Page 76 of Falling Together

Erin had to suppress an eye roll. If she had a dollar for every time Nolan asked about his birthday this past week, she could quit her job. “Soon! We’re going to Blair’s house now to get everything ready, and in a little bit, all of your friends will be there!”

“Not JP. JP say he not coming.”

“I’m sorry, bud. You’ll have a lot of other friends there, though.” Honestly, Erin wouldn’t know who JP was if the kid threw a toy at her head, but hopefully this party would allow her to get to know not just Nolan’s friends, but also their parents, much better.

“I know! AndBearwill be there!”

Erin laughed. “Of course! Itisher house, after all.”

“I love Bear’s house. And I love Bear!”

“I do too, buddy.” Erin’s whole body immediately heated up and she could feel her face turning red.What the hell did I just say?“I really like Blair too.”

Erin spent the rest of the drive anxiously overthinking what she had just admitted to Nolan and to herself and whether it was just the slip of her tongue or something more. I mean, you canlovesomeone without beingin lovewith them. Maybe that’s how she felt about Blair. The knot in her stomach said otherwise though.

She hated that she couldn’t be a normal person who found these feelings exciting, rather than having her fight-or-flight instincts kick in and tempt her to run away. There was no running from Blair though. Even if she tried, she knew she’d end up turning right back around.

“Bear!” Nolan shouted, shocking Erin back to the present moment.

Erin realized she was sitting in Blair’s driveway and Blair was walking toward them, waving excitedly. Erin had been so caught up in her own thoughts, she didn’t even remember putting in the code for Blair’s neighborhood.Shit, I really hope I didn’t just drive through the gate. I would’ve realized if I did that, right? Even if I didn’t, Nolan definitely would’ve let me know.

Erin jumped when Blair tapped on her window. She brought one hand to her chest while she used the other to hit the button to put down the window.

“Someone’s a little jumpy today, huh?” Blair asked as she stuck her head through the window. For a second, Erin thought she was going to kiss her, but instead, she leaned around her to look at Nolan. “Hey, dude! Happy birthday! Are you ready for the best birthday party ever?”

“Yes!” Nolan bounced up and down in his car seat and started to claw at the straps. “Get me out!”

“I’m on it.” Blair pulled back, but stopped for a moment to stare at Erin. “You’re okay, right?”

“I’m good. Just a lot on my mind with all of the last minute party details.”Not a complete lie.“I brought a big thing of my mac and cheese and the pizza will be delivered about a half hour before the party. And you said you grabbed some snacks and drinks, right?” When Blair offered to get all of that, Erin told her she really didn’t have to, but Blair insisted, and given how stubborn she was, Erin knew there was no point in fighting her.

“I did. Don’t worry. Even if his classmates have a bigger appetite than an NFL football team, we’ll still have enough food.”

Erin figured Blair was exaggerating until they walked into the house and found the snack table already set up. Well, snacktables. There were multiple. Small bags of popcorn, assorted chips, every type of cookie imaginable, and so many different juice boxes and other drinks lined the tables.

“There’s also mini sandwiches and potato salad in the fridge that my mom made. We’ll wait to get those out until right before the party starts, though.”

Erin’s eyes burned as she blinked back her tears. Blair was way too good to her, and she had no idea what she had done to deserve such kindness. As much as she wanted to be someone who deserved Blair, she had a really hard time convincing herself that she was worthy. “You really didn’t have to do all of this.”

Blair turned to face Erin and put her hands on her arms. “I know I didn’t. That’s not why I did it. I did it, because I would do anything to make you and Nolan happy.”

Erin thought her heart might leap out of her chest. The amount of…feelings…she felt for this woman was getting harder and harder to contain. She wanted to give Blair a kiss right there in the middle of her dining room, but that didn’t seem like the best idea with Nolan also right there and Blair’s family most likely close by. She settled for a light kiss to her cheek instead, which still made a shiver run down her spine. “Thank you. I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve all of this.”

Blair stared at her with eyes that were full of adoration and care. The look would’ve made Erin weak in the knees if it hadn’t ended so quickly when Blair dropped her hands and jumped away from her. “That’s not all! I have one more surprise for you!”

Another surprise? Erin was barely keeping it together already. If Blair did anything else, she might cry, or worse—take her up to her room and have a repeat of the last time she was at Blair’s house.Fuck.Erin really wished her mind hadn’t gone there, because now it was all she could think about and the last thing sheshouldbe thinking about.

Luckily, Blair rushed them through the kitchen and out the glass doors to the pool area, so she didn’t have much time to focus on things she shouldn’t be thinking about.

“A bounce place?!” Nolan shouted, before Erin even had a chance to notice the huge structure set up in the large open yard beside the pool.

It was one of the biggest bounce houses Erin had ever seen, and it was right there in Blair’s yard. There was what looked to be a mini obstacle course, followed by a large bouncing area, as well as a set of blow-up stairs that led to a high slide. “Blair…” Erin tried to form words, but she couldn’t find any that described exactly how she felt in that moment. “This… It’s too much. It probably cost you so much money.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Blair pointed to where Nolan was already running over to the bounce house and jumping inside, a smile on his face so big that it removed every pain Erin had ever felt from her heart. “Thatmakes it all worth it.”

Erin turned toward Blair and rested her hands on Blair’s hips. “You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.” She looked around and didn’t see Blair’s family anywhere in sight, then checked to see if Nolan was completely distracted by the bounce house (which he was). She leaned in and placed a kiss on Blair’s lips that immediately lit a spark inside of her.

She opened her mouth to Blair’s and was about to deepen the kiss when the sound of her phone ringing loudly in her pocket caused them both to jump apart. She pulled it out to check who was calling, then held it up to show Blair. “Sorry. My sister hasimpeccabletiming,” she said sarcastically.

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