Page 86 of Falling for You

The air in the room is filled with tension yet again.

“I’m so sorry I was a coward like my mother. I’m sorry that I chose to protect myself from the fear of your rejection over the risk of getting to know you. I should have tried, taken a chance. You deserved more than that.Ideserved more than that, too.”

“I’m sorry, too. You’re right — we both deserved more. You need to know this, though. I wanted to. Still want to know you. You said there were a lot of times you picked up the phone?”

She nods and he continues. “It was the same for me. I kept saying to myself that I would do it, then I would lose the courage. I’m a wuss.”

“Well, yeah, I wasn’t going to say it, but… you kind of are.”

He chuckles and he watches her as she slowly lifts a trembling hand to cup his face. I hold my breath. It’s the first time either Chloe or Ethan have made a move to touch each other, or get close, for that matter. Her hands pause as she stares at him. “There’s a resemblance.”

“A little one, yeah.” Ethan agrees. “Obviously, the eyes. But, there’s more.”

Chloe’s lower lip trembles and I fight the urge to take her in my arms. “I’m so sorry. I fucked up,” she says. She doesn’t curse often and the expletive coming out of her mouth momentarily shocks me. But what happens next damn near puts me on the floor.

My best friend is wearing a fluffy dress because a little three-year-old girl begged him to, breaks down in tears right there in front of us. Chloe makes the space between them disappear and launches herself at him, wrapping her slender arms around his neck as they both weep in each other’s arms.

I hear Liv’s gasp across the room, her hand flies to her mouth before she joins in the tearful party. I look around, stunned by the events that just occurred.

I move over to where Liv is standing, let her cry on my shoulder as Chloe and Ethan continue to hold onto one another.

“Uh, is everything okay in here?” Zeus #1 says, interrupting like a rude fucker.

I glare at him and growl. “Get outta here. Penny’s in charge until we come out.”

“O-kay?” He scampers out of the office quickly, probably confused as hell why Ethan is dressed like a female and crying while holding a woman who isn’t his wife while his wife is wrapped up in my arms.

Though, because I’m pretty sure he’s dating Penny along with his friend, I don’t think he has much room for judgment.

As soon as the door clicks behind him, Chloe starts giggling. Not sure if it’s because of nervousness or just plain being uncomfortable. Maybe both.

“Is that one of the guys Penny’s in a ménage with?”

Liv jerks in my arms and wipes at her nose with a tissue on Ethan’s desk.

“I’m sorry. What?”

“I’m pretty sure Penny is doing the Zeus twins,” I admit.

“Okay. I think I need to sit down. This is way too much information for one night and I’m way too pregnant to handle it all.”

Ethan doesn’t appear stunned by what I just admitted, though he won’t stop looking at Chloe.

“You’re my sister, huh?”

“Seems like it. Although, we can get blood tests to be sure.”

“I don’t need it. Your eyes give you away.”

“Right! I knew they were so familiar when she was doing my hair for Lily’s wedding!” Liv shouts from the couch.

Ethan chuckles at the lightness in Liv’s voice. The situation might be heavy, far more than any of us are truly equipped to handle, but I can’t help but see the divine intervention here. If I hadn’t met Chloe, she and Ethan might not have met under a good circumstance. “And my baby sister is dating my best friend.”

“Wow.” Liv says, giggling. “My, my, how the tables have turned, huh, babe?”

“What am I missing?” Chloe asks, sniffling a bit. Ethan hands her a tissue and she blows her nose and comes to stand next to me after dropping the tissue in the trash.

I step in to explain. “Ethan is good friends with Olivia’s older brother, Owen. He’s here, somewhere.”

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