Page 37 of One and Only

“Can’t really say I know what that’s like,” I admitted.

Her eyes were soft, her words tentative. “No family?”

I shook my head. “Parents have been gone a long time. No siblings.” I glanced at her. “Just me and Olive.”

“And me now,” she added.

My chest warmed at the easy way she inserted herself into our family picture. “And you.”

Greer gently nudged my shoulder against hers. “I hope you’re ready for the rest of the Wilder family, Beckett. They’re gonna love you.”

Chapter7

Beckett

Nothing was going right.

I was late, and I hated being late.

Olive spilled all over her dress, and that set off a tantrum that I hadn’t seen from her in months. It took close to an hour to calm her down and get her settled into the car so I could return her to Josie’s.

The domino effect of that was that I couldn’t pick up Greer the way we’d planned, and I’d be showing up at her parents’ house alone.

She’d been understanding when I texted her. I didn’t even have the emotional bandwidth to call after I dropped Olive off at Josie’s because all the unexpected stress of my afternoon and the expected stress of my meeting the Wilders was compounding into one epically bad mood for my drive east to the small town of Sisters.

I’d been there once before—for a charity event with Parker and a few other teammates. But his parents hadn’t been able to come, so I’d never met them.

Now I was going to walk into a house full of people by myself—Greer’s warnings of how loud and chaotic it always was meant I wouldn’t be taking Olive—and pretend that I was head over heels in love with someone I hardly knew.

“Fuck,” I muttered darkly, a glance at my dashboard clock showing a time that had my knuckles tightening on the steering wheel. Sisters was a two-hour drive from my house, and even though Greer assured me it was fine that she temporarily relocated from her apartment downtown, the distance didn’t make events like this very convenient.

The sun was still in the sky as I turned onto their tree-lined driveway, which wound back through acres of wooded property. Set out of sight from the road and in the middle of a massive clearing in the fir trees was a sprawling two-story wood cabin.

From a stone chimney in the middle of the roof was a friendly curl of smoke even though it was a mild spring day. The open porch wrapped all the way around the house, bikes lined up against the logs, and chairs grouped for conversation between the tall windows.

It was a well-loved home, that much was obvious. Pulling my car next to Greer’s, I let out a deep breath, trying to get a handle on why this felt so much different from when Greer bulldozed into my house two nights earlier and had Josie eating out of her hand in less than ten minutes.

Maybe it was because I was supposed to arrive with her, allowing some of her contagious energy to pull the focus off me. Now, there was no distraction.

Just me walking into their home, ready to tell the biggest lie of my life.

Yes, I love your daughter, and yes, I want to marry her.

My hands tightened on the wheel before I pushed the door open, and I had to pull Olive’s face into my mind.

It was the only thing that could get me through this.

She was the only thing that could get me to do this in the first place.

I thought of her as she wailed under the covers, unable to calm herself enough to let me see her.

Lifting my chin, I exited the car and breathed a short sigh of relief when Greer slipped from the front door to meet me on the porch.

“You found it,” she said. Her smile—bright and fierce—was like a punch to my chest. She genuinely looked happy to see me, and I couldn’t figure out if it was just easier for her to manage this entire thing, or if my soon-to-be wife actually enjoyed my company.

“I’m so sorry I’m late.” I scrubbed a hand over my face and exhaled heavily. “I hope you didn’t wait to eat until I got here.”

With a quick glance over her shoulder, Greer sidled closer. From the inside of the house, it might look like we were kissing, and my stomach tightened at the thought of Greer’s lips.

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