Page 79 of Not A Chance

“Babe, you’ve always been my family.” She reached out and patted my knee, giving a quick squeeze before returning it to her lap. “Also, you’re an adult and can date whoever you want. So is Theo. And I love you both. Obviously, I want you both to be happy. Even if you are finding happiness with one of my idiot brothers. I’m unbelievably happy for you both! But areyouhappy? That’s the most important thing here.”

Filled with relief, I gave her a genuine smile.

“Yeah,” I whispered, afraid that the universe might swipe it away from me if I spoke the words too loudly. “I am.”

What I’d been feeling for Theo went beyond what I’d ever let myself feel before, and it was scary as fuck. It was so much easier to trust Emery and Abbie because not only did I have years of evidence that they were kind and loyal, but I’d still kept a part of myself separate all this time.

With Theo, my heart was wide open in a way that was out of my control. The same high that came with the happiness of being able to enjoy each other also came with the potential to be shoved off a cliff into a sea of heartbreak, and nobody had taught me to swim.

Emery extracted her phone from between her thigh and the wall of the tree house. She scrolled quickly and pressed a button.

“What are you doing? You’re not calling Theo, are you? What are you going to say?” My questions had Emery giggling softly again.

“Calm down, Ind. I’m not calling Theo. I’m calling Abs. It’s onlyfair she gets to find out about how Miss Love-Is-For-Idiots is just like the rest of us poor mortals. Though, I’m not gonna lie. I don’thateseeing you flustered. I almost want to video this moment for posterity.” She grinned as the phone rang on speaker.

“Hello?” an out-of-breath Abbie answered after the fourth ring. “Emery? Is everything okay?” A few more gasps of breath accompanied her words.

“I’m fine, Abs. Everything okay on your side? I’m going to switch to video. Indie has some news.” Emery pressed the video icon on her screen.

“Wait! Just give me two seconds.” Emery and I stared at each other while we heard rustling and murmurs over the line.

“Oh my god. Do you think they were…” Emery’s whispered, eyebrows raised.

“Were Abbie and Daddy Aiden fucking?” I winked. “Probably.” Now, I was the one who was laughing. The uncertainty of the day had got to me, and I couldn’t contain it anymore, especially because I could picture Aiden’s grumpy face at being interrupted.

“I’m back.” Abbie’s face appeared on the screen. She definitely had just-fucked or just-about-to-get-to-the-fucking-part hair. Her normal long, lavender waves were frizzing out on one side more than the other, not to mention the scruff burns on her chin and neck.

“So you’re having a good night.” I batted my eyelashes at the screen, a Cheshire grin on my face. I couldn’t help but enjoy teasing Abbie and, by extension, Aiden because they were so easy to rile up.

“Ind! You’re so mean!” Emery swatted me on the shoulder closest to her. “Um, Abs. I didn’t mean to, you know, interrupt your evening. You didn’t need to answer if you were… busy.”

“You never call, so it must be important.” Abbie blushed, making it more obvious what she’d been up to just now.

In the far corner of Abbie’s screen, Aiden walked by with his white dress shirt open and his own hair a mess. “Hey, Daddy!” I called out.

“Call me motherfucking ‘Daddy’ while you disturb my first night without overtime in weeks. I get home early, and then…” Aiden’s mumbling drifted off in the background.

I cackled. “Oooo. Someone’s mad. Is that going to be a good or a bad thing when we hang up, girl?”

“Shut up.” Abbie stuck her tongue at me, not answering the question. But her cheeks got redder. “So what’s up? And… are you two in the tree house?”

“Indie has a boyfriend!” Emery gushed. “She made me come up in the tree house because it was super-secret news, and she didn’t want me screeching inside the house.”

“What!” Abbie practically shouted, filling the tiny wooden box Emery and I sat in with her exclamation. “You haven’t dated anyone since Wells in college! I can see why you asked for the tree house. Em, your brothers would have had a field day with this if they’d overheard you.”

Oh crap. It was time to fess up.

“Er, yeah. About Wells. We didn’t actually date.” Twin expressions of surprise, one in person and the other on Emery’s phone screen, were directed at me. “Our families kind of shoved us together. My parents were hounding me all the time to date someone of their choice, and he was the best option. We went out once, and there was nothing there. Wells came out as bisexual at the end of senior year, remember? He actually had a boyfriend since freshman year but didn’t know what his stuck-up family would say.” I shrugged.

“Why didn’t you tell us? What about all those dates you went on?” Emery’s superpower was the youngest-child pout. She was damn good at it too. It even worked on me. Looking into those big, sadeyes made me feel guilty.

“Well, um, I went to the library?” My statement ended with a questioning lilt. “I mean, earning double degrees was no joke. I got to study, and it got me out of tons of stupid fundraisers with my parents. There were so many events my parents assumed I was with Wells at a different one. Plus, it wasn't my news to share.”

“That makes sense. I can’t believe you kept that secret for all those years. You can trust us, you know.” Abbie was quick to forgive.

“Sorry. But we got sidetracked there.” Emery pointed at me with her free hand. “You are granted a temporary reprieve from the Wells thing. Abs, her fake ex isn’t the real news!” She smiled wider. “It’swhoher boyfriend is that’s the news. Try to guess.”

“Aren’t there like eight billion people in the world? How am I supposed to guess?” Abbie asked.

---