Page 30 of One Quick Obsession

Of course Isabella would be on it. I might be Type A and could get things done with a list like nobody’s business, and yet Isabella could always out-organize me.

I didn’t have a complex at all.

Just as the waitress brought a second bottle of wine and two baskets of bread—I was going to marry her—Ivy showed up in a storm of cheeriness and bright smiles.

As a nature photographer, she was outside more than not, and though she wore plenty of sunscreen and hats as well as all sun protection possible, she was currently sporting a golden tan in a time where most people were just starting to see sunlight again after hibernating in the winter.

“I’m so glad I could make it. There’s a blizzard happening in the next town, and it’s sunny here. I was worried that the bridge would be closed, but there was no storm here. Shocking.”

I pulled out my phone and frowned. “Did I know there was a blizzard? I should.”

“It’s miles away and won’t affect the resorts. You’re off work tonight,” Isabella chided.

I set down my phone and tried not to think about all the little things I might be missing.

“Sorry. Hi, Ivy. So good to see you.” I reached out and squeezed her hand, and she beamed at me.

“I love seeing you too. I feel like it’s been forever. And not just a few weeks.”

“So tell us where you were. Tell us everything.” I poured her a glass of wine and then filled mine up as well. I couldn’t help it. I needed that drink.

When we were all settled, Jackie came to take our order, and I sank back into the chair, listening as my friends spoke about their weeks.

It was odd to think that the last time we had truly done this, I’d been with Ronin. And each of my talking points would have been about him, and what we would be doing. I had thought I’d found the one. The person who I would spend the rest of my life with and create a future with. I had been oh so wrong. To the point that I could have broken everything. My hands fisted on my fork, and I forced myself to move back and focus on the people in front of me. They were who mattered. They were my future.

Not a man I thought I could trust and had been wrong about.

“When we go down to Denver, I’m going to go and kidnap Ford’s son,” Isabella said.

I blinked. “What?” I asked, apparently not having fully been paying attention.

The girls laughed, and I set down my fork, wondering perhaps if I’d had too much wine.

“My brother Ford? He and his spouses have their nine-month-old son Micah. And I’m going to kidnap him for an auntie day.”

Now I was really confused. “An auntie day?”

“It’s a day where I can be the aunt and spoil him. He’s still a baby, but he has those little biteable cheeks and legs, and I’m going to kidnap him and spoil him to my heart’s content.”

“That sounds perfect,” I said, my heart aching just a bit.

“You’ll be able to do that with Luna once she decides if she wants kids,” Ivy said with a smile.

I nearly choked on my wine. Was this glass three? Four? It didn’t matter. I was feeling good. “I would love to be an aunt, and I hope that Luna provides me that recourse sometime, but I’m not going to pressure her into becoming a mom and starting a family. Of course, she might need to find someone to do that with, but for all I know, she has a secret boyfriend.”

What the hell was I saying? I was the one with secrets. Not that Hudson was my boyfriend, or mine in any way. But I had kissed him. Did I say that out loud? No. I was still safe.

“We should totally text her right now and see if she has a secret boyfriend,” Harper said as she clapped her hands. “I know she’s coming up soon so we can work on planning the wedding, but I feel like I don’t see her enough.”

“That’s what happens when we all grow up and move to different places,” Ivy said with a shrug. “My home is here, and yet I’m rarely in it. So I don’t know when I’ll have time to start with the whole family and baby-making.”

“We’ll be perfect aunts when the time comes,” Isabella said. “Plus, since Harper’s marrying into the family, we’ll be co-aunties, and because I have one hundred siblings, there’s going to be a glorious number of them.”

“So many little nibblings,” I teased.

“Exactly,” Isabella said with a snap of her fingers. “Aston and Blakely are having a baby soon, and I know Kane and Phoebe are talking about it.” She turned to Harper. “I know you guys are waiting.”

“Yes. Waiting. Probably a long while.”