Page 66 of Love Redesigned
He pulled me into a giant hug. I always forgot how giant of a man Darius was until he hugged me. It literally felt like I disappeared into his arms.
“For Thanksgiving dinner with you? Don’t you know it.”
“Truly? What about your Mom?”
“My sister flew in from Chicago to be with her,” Darius said. “She’s staying until next week so I’m all yours.”
“Don’t let him fool you,” Chase said, slipping an arm around Darius’s waist. “When I told him you were cooking a Thanksgiving meal for you,andAlex,andIsaac, all at the same table, he wasn’t about to miss those fireworks.”
Darius shot Chase a wide-eyed look. “That is not what I said.” He looked back at me. “You know we’re here for you, Dani. No matter what.”
I smiled. “I know. And I love you for it. You’re going to be nice to him though, right?”
Chase motioned like he was cleaning out his ears. “I’m sorry, what was that? It sounded like you were expressing concern over whether or not we planned to beniceto Alex Randall.”
“I know. Shocking. I guess seeing him again has maybe made me realize it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. And you guys were his friends, too.”
Darius wiped a fake tear from his eye. “Chase, our baby girl is growing up.”
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously. You guys are the worst.”
Darius grinned. “Alex actually texted me the other day. We’ve been chatting back and forth. It’s cool.”
Chase pouted. “What? He texted you but not me? Why are you always everyone’s favorite?”
“Raw charisma, baby,” Darius said. “Raw charisma.”
“Speaking of texts, I just texted you,” I said, motioning to Darius. “Have you heard back from your uncle?”
Darius grimaced. “About that. Ididhear back, but I’m not sure you’re going to be on board with Reggie’s reply.”
“What? Why? Doesn’t he just need to say yes or no?”
“Oh!” Chase said. “I almost forgot! There’s actually another surprise for you in the car.”
Darius motioned to the car with his head. “Go ahead. I’ll fill you in later.”
“What is it?” I asked, peering around Chase’s shoulder toward the car.
“Go open up the passenger side door and see for yourself,” he said with a wide grin.
I ran around Chase’s car and pulled open the door. Paige flung her arms out wide and smiled. “Surprise!”
“Paige!” I pulled her out of the car and into a hug. “What are you doing here?”
“Languishing in the car, apparently.” She shot Chase a dour look.
He mouthed a silent sorry in her direction.
“Are you here for Thanksgiving, too?” I asked her.
“I’m here until the wedding,” she said. “Mom’s been pestering me to come and help her finalize all the plans anyway, and without work to keep me in the city, I figured, why not?”
“What will Reese do without you?” I asked, not that I really cared. Reese was getting her for life. I was thrilled to have my best friend all to myself for another month.
“Oh, he’ll be fine. It’s what, seven weeks until the wedding? Plus, he’s coming down for Christmas and I’m sure I’ll fly back up to New York at least once.” She took my hands, squeezing them in her own. “Now. How are you? How are things with Alex?”
I raised my shoulders in a shrug. “Good, I think? Weird. Awkward. Sometimes I think it’s getting easier to be around him as a friend, but then he’ll walk through the room and I won’t be able to focus on anything other than how good he looks in a pair of jeans.”
