Page 43 of Craving You

“If you dare say ‘boys will be boys,’ I swear I will never speak to you again,” Hailey snapped. “You and Mom were pregnant before you got married! So please don’t stand here and try to convince me that I did something so horribly wrong. Things happen! It’s not the end of the world, and the two of you have been married for over thirty-five years!”

“Yes, but we had been dating for a year before we got pregnant with your brother,” her mother countered. “You just met this man!”

“Max,” Hailey said. “His name is Max Calloway and he’s the father of your grandbaby. If you want to know more about him, then the two of you can come back here later for dinner, along with everyone else. Right now, I’m tired, I need to unpack after being away, and I think we all need to take some time to calm down.”

She heard Sloane snicker and Billie telling her to hush.

“Now if you’ll all excuse me, I’m going upstairs.” Looking at Billie, she added, “I’m sorry that all this drama came to your home. I’d completely understand if you’d like me to stay somewhere else.”

“Um…you’re fine,” her cousin assured her. “You think this is the first time there’s been uninvited drama in a Donovan house?” She laughed before immediately sobering as she faced Hailey’s parents. “Sorry Uncle Kevin, Aunt Bridget. It’s just…”

“We know what you’re saying,” Bridget said as she stood back up. “This is a delicate situation, and it was unfair of us to put you in the middle of it. We just never expected our daughter to be so insensitive and selfish.”

“Mom…”

But her mother was holding up her hand to stop her. “No. You made your wishes clear.” Then she turned to Billie. “I hope it’s okay if we join all of you for dinner. Ronan mentioned he was coming over too, but we didn’t just want to assume it was okay for us to show up uninvited.”

And yeah, she gave Hailey a sour look, like they hadn’t shown up uninvited already.

Refusing to feel bad, she pasted a big smile on her face as she leaned in and hugged her mother. “Well, we’ll see you later then! Tell Uncle Ronan I’m looking forward to seeing him!” Then she hugged her father too. “Okay, see you later! Love you! Buh-bye!”

Making her way across the kitchen, she snagged Sloane. “You need to stay,” she whispered firmly. “Why didn’t you stop them from coming here?”

“Sloane?” their mother called out. “Aren’t you coming back to your uncle’s with us?”

“Um…I’m actually going to stay and help Hales with her unpacking,” she cheerily replied with a wave. “We’ll see you later, okay? Byeee!” Slowly, they made their way further away from their parents until they were practically hiding in the living room. It wasn’t until they heard the door close that they relaxed. “I’m gonna pay for that one later, but it was worth it.”

“This so wasn’t on my bingo card for today.”

Her sister gave her a fierce hug. “We really were a little worried. You never turn off your phone.” Pulling back, she grinned. “I hope there was at least some fun while you were away and it wasn’t all awkward talking.”

“Definitely not awkward and very little talking,” she murmured and stopped from saying more as Max, Billie, and Marcus all came to join them. “I really am sorry about all of that.” She looked directly at Max. “I tried to warn you.”

Raking a hand through his hair, he let out a long breath. “You did, and yet I still wasn’t expecting all of that.”

“It’s a Donovan thing,” Billie assured him. “Very overprotective parents—except mine—and they love to throw the guilt around. That last one my mother does like a champ.” With a soft laugh, she looked at Max. “Get used to it, because this is going to be your life now.”

“Don’t scare him, Bill,” Sloane said with amusement. “Sheesh! This is all new! We don’t need him running away already!”

For a moment Hailey wondered if her parents had truly scared him, but when she looked over at him, he smiled and said, “I don’t scare easily, and I’m not going anywhere.” He closed the distance between them and kissed her softly. “I’m here for you. Remember that.”

She felt herself blush as he took a step back. “I’m going to bring your bags up to your room and then I’ll let you and your sister have some time to visit.” Looking at his brother and Billie, he added, “And I’ll be back over when everyone gets here.”

“Or…you can stay so we can talk,” Marcus suggested.

“Why don’t the two of you go up to Max’s apartment and talk?” Billie proposed. “And while everyone is doing their thing, I can finish getting ready for when they all come back. God help us.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Max said before walking away to grab their luggage.

Hailey and Sloane followed him up to the guest room and he kissed her again before he left, closing the door behind him. As soon as he did, Sloane hopped up on the bed with a knowing grin. “Sooo…you two are cozy! I take it the time away was beneficial?”

Groaning, she sat down on the bed beside her. “We didn’t intend to go away. It was supposed to be an all-day date.” Then she gave a grin of her own. “Then it turned sexy and we decided to stay up at the resort for the night.”

“Ooh…I love that resort! I hope it’s as awesome in the winter as it is the rest of the year! And their festivals are amazing! The last one I went to…”

“Can we focus on me, please? I mean…you brought Mom and Dad here and it’s really kind of ruining how glowy I’ve been feeling!”

Frowning, Sloane twisted a bit. “I didn’t bring them here; I simply tagged along when they announced they were coming.” Shrugging, she explained, “If you had just kept your phone on, none of this would have happened. You have no one to blame but yourself.”

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