Page 66 of Synced to Us

She sits frozen with her mouth hanging open.

I babbled the confession out more for shock value, but that felt good. All of my days and throughout last weekend were so focused on containment—my emotions, reactions, conversations. With McKenna, I’m free. She’s the one person in my life whom I’ve let in. And there, she’s stayed.

“The fuck?” she practically screeches once she collects herself. “Why have you told me all this when I’m not allowed to drink?”

“It’s not like I predicted this would happen!”

“Damn it, I should’ve expected it. You and Wyn are like the perfect opposites attract. Yin and yang. Beauty and the Beast. Gwen and Blake.”

“I need more wine for this.”

McKenna grabs one of my hands. “Honestly, this makes me so happy. I’ve been waiting for you to find someone.”

“Who says I’m desperate?”

“That’s not what I mean. You’ve been kick-ass since I’ve met you. But you and I, we’ve gone through a lot of shit, made a name for ourselves with no one supporting us, and have been alone for so long. I probably could’ve kept going, but reuniting with Mason, it was like a chain breaking loose around my heart. Not that I needed a guy to validate me, but to have someone behind you, to know that kind of encouraging, supportive love… God, Dee, I’ve wanted that so much for you, too.”

“Holy shit, slow your roll.” I hold up a hand. “No one said anything about love.”

“You said you met his family and really started caring for them.” McKenna scrunches up one side of her face. “Hate to break it to you, but that’s the budding of love, sweetie.”

“It is not. So what if his mom is a wonderful, sweet, fragile human being who he works his ass off to support. And his sister-in-law is a beautiful, lost soul who’s trapped herself in a life she thought she wanted with kids she’d die for and a husband I want to kill. Wyn’s childhood home is falling apart, yet nobody can move out of it. He’s determined to sink his money and fix it instead, just to keep his mother comfortable and his brother’s family secure.” I lift my wine, gesturing with it. “I may have absorbed all that in one weekend and possibly helped with rebuilding the front steps—”

“Hang on, you constructed something? With your delicate, manicured hands?”

I ignore her. “—then I kicked his brother in the balls for daring to come at me, but I can’t be invested in the Rothlessbergers. There’s no way I can allow myself to fall for Wyn. I entered into a verbal contract with him. That’s all. This stuff, right here…” I draw a vague circle near my heart. “It’ll go away in time. Wine will help.”

McKenna places her chin in her hand and blinks innocently at me.

“Shut up,” I say.

“I haven’t uttered a word.”

“I can hear you thinking. That’s just as bad.”

We’re interrupted with our pad thai and pad see ew dishes, which the waitress places in the middle with extra plates.

McKenna dives in, coming up for air only because she has to. I’m as ravenous as she is and join in, the clink of our silverware and our audible, satisfied chews the only sound between us.

With three-quarters of her plate finished, McKenna leans back and lays her hand on the top of her belly. “You learned a lot about Wyn over the weekend, huh?”

“Too much,” I mumble around a mouthful of noodles. Swallowing, I add, “I left them a guilt-ridden mess. His mother’s beside herself with excitement, thinking Wyn’s found the perfect girl—which of course, I acted flawless. Lucy now wants to look into home renovation as a career. She’s caught her father’s construction bug and is eager to learn more. She’s asked me for advice on financials, assuming I’m available since Wyn and I are together.” I fall back into my seat, taking my wine with me. “It was all pretend. I’m positive once Wyn tells them the truth, their hearts will be broken.” The softened edges of McKenna’s stare makes me pause. “What?”

“Baby, you’ve fallen so hard.”

“No, this is me taking on too many people. I’m used to acting for one person, one man. No one else is supposed to be involved.”

McKenna’s forehead wrinkles. “Dee, this wasn’t a client call.”

“I told myself it was to make it easier. If you ask Wyn, I’m sure he’ll tell you I was businesslike and met each one of his specifications. Even the sex was—” Amazing. World-bending. Soft and intimate “—a mutually agreed upon addendum.”

McKenna takes a moment to respond. “Wyn’s been nothing but a weird hermit crab since coming home. He won’t leave his corner of the living room or his keyboard. I only get close enough to hand him a plate of food, which he swipes with one of his long monkey arms and ingests just as fast.”

That gives me pause. These past two days, I was convinced Wyn had gone back to his usual self. Composing songs, yes, but doing it as his happy-go-lucky, it’ll-all-work-out kind of self.

Which was stupid now that I think of it. After what I saw, how could I believe Wyn would be okay? He never did send me those bank statements.

“Wyn doesn’t want me to be too involved or make it personal,” I say now. “He’s made that clear.”

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