“No, you’re not. We have so much to catch up on. My husband is going to go eat his magic bars while we do.”
“My wife is right. These are calling my name. They brought me my magic already.” He kisses her again and walks away.
“Come on in.” Aurora tugs on my arm.
“Hold on, let me get my shoes off.” I laugh. After kicking off my shoes and hanging my coat up in the hall closet, I follow her into the living room. “So, how’s married life?” I ask, sitting next to her on the couch. We’re both sitting sideways, facing one another.
“Bliss.” She smiles, and it’s blinding. “I don’t know how else to explain it. I mean, nothing is really different between us.”
“Your last name!” Grant calls from the kitchen.
“Except that.” Aurora grins. “And our titles.”
“And the honeymoon?”
“Perfect. We went snorkeling and just laid around on the beach most of the time.”
“I’m surprised Grant let you out of the house you rented.”
“It was a private beach,” she confesses, and her face turns beet red.
“Ahh, say no more.” I laugh.
“Enough about me. I’m an old married woman.” She smiles. “Tell me about you. How’s the bakery, and what was that at the cabin?”
“There it is.” I shake my head, a smile tilting my lips. “I knew it.”
“What? I told you when I got back we were going to get to the bottom of whatever it was. I’m back. Let’s have it.”
Grant walks in at that time and hands us each a plate with a magic bar and two cups of coffee. “I thought you could use a snack.”
“Were you ever a waiter?” I ask him.
“Nope. I’m just that good, little sister.”
“Oh, so now I’m a little sister?” I tease.
He shrugs. “You are younger than me.”
“Thank you for the snack and the coffee. I’m going to need it for your wife’s interrogation.”
“Damn, babe. I thought you would have had it out of her by now.”
“You told him?” I say, my voice raising an octave.
“No. I didn’t tell him. He asked. We all saw it, Aspen. So spill. What’s going on?” Aurora reaches over and places her hand over mine.
“We spent that time together.” I know she’s not going to let me get away with that explanation, but it’s buying me some time.
“You want me to go?” Grant asks.
“No.” I shake my head. “I’m sure he’ll tell you. I know you all are close.”
Grant nods and pulls my sister from the couch, takes her seat, and tugs her back to his lap. “Did he hurt you?” Grant asks. His tone is serious, and I know I have to tell them. I can’t have him thinking Conrad, in any way, did something I didn’t want him to do.
“No. No way. He wouldn’t do that.”
“I know he wouldn’t physically. But in here.” Grant taps his chest.
I smile at my brother-in-law. He’s such an amazing man. “No, he didn’t hurt my heart. I knew what I was doing. I was a willing participant.”
“Can you stop hinting around and tell me already?” Aurora pleads.
“Fine. It all started that first day. I didn’t know he was coming.” I go on to tell them everything. From the minute he walked into the cabin until yesterday when he came in and asked me to go to dinner. “There, you have it,” I tell them.
“It’s the magic.” Grant grins at me. “I can guarantee you that’s what it is.”
“Come on, Riggins,” I tease. “I bought into all that because you love my sister, but let’s be realistic here.”
“I don’t know, Aspen. Have you talked to Layla and Sawyer? They’re the ones who convinced me it’s real.”
“He’s not a settling down kind of guy. We all know this.”
“Love changes you.” Grant’s looking at my sister when he says this. “I was content with life. Sure, I knew I wanted to settle down and have a couple of kids one day, but the minute I laid eyes on your sister, I knew she was different. I wish I could explain it to you, Aspen, but to be honest, I don’t know that you would believe me if I could. What I do know is that from my grandpa to my dad, to my two older brothers, and then me. It’s all happened that way. We meet the woman who is to be our wife, and we just know.”
“Conrad isn’t proposing marriage. Hell, I don’t know what he’s proposing. Dinner? More sex? I just don’t know.”
“Have you tried asking him?” Aurora suggests.
“No. I’ve been blowing him off.” I take a deep breath. “Here’s the deal. You two have to keep this between us. Got it?” I wait for each of them to give me their word. “I really like him. Like, really really like him. It’s all kinds of complicated. I’m her sister. He’s your brother,” I tell Grant. “If we let this… whatever it is keep going, and then it dies a painful death, then what? How awkward would that be? Family dinners? Holidays? It would make things way too complicated.” I pause, collecting my thoughts. “I know my heart would be broken, and I also know I wouldn’t be able to stand by and watch him move on to someone else or multiple someone elses. At least this way, I know I can be around him. Sure, it will be awkward at first, and seeing him with someone else will still bother me, but that would be so much worse if I were to let myself fall harder.”
“You’re falling in love with him,” Aurora says. It’s not a question but a statement.
“What? No.”
“Yes.” She points at my face. “You are.”
“That’s crazy talk,” I scoff. I’m not in love with him. We had a magical, no not magical, fucking magic…. We had a few great days together, where we enjoyed each other’s company. Sure, I wasn’t ready for it to end, but all good things must come to an end.
“It’s not crazy talk. I know you. If you’re not in love with him, you’re close.”
“I care about him, but I cared about him before. He’s your brother-in-law,” I remind her.
“Aspen,” Grant says, waiting for my full attention. “I’ll talk to him. I’ll find out where his head is at, but I can promise you, my brother doesn’t play games. None of us ever have. That’s not how we roll. We’re all straight shooters. If he says he wants to spend time with you, then he means it.”
“But I can’t just have this ‘benefits’ relationship. I’m not cut out for it. I’ll catch feelings, and then when he’s done, I’ll be left,” I confess.
“Sis, maybe he’s catching feelings too?” Grant says softly.
“It was just a few days.”
“I get that. I do. But it only took one look for me to know that your sister was going to be significant in my life.”
“I’ve known Conrad for over a year. Nothing in that time between us. Friends. Nothing more, nothing less from either of us. Then he walks into that cabin, and something I can’t even describe happens, and here I am.” I shrug, defeated.