“Aww. But Hazel’s driving. She’s my DD.”
“Do you really want to know if your brother’s having sex?”
Roxy wrinkled her nose and reached for the water.
“Okay, then.” Nora sipped her own margarita and asked, “How long did you say you’ve been seeing him?”
“We met about three months ago, but we’ve really only been seeing each other for about two.”
“And you met him selling a house?” Hazel asked.
“Nope. At a club. Then he asked for my help buying a house.”
She hadn’t given them more details than that. She didn’t need her family cyber-stalking Callan if they found out about his NHL career.
“How long ago did you agree to be exclusive?” Nora asked.
“About two weeks ago.”
“But you didn’t discuss what that meant?” Stella asked.
Roxy shrugged. “There wasn’t much to discuss. I’ve never agreed to be exclusive with a guy before. I did with Callan. That means I’m all-in.”
“Define ‘all-in,’” Jane said.
The server chose that moment to approach the table with their platter of nachos. Roxy was grateful for the interruption.
She privately admitted that until that moment, she hadn’t considered exactly what her decision to be exclusive with Callan really meant. She told herself that he earned her commitment through everything he had done to help her and support her in their time together. The least she could do was give into this one request of his. Besides, it wasn’t like she wanted to go searching for another sexual partner. Callan more than satisfied her in that regard.
But she had many male friends who had helped and supported her over the years. A couple of them had even ended up becoming satisfying sexual partners. She had never had any desire to commit to anything long-term with them.
She put that together with how Callan made her feel every time they saw each other, how he went out of his way to surprise her and feed into her thirst for adventure, and how he always put her needs first.
And it suddenly struck her with alcohol-induced clarity.
“I love him.”
Her sisters-in-law all froze and gaped at her. The server took one look around at them, tossed some napkins on the table, mumbled something about enjoying their meal, and cut a hasty path in the other direction.
Jane reached over and grasped Roxy’s hand on top of the table. “What did you just say?”
“I love Callan.” Roxy felt oddly lightheaded. “How did this happen?”
“Ease back from the table, Rox,” Nora said, moving over to help Roxy shift her chair back. “Head between your knees.”
Roxy would have told her sister-in-law she was being ridiculous if her vision hadn’t dimmed. She bent over and started gathering deep, steady breaths at Nora’s calm instruction. It took a couple of minutes before she was sure she wouldn’t pass out when she sat back up. Once she did, she saw the concern on her family’s faces.
“Did you drink too much too quick, Rox?” Hazel asked. “Here, have some more water.”
Roxy took the water and drank a large swallow. “I’m not drunk,” she replied. “Though I’m sort of wishing I was.”
Jane rubbed soothing circles on her back. “I’m sure that for you, especially, this probably feels like it’s happening too fast.”
“Hell, yeah, it is,” she muttered.
“I knew I loved Gordie on our first date,” Hazel declared as she selected a loaded nacho from the platter. “It was love at first sight.”
Roxy thought of that first magnetic moment when she caught Callan’s gaze from across Nightscape.
Maybe lust at first sight would be more accurate, she mused.
“Of course you did,” Stella laughed, swatting at Hazel’s arm. “You’re a hopeless romantic. But Roxy here, she’s more practical, like me. I cried when I realized how much I loved Jeremy.”
“‘Cause you were so happy?” Hazel asked.
“That, and I realized I’d never be having sex with anyone else again.”
Jane issued a grunt of understanding. Roxy felt the lightheadedness returning.
“Enough of that,” Nora insisted, scooping some nachos onto a plate and setting them in front of Roxy. “You’re not going to spend the evening with your head between your knees. Welcome to the club, sis.”
Roxy picked up a nacho to appease her sister-in-law, hoping her unsettled stomach would handle it okay.
“As exciting as it is to know Roxy is capable of the gentler emotions,” Jane said with a wink in Roxy’s direction, “I guess that doesn’t exactly help clarify the whole boyfriend-girlfriend or not boyfriend-girlfriend thing.”
“True,” Stella said. “Whose idea was it to go exclusive, Rox?”
“His,” she said around a bite of nacho.
“And how many times did he have to ask you before you agreed to be exclusive?” Jane asked.
Jane knew her too well.
“I don’t know. Seven or eight, maybe?”
“Well, there you go,” Nora said with a flip of her hand. “A guy that persistent isn’t just asking to be bed-buddies with you.”
“Then why didn’t he ask Roxy to this big work party where all the significant others are invited?” Stella asked.
There was a pause before Hazel suggested, “What if it’s been on his calendar for ages and he just didn’t think to ask her about it? Now that it’s only a few days away, it would be kind of crappy for him to ask, right?”
Roxy frowned as she scooped more nachos onto her plate. “Not really. Plus, he’s had ample opportunity to mention it before now.”
“You could always tell him you know about it now,” Stella said.
“Awkward,” Jane countered.
Roxy nodded and pointed at Jane. “What she said. It’s like inviting myself along. No way.”
Stella made a face. “Yeah, all right.”
“I’ll bet he just isn’t sure you’re on the same page as he is,” Nora said in her pragmatic tone. “He had to work hard to get you to agree to be exclusive with him. You just need to have a conversation with him and tell him how you feel. That way, he’ll know you’re open to doing things like going to this company party.”
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
Roxy considered that as she finished her nachos. Callan clearly cared for her. And Nora was right. He hadn’t persisted in nudging her towards agreeing to be exclusive with him just for the hell of it.
But did he love her?
Did he have this same never-before-imagined well of emotion inside of him that she now realized she held for him? Or did he merely find the exclusivity thing handy at this point in his life so he could focus on hockey?
Was she willing to risk her pride enough to find out?
“Okay,” she said to her family. “I’m going to tell Callan how I feel.”
Hazel clapped her hands together in excitement. “At the party?”
“If he ends up inviting me, yes.” But since she wasn’t supposed to see Callan before then, she didn’t expect that to happen. “Otherwise, I’ve got a solid Plan B…and it involves all of you.”