She looked toward Reese and Mitch. “You do realize why you’re here, don’t you?”

They shrugged and Sarah sighed.

“Thank you, you see, it’s not just me. I’m not the only one confused by all your little secret meetings, and all the crap you want us to do,” Dalton said.

“Can I throttle him?” Sarah asked, looking toward Mitch.

“By all means, do so, but I’m not the one who is going to deal with your guilt when you’re finished.”

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. “I told you we needed to help Nate and Carly see that they’re meant to be together. This is our meeting to see how we’re doing.”

“And we agreed to this?” Reese asked.

She stamped her foot. She’d made them a hot chocolate, and even went the extra mile in making some whipped cream, and now they were annoying her.

“I am going to beat the shit out of all of you,” Sarah said, and then rubbed at her temples. “Give me strength.” She then shook her head and blew out a breath. “We all agreed this was in Nate’s and Carly’s best interest if they were to stay together. Did we not?”

All three men looked at each other, clueless.

She growled. “Seriously, am I the only person who cares about our friends?”

“You’re not the only person who cares, but you seem to be the only person who is slightly obsessed at trying to bring them together,” Reese said.

“I agree with what that man said,” Dalton said, pointing a finger at Reese.

She couldn’t believe she had even considered needing or wanting their help, and instead she turned toward Mitch. “Do you have an update?”

“I don’t have anything to report, because there’s nothing to report. What you need to do is stop meddling, and you know, allow them to find their own path.”

“Okay, they’re both nearly in their thirties. We’re also assuming Carly nearly is, but that doesn’t matter, Nate certainly is. They have wasted enough time. They need to get together,” Sarah said.

“Why?” Dalton asked. “Why does anything need to change? They are clearly happy together, and you’re doing everything in your power to spoil it.”

“I’m not trying to spoil anything. I just want my friends together and happy. They deserve it, and for the longest time, they have been taking care of us and our shit. Don’t you see that? I do. Yeah, it took me a long time to see they were taking care of us. But they’re like our parents, and because of it, they haven’t thought to come together, and I’m trying to fix it.”

Sarah knew she had wasted enough of their time, and she didn’t want to waste another moment. She didn’t know if Dalton, Mitch, or Reese knew of the late-night phone calls she placed to Carly, to ask for her help. Of course, some of those problems had resulted in Carly having no choice but to call Nate.

Both had come to her rescue, all because she had been convinced she knew what was best for herself. She’d been a party animal, and as such, had been lured into some difficult situations. There had even been a small incident with drugs, which she wasn’t too proud of either. There were a lot of things she wasn’t proud of, and she hoped to never cause any problems again.

She had seen everything, and now all she wanted to do was make it up to her two best friends. If they were not going to help each other, and Mitch, Dalton, and Reese wouldn’t help her, then it was up to her to make sure Nate and Carly ended up together.

Chapter Nine

“You know, I’m starting to think they’re getting a little suspicious of us,” Carly said, running her hands down Nate’s thighs.

“Nah, they don’t have a clue.”

She tilted her head back to look at him. They had already made love once tonight, and it had been Nate who ran them a bath. His knees peeked out of the water, and she rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes. This felt good. His hands were at her waist.

Her menstrual cycle was long over. It had come and gone quite quickly, and Nate was more than happy to get back into baby-making mode. She also didn’t mind at all.

“I think you’re wrong.”

“Let’s not talk about our friends,” Nate said.

“What should we talk about?” she asked.

“Which room in the house do you want to turn into a nursery?”