Page 66 of Craving You

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice her walking over to him until she took one of his hands in hers. “You coming?” she asked with a sexy wink.

And that was the first time he felt like they were truly on their way to being on the same page.

Chapter Eleven

It had been five days since Max decided to buy the house, and because they had been super busy making plans and buying furniture, Hailey was beyond ready for a fun night. Right now, she was at Chloe and Tanner’s house for girls’ night, and Hailey was excited to be there. They were having Mexican food and virgin margaritas, and the only thing that would make the night perfect was if Sloane and Billie were here.

“Did I hear that you guys bought a house?” Ashlynn asked.

“Well, Max did,” she corrected. “It’s all happening so fast, and I’m amazed at how everything’s falling into place!”

“Maybe you can host the next girls’ night,” Jade suggested. “You know, if you’d like.”

“I’d have to ask Max, but I can’t imagine he’d mind.” Smiling, she added, “Although, he might turn it into a painting party or something. There’s a lot of work we want to do on the house. It’s in great shape, but we want to put our personal stamp on it.”

“How exciting!” Chloe said as she handed her a margarita. “You’ve had to deal with a lot in the last two months; I don’t know how you’re handling it all and still smiling. You’re lucky to have a guy like Max to go through it all with. I know we’ve said it before, but…we all love him.”

“It’s true,” Jade said as she placed a platter of chips and guacamole down on the table and winked at Hailey. “But we’re not here to sing Max’s praises all night. This is girls’ night and we wanted to welcome you to our little group and ask what it is we can help with!”

Putting a handful of chips on her plate, she chuckled, “Really?”

“Oh, definitely,” Ash agreed. “Although, considering we’re all pregnant…”

Jade loudly cleared her throat.

“Or should I say, most of us are pregnant, anything that requires heavy lifting will automatically be passed on to our husbands.” After helping herself to some chips, Ash continued. “Heavy lifting aside, what can we help you with?”

“You’re already doing it,” Hailey said with a grateful smile. “I’ve been so wrapped up in job hunting and drama with my parents and moving and missing my friends…it feels great to just go out and relax.” She took a sip of her virgin margarita. “Ooh…this is good!”

“Okay, so…I have to ask,” Ash began cautiously. “You and Max. How are things going? I mean, we know he bought a house and you’re moving in with him, but…are you just going to be roommates? Dating? Co-parents? Are you sleeping together like friends with benefits?”

“Ash!” Chloe cried out, clearly horrified. “What on earth? Some things are private!”

“Oh, good grief,” Ash murmured. “Knock it off.” Then she faced Hailey. “This is a no-judgment zone. You don’t have to guard what you say because we’re like a vault. No one outside of this house will ever know what we discussed.”

“Seriously?” she said with a small snort. “The Donovans are notorious for their gossiping skills! That’s how most of you found out I was pregnant in the first place!”

They all laughed, but…not a lot.

Ashlyn looked a little uncomfortable. “Okay, so we’re gossipy. I get it. But not about something like this. What’s going on with the two of you is going to have everyone speculating and there’s going to be gossip whether you want it or not. I’m just trying to get ahead of it because I don’t want to say something that’s not true, and I want to tell people to shut the hell up if they have it wrong.” She shrugged. “We may be cousins, but now that you’re here, you’re an honorary sister and you can ask anyone—we look out for each other. Even against other family members.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

Nervously, Hailey slowly took a bite of a tortilla chip, and it was easily a full minute before anyone spoke.

“If Max asked again, would you marry him?” Chloe asked as she sat down beside her.

Since they all already knew about his previous attempts at asking her to marry him, she supposed this wasn’t the worst conversation to have.

“I get the fact that you don’t have to marry him,” Ashlynn stated. “And you certainly shouldn’t let anyone force you into saying yes—even if you do need health insurance—but if he got romantic about it, then would you marry him?”

Silently, she nodded.

“I knew it!” Ash said triumphantly, before taking a heaping scoop of guacamole with her chips.

“Has he even hinted that he has deeper feelings for you?” Jade asked. “Or have you mentioned how you feel about him?”

Their conversation from the sexy treadmill day came to mind.

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