Page 93 of Gracefully Yours

“I know, I know.” Gabbi bit her lip. “I just like this. Everyone bringing their pets along.”

Matthew strolled in from the kitchen. “Everything’s all prepped and ready to go. Ham is cooking in the oven.”

“Another fantastic Matthew Harper meal,” I said with a smile, clapping my friend on the shoulder.

“You know it.”

“Need any help?”

“Nah.” He looked at our girls—my wife and his fiancée, still fawning over our puppy—and smiled. “I got it. You just enjoy.”

I followed him back into the kitchen, anyway.

“Thanks, man.”

“I’m happy for you two. You know, we weren’t sure sometimes if you two were going to figure it out, but I’m glad you did.”

“Me too.” We werestillfiguring it out, in fact, but that wasn’t important. “It’s nice to not feel like I’m stuck in the friend zone anymore,” I said, speaking truthfully. I’d spent too long being content being her best friend, while being in love with her from a distance: always by her side, but never the way I wanted.

And now, everything was different.

Hunter plopped on a barstool, beer bottle in hand. “Ah, friendship. What a beautiful thing.” He chuckled. “I still remember when Gabbi tried to insist we werejustfriends. As if she couldn’t see that I was fucking crazy for her.”

I resisted a snort, because I wasn’t sure Charlotte could see that I had feelings for her either. Somehow, I didn’t know how she didn’t see how much I loved her. How none of this was fake for me. How playing pretend came as second nature to me.

Tonight, Charlotte had pulled a pink velvet dress out of her closet—because what other color would she wear—paring it with a pair of snowflake earrings and white heeled booties. I’d watched her tie her hair back into a curled ponytail with a ribbon before she swiped on some makeup. She looked beautiful with and without it, but I liked the way she’d always brighten up with some sparkles on her face.

Plus, I would never complain, because I’d wordlessly leaned against the doorframe the entire time she’d been getting ready. It had only taken me a minute to run a comb through my hair, pushing back the hair that I’d let grow a little longer on top, and putting on a dark gray button up and slacks had taken even less time.

Now, it was as apparent as ever that she fucking sparkled, lighting up every room that she was in. Her cheeks were pink—a combination of blush and the buzz from the alcohol she was drinking—as her face lit up with happiness. I’d happily orbit around her, forever living in her shadow, just so I could watch her shine.

“Daniel?” Hunter called, pulling me from my trance.

I’d been staring at her across the room, zoned out, for far too long. “Hm?”

But he just shook his head, laughing.

My brother-in-law strolled into the room, straightening the sleeves of his dark blue button-up shirt. Arguably, I thought we’d all have preferred wearing pajamas today, but the girls insisted we dress up a little. Even in the depths of winter, we’d all pulled it off nicely.

“Hey, Benjamin,” I said as we clasped hands, the closest thing to a hug any of us normally shared.

“Can’t believe you two agreed to come right after you got married,” he said, shaking his head. “I was all too happy to spend a few weeks doing nothing with Angelina.”

Nothing?I quirked an eyebrow, holding back a smirk. But that thought sobered up pretty quickly at the girls gathered around the fireplace. “You know we wouldn’t miss spending Christmas with our family.”

“Yeah.” Matthew looked around. “I’d say they built a pretty good one.”

I couldn’t agree more. The girls had brought us together, and there was no way I’d trade any of these moments with all eight of us for anything. “We got lucky.”

We all clinked our bottles together in agreement, before Benjamin chimed back in. “What was that about the friend zone that you guys were talking about, anyway?”

Matthew muttered a few words under his breath, and Hunter just rolled his eyes. “Unlike our boy Daniel over here, you wouldn’t know what it’s like to be in the friend zone.”

Benjamin looked over at his wife with a grin. “Only because she wouldn’t admit that we were friends, or that she liked me.” Angelina raised an eyebrow as she looked over at us, and he gave her a cocky smile. “Turns out neither one of us was very good at lying to ourselves about that.”

I laughed.

If only he knew.

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