Page 126 of The Very Naughty List

Pippa pushes her way through the crowd to join us, a broad grin on her face.

True to her usual form, she glances between the five of us and seems to immediately pick up on the vibe of what’s going on. Sidling up to Lucas, she drapes an arm around him, giving him an exuberant side hug.

“Hey, big brother. Hi, Hailey. Hi, guys!” She grins broadly at the Cooper triplets before nudging our brother. “You know, it’s really great to see Hailey so happy again, isn’t it? For a while there, I thought she would never open up her heart to anyone else, and just look how things have ended up. Not only has she found happiness again, but she found itthree times over!”

Her words, and her genuine display of happiness for me, seem to land hard with Lucas. He grimaces, as if he’s feeling a bit like an asshole for not being as supportive as Pippa has been. He glances down at her, then back to me and the guys.

“Fuck,” he mutters, blowing out a breath. “I’m sorry, Hailey. I didn’t mean to… I was just worried about you, you know?”

“I do know,” I say softly, emotions forming a lump in my throat. “But you don’t need to be. Not anymore. I’m happy, Lucas, just like Pippa said. I haven’t been this happy in—well, forever. I feel like I’ve finally found myself. And this…” I glance around at the Cooper triplets and then rest a hand on my heart. “This is who I want to be. Who I want to bewith.”

He nods, the remaining tension draining from his face.

“That’s all I want for you. And I guess… I guess it’s a good thing that you have three people standing up for you. Especially three people I trust as much as them.” He narrows his eyes, glancing at his friends. “But no more lying. No more sneaking around. That’s not how best friends operate.”

“You’re right.” Reid nods seriously. “Never again.”

I bite back a smile as the air around us seems to thaw a bit, despite the winter chill. Giving my men a quick grin, I pull Pippa aside to allow them to talk to Lucas a bit, giving them the chance to bury the hatchet once and for all.

As their deep voices float over to us, I lean in to whisper to Pippa. “Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For always having my back. And for helping Lucas see the light.”

“Of course!” She beams with a satisfied smile. “I like you and the triplets together. It just makes sense. More sense than you and Dylanevermade together. I always thought that maybe the three of them had a thing for you, and the fact that you didn’t have to choose just one? Well…” She fans herself in an exaggerated motion. “I’d say that makes you the luckiest girl in the damn world.”

I grin, because it’s starting to sink in that this is my reality now and not just a fantasy. The men that I crushed on and daydreamed about throughout nearly my entire adolescence are now my boyfriends.

It might not be a traditional fairytale ending, but it’s the perfect one for me.

Pippa and I talk for a while longer before she catches sight of a few friends of hers and gives me a quick hug, promising to meet up with us again later. Then I head back to rejoin Lucas and the Cooper brothers, and we move through the crowd in search of my parents.

I’m just starting to think that this night will go off without a hitch—until Dylan steps into my path.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the woman of the hour.” His words slur a bit as if he’s been drinking. My stomach tightens into a knot, and I glance around to see if he’s here with Brielle, but I don’t see her here anywhere.

“Just keep moving,” Reid murmurs in my ear, his hand gripping my arm gently to steady me.

We try to walk around Dylan, but he steps sideways, blocking our path again.

“You’ve definitely changed Hailey,” he says, his voice full of condescending derision. “At least the old you would’ve been too embarrassed to make a spectacle of yourself by showing up here with the three men who are passing you around like a cold.”

I glare at him, the knot of anxiety in my stomach dissolving into a ball of anger.

“You know what, Dylan? I’m not the spectacle here—youare,” I shoot back. “I didn’t cheat on my fiancée with her best friend. I didn’t try to trash my ex’s reputation just because I was being a jealous, petty little bitch. I didn’t launch a social media campaign to smear someone because I couldn’t stand the fact that they might be happier without me. That was allyou.”

The Cooper brothers are all standing so close to me that I can feel the strength and solidity of their bodies, but none of them speak, allowing me to be the one to tell Dylan off.

It makes me feel powerful and supported, giving me the strength to stand up against the asshole who put me down for years and crumbled my self-worth. Dylan made me feel hopeless, both about my dreams of becoming a singer and my chances of ever finding real love and happiness.

But not anymore.

“I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks of me or my relationship. And the fact that you seem so obsessed with my personal life honestly just makes you look like the pathetic one.”

Dylan’s face turns three shades of red, drunken fury filling his features. “The only reason I’m obsessed with it is because it reflects badly on me now that everyone in Chestnut Hill knows my ex-fiancée is nothing but a trashy whore who’ll spread her legs for any?—”

“Watch your fucking mouth, Montgomery.” Sebastian’s voice is low and full of warning.

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