Page 41 of Single All the Way

“It’s either you or someone else,” Luke said. “Maybe West here.”

Luke chuckled, but I eyed West to see if there was reason for me to hit him.

West raised both hands as if surrendering. “Hey, dude, I’m not touching her. Not with that death-threat look in your eyes.”

I was starting to see their way of thinking. When I imagined Emerson moving on with someone else, it was like a blow to the gut. But they were right. She likely would eventually. Who knew how soon?

“It’s not a thing,” Chance said.

I raised my brows to see if there were any differing opinions around the group.

“Not a thing,” Knox agreed. “Blake is gone. If you’re the one who can make Emerson happy, he’d probably give you thumbs-up from beyond.”

The others nodded as if they wouldn’t think twice about it.

“Max’s turn,” I said, done with being the center of a serious moment. I gave Max a large gift bag and sat back down.

“The biggest one’s for me,” Max said. “With this group, that makes me nervous.”

“Justified,” Chance said.

Max shoved the layers of tissue paper aside and hooted. “You’re fucking kidding me.” He pulled out a twenty-inch plush white llama that looked a lot like Esmerelda.

“You’re halfway to llama expert by now,” I told him.

“I know how to catch a llama on the lam, anyway,” he said, laughing again as he stared at the animal.

“When I was down with the flu, Max and Harper captured Esmerelda like pros,” I told the others.

“That’s what friends are for, I guess,” Luke said.

Esmerelda had a history of getting out of the corral. Every damn time, she headed straight for Sugar Bakery, which had inspired the next part of his gift.

Max riffled through the tissue paper some more and pulled out a box with the Sugar logo on the side. “I hope this is full of cookies.” He opened it. “Yes. Thank you.” He stuck one in his mouth, then passed the box around, saying, “Enough for everybody and then some” around the cookie.

“One more thing in there,” I said.

He drew the bottle of top-shelf whiskey from the bag and said, “If we don’t like the cider, we’ll have whiskey. Thanks, Ben. Whiskey and cookies are a heck of a combo.”

There were several cracks about llamas and protection and God knows what else. I acted like I was listening, but my thoughts veered back to Emerson and the guys’ opinion that my friendship with Blake didn’t mean she was off-limits.

I’d received the message loud and clear, not just through my ears but maybe in my brain as well. But I couldn’t let myself think too hard about it, because Blake was only one of several reasons I wouldn’t be going home and taking Emerson to my bed.

ChapterTwelve

Emerson

By Sunday evening I’d like to say the kids and I were settling into our temporary new normal. Xavier was completely comfortable, and Skyler was a lot more content and seemed to be getting used to living with the Holloways. The problem was me. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to fully relax around Ben. I was too drawn to him.

I suspected it was because I’d been alone for so many years. I longed for a man, a partner, in general. Ben was a wonderful person, but I kept reminding myself this was because of our proximity more than anything.

I’d caught myself more than once today nearly reaching out to touch him as we laughed at something the kids said or almost leaning into his side as we walked next to each other. In other words, if I dropped my guard, I might cross a line or three.

As the six of us walked with Luke Durham toward the section of his tree farm that had the type of tree Ben wanted, the tiny snowflakes falling from the sky became bigger at once, as if a switch had been flipped.

“Nice effects, my friend,” Ben said to Luke, laughing. “It’s like you powered up a snow machine.”

“Wish I had that kind of control,” Luke said. “We’d crank out just enough to drive business.”

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