Page 33 of Just Our Secret

Part of me wanted to add that he also had Uncle Wade as a great influence, but now that Uncle Wade had shared my bed, there was something gross about thinking of him like that. Plus, I didn’t think bringing him up to Sandy in that way would be a good idea after she’d likely just spotted us making out like a couple of teenagers.

“Well, I’ll let you two get back to your holiday shopping,” Sandy said with a little glint of mischief in her smile. “I have book club with both of your moms next week. When you see yours, Andi, tell her I said I loved this month’s pick.”

Clearly, she could have told my mom that she’d loved the book during book club, so I was pretty sure that comment was purely to remind us that she’d be hanging out with our moms. Whether or not she planned to tell them what she saw, I wasn’t sure. As nice as she was, Sandy did like to gossip.

“I will,” I replied, keeping my posture casual. “Good to see you.”

“You too,” she replied, nodding at Wade as he waved at her with a stunted smile on his face.

When she was gone, Wade and I slowly turned to look at each other. His eyes were wide and his lips were scrunched up tightly. “Andi.”

“Wade.”

“What the shit? Did she basically say she’s going to tell our moms about us?”

I covered my face with my hands. “I don’t know.”

“I feel like she did. I feel like that was a very clear message.”

Looking back up at him, seeing the stress on his handsome face, I frowned. “Are you sure Connor is the only reason we’re keeping this a secret?”

“What?”

“I don’t know. I mean, if we tell people, it makes it official.”

He raised a brow. “Okay.”

I looked away from him, unease swirling within me as I scanned the faces of the people attending the festival. “It’s just that… ugh, well, maybe there’s something about the appeal of sneaking around behind Connor’s back that you’re into? Chad definitely seemed to like that, and then once we did it, it was like whatever. The thrill of the chase, the rush of the secret. Shit like that. Is that what this is? You don’t want it to come out because then that would end?”

Wade’s mouth popped open, then he shocked me by grabbing my hand and leading me out of the center of the marketplace. We stopped next to a wall, my brain clearing without the overstimulation of the people and music and smells of the festival.

I had my back to the cold bricks, and he stood over me, a wall of hard muscle. He grabbed the tops of my arms and dipped his head so he could look into my eyes. “That’s not what this is. I fucking promise. You have no idea how long I’ve liked you. It goes back so far I don’t even remember myself. In the beginning, I didn’t act on it because I was a scared kid, and I didn’t think you liked me like that. And then after what happened with Chad, well, fuck, that’s obvious. But I swear to God, Andi, there’s no weirdfetishyfeeling about sneaking around with you. I’d shout it from the rooftops if it wouldn’t mean I’d lose my best friend in the process. Okay?”

I nodded, feeling foolish for trying to put that on him. Of course, he wasn’t like that. He wasn’t Chad. And besides, Chad didn’t know—or maybe didn’t care—about the consequences of Connor finding out about us. So, to him, sneaking around was fun. But there was nothing fun about the potential for Wade to lose his best friend.

“Sorry,” I said meekly, pulling my lips to the side.

Wade wrapped me in a hug and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “You don’t have to apologize. But I’m in this for real. Whatever happens. No matter how much it will suck. At the end of the day, you’re not the one who is going to get left when this blows up. Got it?”

I nodded against his chest and snuggled up closer to him. I hated how much I loved him. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t let him risk his friendship with Connor like this. But because I did, I also didn’t have a choice.

* * *

We were onlyan hour into the gathering, but so far, Thanksgiving had been awkward as hell. I’d reminded Wade as much as I could since our run-in with Sandy that she wasn’t even going to see our moms until next week, so there was nothing to be nervous about tonight. But still, his energy was way off. He was stiff, edgy, and short with everyone. It came off like nerves rather than aggression, so that was good, but since my family knew him so well, they kept asking him what was wrong.

When I was able to get him alone at one point, I’d told him he needed to chill out before he blew this for us. He’d tried to shake it off, but these lies were coming to a head.

Then my mom saw the ticket in my purse from the fall festival with their logo on it. I’d forgotten it was in there, and she’d been looking for something for Liam.

“Oh, hey, did you guys stop at this festival on your way to town yesterday?” she asked, holding up the ticket.

I nodded, seeing Wade’s eyes widen from where he stood with Connor behind her. “Yep.”

“Sandy went yesterday, did you see her?” Mom asked.

“Yeah, we did, actually.” There was no sense in lying. She’d likely bring it up to Sandy at book club whether Sandy planned to or not, and surely Sandy wasn’t going to lie.

“Shut up,” Connor said, throwing his head back to laugh. “My sister convinced you to stop at a fall festival? I’m glad Liam and I were already here. I never would have agreed to that shit.”