Page 34 of Feels Like Home

I sink slowly into the seat I had just stood from. “What?”

He sits down and pulls his chair in front of me so we’re facing each other. He leans over and takes my hands in his. “I finally got a hold of Heather’s sister and found out where she’s staying. Lawyer had the papers ready to go, so he sent them over. Served hertoday.”

“Are you… I mean. Wow. Are youokay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asks, looking back and forth between my eyes, thumb rubbing against the back of myhand.

I bite my lip, and his eyes drift briefly to the movement. I look down at our linked hands and take a deep breath then lift my eyes back up to his. “Have you heard fromher?”

He shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders. When he leans back against his seat, our hands separate. The loss of his touch against my hand is felt immediately, and I have to fight to not reach out and grab his hand in mine again, wanting and needing the calm it brings me. He rakes his hands through his hair as he looks into the living room and back to me again. It’s grown out so much since that first day he walked into Dreamin’ Beans. Sometimes he even wears it in a man bun, something I never thought I’d be attracted to. Until now, that is. Before I can stop myself, I reach up and push some strands out of his face. The curls are soft between my fingers. He closes his eyes briefly and leans into mytouch.

“I don’t expect to. She’s… well, she’s not the same person I married. Or at least, not the same person I thought I married. I figure we’ll hear from her again when she empties out the house. We have an offer, so she needs to get her shit unless she wants it all to go to the thriftstore.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper when I don’t know what else tosay.

He shakes his head back and forth a few times. “Don’t be. I’m not. She’s not worth it,right?”

“I just want you to be happy,” I tellhim.

“I am.” He leans forward again, bracing his elbows on his knees and cocks his head sideways. “You’re part of the reason for that. A hugepart.”

I smile and look away. “Let’s get this table cleaned up so we can join thekids.”

“Sounds like a goodplan.”

We clean up quickly, putting away the leftover chili in the fridge and loading everything we can into the dishwasher and start itup.

He pops some popcorn, and I raise an eyebrow at him, considering we justate.

“They’re fourteen-year-old boys, sweetheart. They both have hollowlegs.”

I giggle and grab the bowls from the cupboard he motioned to, fill them up with popcorn, and make our way into the living room only to stop dead in ourtracks.

Bri is sitting on Aidan’s back while he keeps switching his controller from one hand to the next while Reece sits on his beanbag chair laughing and recording it with hisphone.

“It’s my turn!” Bri shouts at him, and from the sound of it, she’s only partlyteasing.

“No, it’snot!”

She sticks her finger in her mouth and pulls it out with a loud pop. “I’ll give you a wetwilly!”

I share a look with Andy, and we both laugh hard enough to double over. “I take it they’re getting along.” I smile at him, and he pulls me in for a hug with his arm around my neck. Andy kisses the top of my head, and I sighcontently.

“Gross! Don’t youdare!”

“Then give me the controller, youtwerp!”

“No way! I thought girls were supposed to benice!”

“Don’t call me agirl!”

Clearly, she grew up with a boy for her bestfriend.

Boy turned boyfriend, butstill.

Andy guides us to sit on the couch together, him planting me right next to him, watching the three of them argue and fight over controllers. Bri finally wins the battle, boasting by doing a little dance. Reece laughs so hard he falls on the ground, abandoning his phone from recording the entire thing. After playing Xbox for a while, they eventually move to the basement to play foosball. Their raucous laughter from downstairs has warmth spreading through mybody.

Andy pulls me closer, and I tuck my legs up on the couch next to me. “It’s gonna happen,” he murmurs, the same words he spoke earlier. “But I won’t do this until I’m officially out, Christine. I won’t put you in the position of being the otherwoman.”

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