Page 10 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

No matter how much I wanted it. No matter how bored I was, sitting in my big house alone, staring at the art on the walls.

“I don’t think we can make it.” Hannah gazed up at Wyatt with bright eyes. She chewed her lip and he smiled at her.

Did he look… nervous? I frowned at him.

“Right,” my mom said. “When do you two leave again?”

When Wyatt traveled for surf competitions and brand sponsorships, Hannah joined him. She ran a romance bookstore in town but had a full staff to run the store when she wasn’t around.

Hannah looked up at Wyatt with a private, hesitant smile, and he winked at her. It was that silent communication thing Emmett and Avery did all the time. I looked away.

“Should we tell them?” Hannah asked Wyatt, and he nodded. She sent that hesitant, excited glance around the table at us.

I frowned deeper.

“What is it?” Avery asked.

Wyatt’s face lit up in a proud smile. “The bookworm’s pregnant.” That was his nickname for her.

My stomach bottomed out.

A baby. My heart thumped in my ears. My brother had met the love of his life and now they were going to have a baby. I pictured Wyatt holding a tiny bundle. A strange, tight ache hit me square in the chest.

My mom gasped and jumped up to hug Hannah. “Congratulations, sweetheart!”

“Fuck, yes!” Emmett hit his fist against the table, and the cutlery clanked. “That’s awesome.”

After my mom hugged Hannah, Avery was next. Before they were sisters-in-law, they were best friends, and Avery whispered into Hannah’s ear before she wiped away a tear.

“You ready?” my dad asked Wyatt after giving him a hug.

“Nope.” My brother shot him a lazy grin. “We have no idea what we’re doing.”

“You’ll be fine,” Emmett told him. “You have us.”

I pictured Wyatt and Hannah’s kid growing up, learning to walk, celebrating birthdays surrounded by our family. Learning to ride a bike. Playing with Legos. Me taking the kid to the art gallery and pointing out my favorite paintings.

And then I pictured it as my kid, with someone I loved. With someone who looked at me like Avery looked at Emmett, or Hannah looked at Wyatt.

My heart lurched.

I stood and gave both Hannah and Wyatt a big hug, careful not to crush Hannah. “Happy for you two,” I told them.

Hannah gave me a soft smile. “Thanks, Holden.”

Hannah wasn’t just my sister-in-law, she was my friend, and even if I envied what her and Wyatt had, I was still going to be the best uncle ever.

“I’m going to spoil your kid rotten,” I told her, and she grinned.

* * *

That evening,I returned to my home in the woods, sat on the couch, and stared at the painting hanging in my living room. On the canvas, a faceless, naked couple embraced. His arms curled around her like he was protecting her from the world, and she melted into him like he was a part of her. My heart ached when I stared at it, yet I couldn’t bring myself to part with it.

This painting was everything I wanted, but would never have.

I ran my own company, lived in a beautiful house, and had more money than I knew what to do with, and it still wasn’t enough. Every time I came home to a quiet house, the clawing ache in my chest still demanded attention.

The promise I made to Katherine loomed in the back of my mind, and dread rolled through me.

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