Page 49 of Spreading Her Wings

“Oh, you already have help!” Jules tilted her head towards her shoulder, raising an eyebrow but quickly shrugging it off when Auston picked up the empty glasses. “I guess all it took for the two of you to get along was not seeing each other for six months, huh?”

She and Auston laughed, and I tried to make the forced cackle sound natural but failed. When Jules grabbed a bottle of wine from the counter and followed him to the living room, I breathed a sigh of relief. I followed them with the last of the wine. Auston had taken my seat on the couch, and the two armchairs were filled by Demetri and William.

The only remaining chair was on the other side of the couch, and when I sat down, I could feel Auston following the movement. I faced him, meeting his eyes when I took a sip of wine. His features softened when I offered him a small smile, but the skeptical stare in his eyes didn’t flicker.

I touched the spot on my finger that sat bare tonight, and my stomach clenched. The missing metal band had become a comfort the last couple of weeks, and I pictured the spot it was sitting in on my nightstand. Should I put it on?

I looked at Auston, considering he might be right. What would Andy say if we told her we were together? More than together, we were married.I loved him.

“Okay, let’s get serious for a minute, though.” Andy set her glass on the table, turning sideways on the couch and facing Auston. She pulled his attention to her. “I talked to Sky for a bit when I found out she was going to be here this weekend, and she told me you have agirlfriend?” Her voice was almost shrill, the shock carrying the disappointment that she didn’t hear the news from Auston first.

My stomach sank, and I took a long gulp. Auston’s shoulders stayed relaxed, and there wasn’t any added tension in his back when she brought it up. “Yeah, I should’ve told you, huh?”

“You think?” Andy shouted at him, punching his shoulder. “I shouldn’t have had to hear it from the woman we allthoughtyou were in love with. Who is she? Where did you meet? Is it serious? When do I get to meet her?”

Auston rolled his eyes, but her words danced in my head. Sky was in town? Why didn’t Auston tell me? I tried to hide the shock on my face, masking it with disinterest, but red heat burned my neck.

“Can you interrogate him at dinner? I’m starving,” Jules whined, placing her hands on her stomach and pouting.

“Me too,” I added. I jumped up from the chair, collecting the empty bottles from the coffee table and shuffling into the kitchen to put them in the sink. I took a couple of deep breaths as I gripped the counter. How was I going to get through this night?

It wasn’t a surprise that we were eating at a nice restaurant, one I’d have never gone to if the Carlisle brothers weren’t picking up the tab. When we walked in, I felt underdressed, but I wasn’t worried anybody was going to stare at me once we got seated. There was only one person staring at me—or at least only one I noticed.

I had chosen the seat on the opposite side of the table from him for a reason. I needed to be able to ignore him during dinner, as impossible as that would be. It felt like his stare was burning through me, and all I wanted to do was run my hands along his arms. As he talked, I was continuously drawn to the butterfly on his neck.

My tattoo itched slightly under the sleeve of my sweater, and I patted my hand against it. Auston had warned me it would itch when it started to heal, but he also told me I can’t scratch it. When he flicked his eyes in my direction and saw me patting my arm, he smiled. I stopped, tucking my arms under the table and making sure my sleeve covered the tattoo.

When I was sure the sleeve was securely in place, I mindlessly stared at his tattoo, watching the way his throat moved when he swallowed or talked. I wanted to kiss the spot above the butterfly’s wings.

“Okay, seriously. You need to tell me about this girlfriend. I’m so mad you didn’t tell me about having one in the first place!” Andy had genuine frustration on her face when she faced her brother, followed by a glimmer of betrayal. “You’ve always told me everything…”

“I just hadn’t had the chance to tell you.” Auston grabbed her hand and comforted her, shooting a small glance towards me from the corner of his eyes. I tried to swallow the guilt with my wine. “I am pretty sure you’d love her. She’s funny, confident, and she has one of those laughs that fills the room, and you can’t help but laugh with her. And she’s beautiful.Fuck. She’s absolutely stunning.”

I stared at him, forgetting we were at a table full of people when my heart skipped a beat and my chest felt like it was fluttering. When he turned his gaze towards me, my breath hitched in my throat. A small smile tugged at my lips.

Andy stood up, throwing her arms around her brother. “Aww, I’m so happy for you! You deserve perfect!” She planted a kiss on the side of his head. “But if she hurts you, I’ll hunt her down and kill her. Okay? Okay.”

A chill traveled down my spine, knowing Andy meant every word of it. I didn’t want to hurt Auston, though. Another urge to climb into his lap across the table caused a restless tinglingto grow in my legs. “I need to use the restroom,” I announced, jolting up from my seat and making my way to the corner of the restaurant that held the elegant white sign with black cursive letters.

I sat in the stall, taking deep breaths and holding them for five seconds. “This is sofucked,” I whispered, holding my breath and hoping nobody else was in the bathroom. My phone buzzed in the clutch purse I held in my lap.

AUSTON

Are you okay?

ME

Not at all. I can’t do this.

Shoving my phone back in my purse, I stood up from my spot perched on the closed toilet seat lid. It didn’t buzz again, and I washed my hands, half expecting it to go off before I walked out of the bathroom. When it didn’t, I threw the bathroom door open and stepped into the small hallway leading back to the dining room.

A hard body framed me against the wall, a tattooed hand quickly bringing a finger to my lips to shush me. The familiar smell of Auston’s cologne surrounded me, and I settled against the wall, accepting the familiarity of my new favorite scent. He had become the person to comfort me over the past couple of months, and when I reached out and touched his chest, the tears pricked my eyes again.

“Kitten,” he said in a low voice, using his finger to guide my chin and gaze up to meet his, “I can’t do this either.”

My heart sank, and I moved my finger back to the empty spot where my ring should sit. I opened my mouth, fighting to findthe words to accept what I had already told him in a text. He shushed, interrupting me.

“We should tell them.”

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