Page 115 of Wanted You More

It’s his father who says, “It was only a matter of time before that happened.”

A ghost of a smile tilts Noah’s lips as he bends over to peck the crown of my head. He whispers, “I bet you twenty bucks Mom is going to welcome you into the family.”

Elizabeth hears that and walks over, swatting his arm. “Oh, hush. There’s never been a moment when she wasn’t already part of it.”

To prove it, she pulls me into her arms for a giant hug.

And it doesn’t take long to return it, squeezing her as tightly as I would my own mother. She says, “Welcome to the family, sweetie.”

Noah snorts.

All I say is, “Shut it, Kingsley.”

His dad laughs. “All right, kids. We’ve got a graduation ceremony to get ready for and we figured we’d take you out for a celebratory breakfast. You hungry, Austen?”

It’s the boy who takes my hand who says, “When is she not hungry, Dad?”

SUMMER 2023

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

My best friendthrows a balled-up napkin at me, peeling my attention away from my phone to the girl who’s been on the other side of the country for far too long. “Sorry, what did you say?”

Marybelle groans dramatically. “I knew you weren’t listening. I’m telling you about the best sex of mywhole lifeand you’re probably thinking about Noah.”

The guy she’s been talking about for the past forty minutes is twice her age. I’m not surprised he has experience. “He’s old enough to be your dad,” I tell her, picking up the chocolate milkshake and dipping a fry in it. “I’d be shocked if he didn’t know how to have good sex.”

She rolls her eyes. “Most men don’t even know what a clit is, regardless of their age.” Stealing a fry, she pops it into her mouth. “How are things going with lover boy?”

I can’t help but smile a little. “They’re fine. Good.” I’m back home with Dad and Wolfe, but I have sleepovers at Noah’s when he isn’t too tired from work now that he’s started at the law firm. He still volunteers as an EMT every other weekend, so we don’t always get as much time together as I want. “We’re having dinner tomorrow night.”

“And the skank?”

Shooting her a look at the reference she uses for Bailey, I say, “Don’t call her that.”

She shrugs. “Fine. Is she finally leaving him alone? If I were you, I’d go psycho if I knew they were still in contact.”

It isn’t like I’ve asked Noah if they’re speaking, but he hasn’t said anything about it. If they were, wouldn’t he bring it up? He doesn’t check his phone when it goes off, and on the off chance it does, it’s usually work-related or his family.

I shake it off. “She has to have moved on,” I theorize, grabbing another fry. “Let’s not talk about it anymore. You still haven’t told me about work.”

The face she makes has me wondering what must have happened other than her hooking up with some old guy. “It wasn’t what I expected it to be, but I guess it could be worse.”

That’s all she’s going to give me? “The last thing you told me was how pissed you were at your boss because all she’d let you do is fetch papers from the copier and transcribe meeting minutes when she wasn’t demanding coffee.”

She takes a fry and stares at it a little too thoughtfully. “Promise you won’t be mad?” Her eyes peek up at me, making me a little nervous.

I reach for her hand. “What is it?”

“He’s her husband.”

“He’s—” Confusion sinks in for a second, but I stop myself when I realize what she’s talking about. “Oh my God, Marybelle! You’re screwing your boss’s husband?”

She shushes me as if the few people around us are going to rat her out. “Chill!”

How can I be chill? “I’m surprised, is all. I know you like to test the waters, but you can really screw yourself out of everything you’re building if you’re not careful.”

Marybelle makes a disgruntled noise and steals my milkshake for a sip. “What am I risking? I barely get paid minimum wage and for what? To be disrespected. They don’t even love each other. He said they’re in an open marriage.”

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