Page 21 of Almost True
And maybe it was that low-level sense of safety and comfort that allowed me to get so comfortable so quickly. I didn’t feel like a guest when Quinn simply nodded to the table laden with a glorious selection of snacks or when Sarah smiled over at me and raised a pitcher full of lime green liquid. I felt right at home, in fact, when everyone piled into the living room with plates stacked with chips, guacamole, taquitos, tacos, salad, and of course, glasses frosty with iced margaritas. Maybe more than home, because I so rarely felt relaxed in my home in New York anymore. Maybe this was the version of home I’d enjoy here in Silverton.
And after sipping said drink until Dahlia Price arrived to great cheers from her friends, that same sense of what I could only call comfort must’ve been why, when Quinn turned her bright green gaze to mine and said, “Okay, Reynolds, you’re up,” I told them everything.
Well, that, and the fact that I’d come here tonight to break the pattern I’d created. That big fat blank I’d drawn when Taggart had his gun pressed against my back? That’s what I was changing. I’d fill in that void only by trying, and the combination of warmth, welcome, and tequila worked perfectly.
I flew past the summary of having a stalker since I knew just by being around them the last half hour that Sarah and Quinn had told them every possible detail of what happened days ago. Instead, I focused in on me… what I hadn’t been able to tell Juliet yet thanks to time zones and her work obligations, and what I’d likely never be able to tell my parents.
“I was standing there drawing a blank. Instead of freaking out that I’d never see my parents again, I was just calm. Unsure whether I’d live to see tomorrow, but kind of… fine with it.” I took a long drink of my margarita, hoping they wouldn’t think me a horrible person.
“I’m so sorry,” Sarah said, and Sadie nodded. “Me, too.”
Calla studied me, her dark eyes weighty. “I have to say, I’ve kind of been there. Not so much the stalker situation, but feeling like my life didn’t have much meaning.”
She got it. “Yes. That’s it. I probably sound insanely ungrateful, but I just had this sinking feeling when it was all over. I wanted to see my best friend and hug my brother and sister-in-law, snuggle their baby, but I didn’t have someone I was desperate to see.” I gestured to Sarah. “Like you and Wilder. I mean, he was crawling out of his skin to get to you. And Julian mentioned getting home to you more than three times while he debriefed, and that’s more agitation than I’ve seen from him times a factor of ten.”
A smile flashed across Quinn’s face, but she smothered it by pressing her lips together, her brow furrowing. “So you want a boyfriend?”
CHAPTERTWELVE
Maddie
Ilaughed softly, but Dahlia was the one who spoke up. “Not just aboyfriend. A partner. Someone to go home to. Someone to give those moments gravity and meaning. Not that having a partner is all that gives someone meaning or anything. I’m not saying that. I’m single and my life is awesome, and I don’t mean to sound like it’s not, but… I get it.”
Quinn nodded. “That’s it for me, for sure. I love Julian. I never thought I’d care about someone the way I do him. I loved my life without him, but I think that was because I didn’t know how much better it could be with him.”
Calla and Sadie both agreed in their own way, and Sarah’s blush grew deeper by the minute. Quinn called her out, which was clearly her role in the group.
“Go ahead. Tell us all about your actual action hero of a man, Sarah.”
She laughed, all good naturedly, and toasted the room. “He is that. But I was also thinking about how much I relate to that. I felt so ungrateful for my life, for all of you, for being back here. It took me some time to accept that I could want a life with Wilder, that I could feel happy and full because of it, and still be deeply grateful for what I already had.”
Hearing them all talk about how much they loved their partners made something in my chest cinch tight. I wanted it. I’d never wanted someone like that—not really. I’d always felt that was far away for me. Or maybe when I found it, it’d be more like an actual partnership—mutually beneficial versus something founded on love and trust. When my brother Nate got engaged to Ariel just a few months before my first trip out here, it started. I’d given up on the serial relationships I’d done for years, always certain the next one would be the one to make me think, “This will work.”
And then Nate got married to the love of his life and it made it clear. I wantedthat.I wanted someone I could share every bit of myself with, not just the upper crust, CEO girl. Not the woman people looked at and thought, “She makes it look so easy.” I wanted to be a goof with that person like I was with my brother and be soft and romantic like I could be with Juliet. I wanted to be organized and thoughtful like I was with Anthony and loyal like I was with my parents.
I wanted to be all of myself and to know all of someone else.
Ironic that the one and only time I’d felt anything close to that had been with Aidan, and he hadn’t even known my last name. That thought, and where my last interaction with the man had ended, sent an ache winding through me.
“Do you date? Or anything?” Sadie asked, clearly a little uncomfortable with the question.
I gave myself a moment to compose a response. The difference between the truth—I did, kind of, in an obligatory way—and what I wanted to be true—yes, the man of my dreams—brushed up against my tongue in uncomfortable ways.
“I went from one relationship to the next for years but stopped dating altogether a while ago because I was just tired and sad. Then a few months ago, I agreed to see someone my mom set me up with.” I widened my eyes to illustrate just what a mistake that had been.
“Ohhh, so that went well,” Calla said.
“Yep. He wanted tocheck out my portfolioon the second date. When I told him that wasn’t a great discussion point for a date, nor was it an appropriate thing to say to a person he’d basically just met, he got offended and then asked if I wanted a third date after trying to kiss me.”
“What thewhat?Talk about clueless,” Quinn said, disgusted.
I’d known the woman less than an hour, and she was already in my corner. Was this what real friendships were like? The only one I really had was Juliet, and we’d known each other since we were born. Aside from Ariel, my sister-in-law, I wouldn’t say I had many friends who weren’t also in my employ. That didn’t make them fake by any means. Anthony would take a bullet for me just as soon as Brad would. But it was just different.
“Well, the worst thing was, he showed up yesterday morning acting like he was so worried about me because somehow, he’d heard about the stalker. I hate to say it, but my mom let him know. So he jets out here, acts all territorial in front of Aidan, and—”
“Wait. Aidan Wallace?” Dahlia’s question had everyone leaning in.
And again, where before I wouldn’t have shared anything personal with women I’d just met, tonight, I wanted to. I wanted to lay every stupid, messy feeling from the last few days out on the table and let them help me sort through it. Juliet was in South Africa at a WHO conference, and she wouldn’t be available for any lengthy downloads until she was back in the EU, at least. I needed a minute to process through this, and everything they’d said tonight told me I could trust them. Plus, Calla was a thousand times more famous than I was, and she clearly trusted them implicitly. That would’ve been as good a sign as any, even if my gut hadn’t told me I was safe with these women.
