Page 35 of Accidentally Forever
I pressed my lips together, trying not to squeal at the cuteness.
Crew reached out and tapped Nora’s nose. “I promised you. When you’re thirty-five, and if neither one of us is married, I will fight your father to see if I can have your hand in marriage. However, I’m pretty sure you’re going to find someone your own age. I’ll be old and gross by the time our deal works out.”
Nora let out a relieved sigh. “You can never be gross, Crew.” And when she fluttered her eyelashes, Raven and I both burst out laughing as Sebastian growled at the situation.
“Nora Montgomery,” my twin snapped. “Are you serious right now?”
“You always said I had to be ambitious.” She reached out and put her hand in Crew’s, and the man I was slowly, okay, not so slowly, falling in love with, just winked at me.
Crew shook his head. “You have some competition.”
“I see that.” I put my hands on my hips before giving Nora a mock scowl. “You need to stop hitting on my man.”
“So I’m your man?” Crew whispered.
I blushed as Sebastian growled once again.
“First, stop hitting on my sister. Second, Nora, Crew is way too old for you. And you’re never going to date.”
“I love this family,” Raven said as she walked in and gave me a hug.
She took my hand and put it on her belly, because she knew I wouldn’t do it myself. The baby kicked and I sucked in a breath, my eyes prickling with tears. And I couldn’t help but smile at how happy she looked. I knew that Sebastian was worried about the pregnancy. After all he had lost his first wife in childbirth. AndRaven had PCOS, so she had her own worries but did her best not to show them—not that we let her hide them away. They had been surprised when she had gotten pregnant, but I knew they were so excited for this baby. Hell, I was excited for my next niece or nephew.
“How’s Baby Coffee Bean doing?” I asked.
“Just fine. Although I really want coffee of my own. Considering I own and work at a coffee place,” she said, her voice a little strained as she stared at her husband.
Sebastian scowled. “You know the rules. In fact, you’ve been standing for too long. Let’s get you settled with your feet up.”
Raven just rolled her eyes, gave me a look, and let her husband take care of her.
Nora skipped toward her grandparents, and I leaned into Crew, wondering exactly why this felt so right.
“You doing okay?” I asked, my voice low enough that the others couldn’t hear.
“You don’t have to worry about me, Aria. I like your family. I know them. Maybe it makes this part weird, but I don’t really care. They make you happy, and they want what’s best for you. So if they question me like I’m a suspect later, I’ll take it. If I can handle your attitude, I can handle theirs.”
I narrowed my gaze at him, shoving his shoulder. “You were doing so well, so caring, and then you veered right off and were a jerk to me again.”
“I can’t be too sappy. You would think I was a pod person or something. I have to pick at you every once in a while to keep you on your toes.”
“I don’t know why but it makes me happy,” I grumbled.
He pressed a kiss to my temple, ignoring the way that both of my brothers glared at him, and then pulled me toward the group. And once again, everything felt far too right.
Dinner went off without a hitch. Of course my family nudged at me and laughed, but they didn’t poke or prod into my relationship. Even my brothers seemed to only be glaring out of habit rather than necessity. Things felt normal. Except for the fact that every once in a while, Crew would wrap his arm around the back of my chair or graze his knuckles along my knee. Then there was the fact we already had a routine without second thought. I wasn’t a fan of cherry tomatoes on a salad, and Crew didn’t like green olives and only liked black ones. So when we dug into the huge Italian salad my sister had made, I had picked off his olives, and he had done the same with my tomatoes.
While my father had just shaken his head, a small smile playing on his face, I realized that this wasn’t thefirst time we had done this. Crew and I were friends. Yes, we had fallen into each other out of wanting to hide our feelings before, only now there was no hiding.
Except maybe from ourselves.
Us knowing each other’s habits and food preferences wasn’t new. Maybe that’s why it felt like we were going full steam toward whatever came at us. And that worried me. So I wasn’t going to focus on it too carefully.
My phone buzzed as we were cleaning off the table. I looked at the screen, my chest tightening.
Travis:
I’m sorry, boo. You know what happens when I’m in the middle of a project. You just have to remember that sometimes I’m in my own head. But I’m sorry. Can you see me? I miss you.
