl here. If it’s been eight years for her, I’m not worried about her walking—”
“Roberta,” Genevieve muttered. “Quiet.”
Holden went still, then he started vibrating, not with laughter but with something else entirely. The pressure on the back of my head increased, his other hand on my hip squeezed painfully, and for my part—I’d stopped breathing.
“Shit. I’m sorry. I was just joking around. I didn’t mean…shit.”
I didn’t know what to say, not that I could’ve spoken when my face was smooshed against Holden’s chest, but I felt like I needed to let Bobby off the hook. She hadn’t done anything wrong. I knew she hadn’t spilled my secret on purpose, she was trying to be funny.
I felt Holden press a kiss on top of my head before he released me and kissed my forehead.
“Gonna check on the girls,” he muttered.
Shit.
“Holden.”
“Later,” he whispered. “Love you, Leigh-Leigh.”
Then he was gone. Nixon followed, and once again, I was in the middle of the girl huddle.
“God, Charleigh, I’m so sorry,” Bobby reiterated.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I do. I don’t know when to quit. I was just joking around, trying to push Nixon’s buttons.”
“He’s so used to it, it doesn’t faze him.” McKenna snorted. “Besides, the guys give him so much shit about being a house kitten, your jabs are like mini-pokes.”
House kitten, Nixon Swagger? Yeah, right. I didn’t believe that for a second. Nixon was a man’s man, meaning he was all-man, not a soft little pussy cat. More like a roaring lion.
“Charleigh?” Evie’s soft tone brought my gaze to her. “I really am sorry for being such a bitch. Thank you for forgiving me.”
“There was nothing to forgive,” I told her. “Holden told me, he asked you to keep me out of his hospital room. He also explained how close you are; the bond the two of you share is one born out of something horrific, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. I understand you wanted to protect him from me. And I think now you understand I would never hurt him.”
Genevieve nodded and smiled.
“I’m really happy you’re here, Charleigh. You and Faith.”
“Thanks.”
“Okay, not to change the subject but I have to ask, where did your parents go?” Kennedy asked.
Oh, god. I hadn’t thought about them since I’d kicked them out of my room.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I guess home.”
“They’re…”
“Assholes.” I finished for Kennedy.
“Yeah.” She scrunched her face.
“My parents are totally stuck-up. It’s always been about keeping up appearances. When I was younger, I let them boss me around. I didn’t like confrontation so I avoided it by doing what they told me.”
“Is that why you married Paul? Did they tell you to?” McKenna inquired.
“Yeah. They didn’t want a fatherless child in the family.”
“Did they say that?” Bobby’s expression was set to appalled.
“They did. And I was too scared and too weak to do what was right for me and my child. I never should’ve married him. We weren’t in love. Hell, we were barely friends. I knew next to nothing about him.”
There it was—my shame.
Yet, as I looked around the group of women, none of them was looking at me in disgust. There were varying degrees of understanding and deep loathing coming from Bobby. But I figured that emotion wasn’t directed at me but my parents. She seemed to take exception to what they’d called Faith.
Kennedy flashed me a smile and added a wink of approval.
Warmth washed over me. Step one into the bonds of sisterhood complete.
Maybe step two wouldn’t be so bad.
24
It’s been eight years for her.
Holden couldn’t get Bobby’s declaration out of his mind. It was as if she’d tattooed it on his brain.
Those words had replayed the rest of the night to the point he didn’t remember his friends leaving, only the house was now empty. Faith’s goodnight had barely registered, but luckily he’d had the
