Page 47 of Spreading Her Wings

“You twoarecute.” Cheryl waved her hand as if to dismiss the joke, placing it on June’s shoulder. “You were right, Aunt June.”

I grinned when Katie blushed next to me, pressing her body back against mine and relaxing when I closed my arms around her. My stomach swirled with excitement when her mom and aunt nodded at each other and moved to close the door.

“As you were,” June said with a small chuckle. “I won’t open the door again without knocking.” She winked, and both women laughed as the door latched.

Katie turned to me, her eyes wide and her mouth open. “That wasso mortifying!”

“Why? They just told you how amazing we are together, even though I was about to nail you against that door, Mrs. Johannson.”

She cringed and rolled her eyes before her face turned completely serious. “All jokes aside, Auston. You can’t say shit like that when Andy and Jules are here this weekend.”

There was no part of me that wanted to hide what the woman had become to me, but I knew by the pale tint that had replaced the usual warm blush in her cheeks that Katie wasn’t going to be open to that. I couldn’t completely blame her. I wasn’t looking forward to telling my twin sister I had convinced her best friend to be my fake girlfriend until I very real married her on a drunken night in Vegas. Would she believe I was head over heels in love with her now?

“What if I want the whole world to know how I feel about you?”

She shuddered when I closed my arms around her. “You know it’s not that simple, Auston. We can’t just show up at dinner and be like, oh, surprise! We’re fucking married now!” Katie held out her ring finger, pointing crudely at the small diamond that sat in the spot. My chest warmed at the sight of the ring.

“Why not?”

I knew I was going to hate her answer before she even said it. “Because you’re my best friend’s brother, and she’s going to feel betrayed by this. Byus.”

An image of my sister flashed across my mind, followed by the look of distrust I’d seen for others. Thinking she might look at me or Katie with that same look made my stomach sink, but looking at the woman in front of me told me I couldn’t care less about it. Katie’s dark-brown hair was in a ponytail, and her eyes were full of everything I hadn’t known I needed. Warmth, love, and a fight.

Grabbing Katie by her hips, I pulled her against me. “She would get over it. Shewillget over it because I’ve meant every word I’ve said, kitten.”

She shivered against me, and I pressed slow kisses to her cheeks before landing one on her lips. “Just humor me, please?” Tears pricked her eyes when she lifted her head to meet my gaze. “I’m not ready to explain this to her. Can we just… not yet?”

My groan was louder than intended, and she shrank in my arms. “I don’t like it, but I love you. If that’s what you need to do, then that’s what we’ll do.”

Katie nodded, laying her head on my chest. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Don’t be.” Then I kissed her in the way you kiss someone you aren’t sure you’ll ever see again.

The image of Katie pulling up to dinner in a separate car and walking in without my arm around her made me angry and sick at the same time. She deserved to be loved loudly and without shame every minute of every day. Did she believe that? Was it just me she didn’t want to share?

I held her to me while she shook in my arms. “I’m also not changing my name,” she mumbled against my shirt.

“What?”

Katie pulled back from me and looked at me, a serious expression painted across her face. “I said I’m not changing my name. I’m not going to be Mrs. Johannson.”

When she said it, a smile tugged at her lips, telling me she didn’t dislike my name as much as she wanted me to believe she did. I winked at her. “Yeah. We’ll see about that.”

Idanced around my living room dusting surfaces that didn’t need it, as if Andy and Jules would judge me. They wouldn’t. There wasn’t a thing out of place, but as I swiped my rag across the bookshelf one last time, I sucked in a deep breath.

They would be here in a few hours, and we were going to go to dinner. It was going to be strange to be so close to Auston without touching him. My fingers already tingled with the need to feel his skin against mine, and I frowned. I considered telling my friends everything.

When my phone rang, I hurried across the room. While grabbing it, I hoped it would be Auston’s name on the screen.Mom.

“Hey, Mom!” I tucked the phone between my ear and shoulder, continuing my path around the living room.

“Honey.” The tone in her voice was followed by the smallsmackof my rag hitting the ground. “Don’t panic.”

It was too late. The panic was overtaking my veins as my heart rate accelerated. “What’s wrong?” My voice was the furthest thing from calm.

“Aunt June isn’t doing very well today. She fell this morning after her shower. Fainted.”

Images of my aunt on the floor of her bathroom alone and scared brought tears to my eyes. “Is she okay?”

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