Page 72 of Beautiful Crazy
Everett: This time difference is kicking my ass. Just wanted to say hi and that I was thinking of you. ;) I didn’t get a chance to say it last night in my hurry to get packed, but thank you for booking the flight for me. It was a huge help.
“That’s neighbor boy, isn’t it?” Georgia asks, and when I look up from my phone, she’s got a knowing smirk on her face as she pops a hash brown into her mouth.
Breathing out a laugh, I nod. “Yeah, it is.”
Me: How’s your mom doing? I hope you were able to get some sleep on the plane.
As I hit send, Grace chimes in. “Tell him we hope hismom’s okay!” Charley and Georgia hum in agreement, so I type out the second message before placing the phone on the table and getting back to eating.
What Everett mentioned to me last night keeps replaying in my head, and I know I need to tell them and get it off my chest, but why am I so nervous? Either way, I drag in a deep breath and go for it.
“I’ve got to tell you guys something,” I start off with, garnering three sets of curious, and slightly puzzled, eyes on me.
“You’re pregnant,” Grace guesses.
My brows pinch. “What? No.”
“You got married!” Charley tries next.
Staring at her deadpan, I ask, “Now, when the hell would I have had time to do that?”
She shrugs. “It’s not exactly time that you need. Just someone to officiate the whole thing.”
Apparently, Georgia wanted to throw her wacky-ass guess in the ring too. “Everett isn’t actually in Seattle visiting his mom, but instead locked up in your basement as your newest sex slave?”
“Okay, first of all”—I hold up a finger—“you read entirely too much. And secondly, no. Shut up and listen, because I’m actually kind of freaking out about this.”
That sobers them up, which only makes me even more nervous to tell them. God, I’m being freaking ridiculous!He admitted he had feelings for me, so what?
Just spit it out.
“Okay, there’s a slight chance I’m making this bigger than it needs to be, but Everett told me he has feelings for me last night.”
“Like, before he left for the airport?” Grace asks, her brows scrunched together in confusion.
“Right before he found out about his mom, actually.”
Georgia looks from Grace to me, resting her arm on the table as she leans forward. “Babe, did youhonestlythink that man didn’t have feelings for you?”
I flit my gaze between the three of them, finding Charley and Grace both biting back grins. “I mean… yeah?” I respond, not meaning to make that sound like a question. “We agreed to no strings.”
I swear, the more I say this, the less believable it becomes.
Georgia sighs. “Oh, you sweet, innocent woman.” Reaching over, she covers my hand with hers. “I mean this in the nicest way possible, but you, my naive sister, are delusional as hell if you could see the way Everett looks at you and think there’s nothing there. And in the same breath, if you honestly thinkyoudon’t have feelings involved too, then you’re even more delusional than I originally thought.”
I huff, face twisting up. Georgia’s right. I know it, she knows it, everybody at this table knows it, but that doesn’t make it any easier to say out loud. I don’t know why either.
My oldest sister sits back in her chair, taking a drink from her mimosa as her eyes twinkle with mirth from above the glass. “Will somebody help me here?” she murmurs.
“Georgia is right,” Grace adds, earning her a scowl. “I know you guys always poke fun at me about how I’m a hopeless romantic and how I always take things to mean much more than they do, but I fear you’re chronically the opposite.”
Gaze dancing between the three of them, I ask, “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means that you’ve been closed off to the idea of anything even remotely romantic, aside from your books, for so long, I think it’s easy for you to deny what’s right in front of you.” Grace’s features soften as she takes me in, and I know she’s trying to be as gentle but to the point as possible. “And I think it’s easy for you to deny how you feel, even to yourself, because opening yourself up to someone is scary as hell. Even somebody as wonderful as Everett.”
I take in a deep breath, exhaling harshly through my nose.
Is she right?