Page 36 of Fake It Till We Fall
“And what’s that?” I shook my head to clear my mind, trying and failing to appear casual.
“That she belongs here.”
Damn.
“I wasn’t thinking that.”
“Bullshit.”
Annoyed, I turned to glare at him. “What are you even doing here?”
My eldest brother grinned, either unaware that he’d gotten to me, or more likely, completely aware and loving it. “Dinner, obviously,” he said. “I ran into Ethan, and he mentioned you’d invited everyone for dinner.”
I rolled my eyes. “I mentioned it to them after we kicked their ass in a snowball fight. But they declined in favor of a family movie night.”
“Lucky for you I ran into them then. Reid and Avery are joining, too.”
“It wasn’t an open invite.”
He smacked me on the back, laughing. “You should know by now that’s not how this family works.”
I shook my head because he was right and followed him to a corner booth big enough for all of us. “Where’s Lauren tonight?”
Brody’s face shifted; something a little too close to jealousy flashed over his features when he said, “She’s on a date.”
He shrugged casually, but I didn’t miss the tension in his jaw. It was completely beyond me, and pretty much everyone else, why the two of them couldn’t see what was in front of them and stop trying to pretend they werejust friends.
But there was no point saying anything. Besides, Reid and Avery chose that moment to join us. Followed by Willa, who emerged from the kitchen with a broad smile. “Is it okay if I join you all?”
“I insist on it.” I stood and offered her the chair at the end of the table.
“This feels just like old times,” she said after getting settled. “It’s nice.”
“I can’t speak to that,” Avery said. “But I agree, it’s nice.”
A few minutes later, Harper arrived with a basket of warm bread and slid into the booth next to me. I resisted the urge to slip my hand onto her thigh.
Conversation flowed easily. Reid told a story about a new client who’d commissioned an extravagant king-sized bed, and had unrealistic expectations about how long it would take. Brody added a jab about Reid’scustomer service voice, which had Avery laughing so hard she nearly snorted into her water.
Willa shook her head fondly, like she’d seen this scene play out a hundred times before.
I leaned back and let myself soak it all in. The clinking of cutlery. Harper’s warm laugh beside me. My brothers, laughing and joking. It felt easy. Like this was exactly the way things were supposed to be. LikeIwas exactly where I was supposed to be.
“This is nice.” Willa’s eyes shone as she looked around the table. “Having Harper back, the two of you together…” Her eyes locked on me; the warmth reflected at me tugged at my heart. “Seeing you all here,” she continued. “It really feels like Christmas.”
“Speaking of.” Reid tore into another piece of bread. “Make sure you come by the inn and check out the tree Avery set up in the main room. It’s stunning. Like something out of a catalogue.”
Avery rolled her eyes, but I could see the pride in her expression. She put so much of herself into the inn. “Only because you helped with the lights, Reid. I don’t think I could have strung that many strands by myself. Even if you did almost knock the tree over more than once.”
The table erupted in laughter, but Willa shook her head. “I’d love to see it. I haven’t had my own tree in years.”
“What?” My fork froze halfway to my mouth. “No tree?”
Willa waved her hand like it was nothing. “It’s a lot to handle by myself, and this year, Harper’s been so busy with everything…it seems a bit extravagant.”
“It’s not extravagant to have a Christmas tree, Willa.” I shook my head and looked at Harper.
“I thought about it, but things just got?—”
