Page 22 of Fake It Till We Fall
He left the beer and moved quickly around the bar to give me a strong hug. “And welcome back to the family,” he whispered into my ear. When he pulled away, he winked and I glanced at Grayson, who only shook his head.
“Harper!” I turned to see Brody, holding out his arms for a hug as well. “So great to see you again.” He squeezed me tight.
I’d already seen him a few times when he came to pick up take-out from the restaurant.
There was once a time when these men felt like my own brothers. When we were kids, they’d all welcomed me into their family as one of their own. Those years felt like a very long time ago, but seeing them again brought all those feelings rushing back.
When Brody released me, Ethan grabbed my arm again. “Harper, I want you to meet my fiancée, Delaney.”
I turned to see a beautiful woman, her dark hair up in a twist on the top of her head, standing next to Ethan.
“She owns Plot Twist next door.”
I held out my hand, but the woman pulled me in for a hug. “It’s so nice to meet you in person,” she said. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“You have?”
“All good things.” Delaney said. “And your food is amazing,” she added. “Quinn can’t stop talking about the lasagna. And she’s a tough critic.”
“Your daughter. Wow.” I turned to Ethan, who nodded. “I still can’t believe you have a daughter.”
“She’s an amazing kid,” Delaney said with a genuine smile. “You’ll love her.”
“I’m sure I will.” I shook my head as I tried to take it all in.
“A lot has changed.” Grayson slipped his hand into mine.
I turned to look at him. “It has,” I said softly.
“But some things are still the same, hey?” Brody slapped Grayson on the back and gestured obviously to our clasped hands. “It’s good to see the two of you together again.”
My face flushed as a few heads turned in our direction.
Grayson squeezed my hand, grounding me. “Right,” he said. “And with that, we’re going to go. We just wanted to pop in and say hello.”
“I’m so glad you did.” Delaney’s smile was so welcoming and warm, I liked her at once. “We’ll see you soon, Harper.”
“Definitely.”
With a few more goodbyes, Grayson ushered me back outside into the cold December air. “Well? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“Your brothers always were so great,” I said honestly. “It’s nice to see them again. I can’t wait to see little Preston and Reid, too, of course.”
“Little Preston isn’t so little anymore.” Grayson laughed. “And Reid, well…he’s married now.”
“Married. Wow. Things really have changed.”
And some things are still the same. I looked down at our hands.
We reached the door of the restaurant, and with his hand still in mine, Grayson spun me so we faced each other.
“Thank you for tonight,” I said. “For going along with all of this.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” His voice was low, almost rough.
Before I could ask what he meant, his free hand came up to cup my cheek. The simple touch stole the breath from my lungs. His thumb brushed beneath my eye. Featherlight and hesitant, like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to touch me at all.
Then he leaned in.
