Page 66 of Hidden Truths

My eyes fly open and search hers. I can’t tell if she’s making fun of me or not. “But the left one is my favorite,” I joke.

“Mine too. That’s how you know how serious I am.” And she is serious. I can see it in her face.

“You really think it’s okay?” I ask anyway.

“Okay? Cal, it’s amazing! And I’m not saying that because my super-hot rock star boyfriend wrote me a song.”

“Super-hot, huh?”

Harlow rolls her eyes. “Of course, that’s what you focus on.”

I smile and kiss her fiercely. The relief that she isn’t laughing at me almost makes me want to cry. I should’ve known better. Harlow never laughsat me, only everwith me.

“Your super-hot rock star future husband,” I correct her.

She laughs. “You’re not going to let that one go, are you?”

“Only when I’m your super-hot rock star husband.”

Harlow shakes her head, but she’s smiling. She kisses me sweetly before standing and holding out her hand.

“We actually do need to go to bed. Cora is going to be up in a few hours.”

I groan playfully but follow my firecracker to bed.

“Absolutely not.” I’m pacing back and forth in the kitchen as Cora claps in her highchair, where Harlow is helping her with breakfast. I don’t know if she’s clapping for me or for the French toast I made. Probably the French toast.

“Absolutely yes,” Harlow counters.

Apparently, Harlow recorded me singing last night and wants to show the band and have it added to the album. I think she’s biased and thinks I’m better than I actually am.

“I can’t,” I plead with her. Harlow smiles sadly and walks over to where I’m standing. She takes my face in her hands, forcing me to meet her gaze.

“You, Callahan Elizabeth Griffin, are so much more amazing than you give yourself credit for.”

I laugh. “My middle name is Jason.”

“That makes a lot of sense, but I like Elizabeth better.”

I laugh again, feeling like a thousand pound weight has been lifted off my chest even though we’re still in the middle of a disagreement. That’s just how perfect Harlow is. She makes me laugh in the middle of an argument.

“I don’t think I can handle the rejection. Not with something that personal,” I admit.

“I’ll be right there with you. And if you think I won’t get into a fistfight with each and every one of them, well, you’d be right because Willa is terrifying,” Harlow says, making me laugh once again. “But the rest are fair game.”

I pull her into me, holding her close and basking in her warmth. Just being near her makes me feel like I can do anything.

I sigh, and I can feel her smile against me. She knows she won. “You’re willing to die on this hill, aren’t you?”

“You bet your tight ass I am.”

I bark out a laugh and shake my head. “Fine. If my dad can watch Cora, we can do it today.” I’m not going to embarrass myself in front of my daughter.

“He should be here any minute,” Harlow says. I drop my cheek to her head and sigh again. She knew. Of course, she knew I wouldn’t want to do this in front of Cora. Even though Cora won’t know what’s going on or even remember.

“What did I do to deserve you?” I ask Harlow.

“You just had to be you, Callahan. Stop thinking you have to be anyone other than yourself to deserve love.” She kisses me quickly and moves to clean the syrup off Cora, leaving me standing there dumbstruck by her words.

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