Page 98 of Wild For You
“Rory,” Kelsey spoke softly as she went to approach her friend, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her back against me. She wasn’t doing this on her own—now or ever.
Talon stepped up next to his wife, mouthing an apology in my direction.
“What’s going on?” Rory repeated, sounding more hurt than angry as she pointed between me and Kelsey.
“We… uh… I mean—” Kelsey started, but I cut her off.
“We’ve been seeing each other.”
“Seeing each other? What does that mean, exactly?”
Rolling my eyes at my sister, I replied, “What it sounds like, Rory. Kelsey and I are in a relationship.”
“For how long? Why didn’t you tell me?” Her eyes went immediately to Kelsey, whose back straightened.
“I… I don’t know exactly. A while.” She shrugged. “I never meant to hurt you, Rory. I didn’t say anything, because your friendship means everything to me. But… I…. We….”
I watched helplessly as her eyes watered as she prepared for her friendship with my sister to deteriorate. But we both underestimated my sibling.
“It’s about time. God, I’ve been walking on eggshells around y’all, waiting for one of you to say something.” She rolledher eyes, popping her hip out sassily as she crossed her arms, then stared at us accusingly.
“Wait… you’re not mad?”
Talon stepped closer to his wife and draped his arm around her shoulders. She immediately leaned into him, her haughtiness subsiding.
“I was at first, but then I realized you two being together makes perfect sense.”
“And the age different doesn’t bother you?” I asked, because outside of Rory finding out, as much as I hated to admit it, I worried what the people in town would think about the gap.
Rory shrugged and explained that Autumn and Alex were married to men quite a bit older than them. “And besides, you’re the most caring and loving person I know, Andrew. I couldn’t have asked for a better person for my best friend. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be sisters one day.”
Squeezing Kelsey’s hand, I replied, “Maybe.”
“How did you find out, anyway? We’ve tried to be extra careful,” Kelsey asked, and I was curious as well.
“At the fair. Talon and I had just parked in front of Alex’s shop. We were walking toward the entrance, when I heard growling coming from the alleyway.” Rory’s cheeks blushed as she continued. “I went to check, and there you two were… um… you know.”
“Why didn’t you say anything then? Or at least when we were walking around?” Kelsey’s hand clenched mine.
“Because I didn’t know what to make of it. Was it a one-off, or were you two a thing? And, I don’t know… I was hoping you would be the one to say something first.” She shrugged. “Iamreally happy about this. I know at first when you arrived, I tried to talk you away from Andrew, but I can see it all worked out as it was supposed to.”
I agreed with Rory, nodding along. If Kelsey hadn’t lost her job all because of her douchebag ex, then I would have had to deal with someone else for my rehab. The weeks alone with Kelsey forced us to get to know each other on a different level than most couples would have the chance at.
“You’re really not mad?” Kelsey asked again, and Rory left the safety of her husband’s arm and walked toward her to embrace her tightly.
“I love you, Kels.” Rory then walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, the same way she always had. “I love you too, Andy. But just know… I’ll be watching you.”
Rolling my eyes, I patted her head like a toddler’s. “I’ll sleep with one eye open. Now, get out of here, squirt.”
I watched Rory’s retreating back as Kelsey snuggled closer to me.
“I can’t believe she knew all along.”
“I can. Rory has always been the one who believed in romantic fairy tales. She made me watchCinderellafor a month straight when she was nine.”
“She loves love.”
“She does.” Looking down at Kelsey’s striking face, I grinned. The marks left by her mom were no longer visible, but I knew the internal ones were going to take a lot longer to heal.
