Page 49 of A Little Twist

“Okay…” She exhales heavily. “But it’s going to be hard.”

“That’s what she said,” I quip, pulling the ring off my finger and shoving it into my pocket. “Now dry your eyes. We’ll tell everyone at the right time. Trust me.”

I wish I sounded as confident as Alex does when he says those words to me, but in reality, I’ve never pulled a stunt like this, and I’m scared as shit over how it’s going to play out.

* * *

It’safter five when we finally return to the house. I invite Adam and Owen to join us for supper because Adam is an incredible cook, and Alex and I have already copped to being expert re-heaters. I’m not sure how that’s going to play out.

Parking the car, I let Pinky out before going to the trunk to remove the box of bachelorette supplies. “Would you mind taking Pinky inside? I’ve just got to carry this upstairs.”

Owen takes his little cousin’s hand, but Adam walks straight to where I’m holding the enormous box.

“Give me that.” He lifts it out of my hands. “You’re in the garage apartment?”

“It’s not that heavy.” I step back crossing my arms. “I could’ve taken it up there myself.”

“I’ll meet you inside.”

He enters the garage, and I follow the kids around to the side door. Alex is standing at the bar in the kitchen in those ass-hugging jeans and that muscled-chest-and-biceps-hugging Henley. His hair is perfectly messy, and when they enter, Pinky lets out a loud, “Daddy!”

I pause a moment to watch him scoop up his little redhead and give her a hug, and it’s so adorable, I’m pretty sure I ovulate. He’s such a good daddy.

“I’ve got the latestFortniteon the Xbox,” he tells Owen, who lets out a little hoot and gives him a high-five before taking off to the living room.

Pinky starts squirming to get down, and the minute her feet hit the floor, she runs after her cousin.

Alex looks up, and our eyes meet through the glass door. It’s a silent earthquake. His smile is warm liquid in my veins, and I want to walk straight into his arms, kiss his lips, and tuck my nose in his neck, inhaling his warm cedar and soap scent.

He walks over to open the door for me, hazel eyes roaming my body. “Hey.” It’s a low vibration in the charged air around us.

“Hey.” My reply is higher, softer.

“Everything go okay today?”

I nod, stepping closer so I can put my hand on his forearm as he leads me into the house. “I did just what you said. I told Piper we were keeping it quiet for now. We didn’t even tell Adam.”

Not that it was hard. Adam’s eyes followed my friend like she was a mountain begging to be climbed, which she didn’t even seem to notice.

When Piper said she had to check in at the paper, Adam said he had to pick up donations for the church’s food bank. Ryan stayed with us, and I spent the afternoon teaching Pinky a kid-friendly dance routine to “Fergalicious” while the boys threw a baseball back and forth.

“Tell me what?” Adam’s voice elicits a little yelp from me.

We both turn to face him, and he starts to laugh. “You two couldn’t look any more guilty if you tried. What are you hiding?”

“Nothing!” My voice is too high, and my brain is spinning. “We, ah, we were…”

Alex steps in and finishes my sentence. “We were going to offer to keep Owen for you the rest of the week. To give you a break.”

He shakes his head like he doesn’t buy it, but he plays along. “Nah, I told Owen he could help me in the community garden tomorrow. I like him working with me.”

He continues past us, and I put my hands on my face, peeping through my fingers at Alex. He winks and hooks a finger through mine in response, pulling me into the house. The familiar move makes my insides all squishy and warm.

Like Piper, I never considered him a possibility before. He was always so smart and fine and distant. Now I’m practically obsessed with him.

“Let me help you with that.” He goes to where Adam is dragging leftover reception food out of the refrigerator.

“I’ll chop up some fresh veggies and sauté them together…” Adam is already spinning his culinary magic when I go to where Pinky is hanging on her cousin in front of the television.

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