Greer gasped. “You planned that whole thing?”
Candace slowly shook her head. “You’re an evil genius.”
Laughing, I held up my hands. “Wait. You think just because Bishop saw me half naked, he’s going to just…what? Forgive me?”
Bree shook her head. “Of course not, I’m not naïve. But what I do know is that he and Hunter will both fall asleep tonight thinking about you two. And I promise they’ll be thinking naughty, naughty things with their dicks in their hands.”
Willa covered her mouth and gagged. “Gross, that’s my brother!”
Greer pointed to Bree and laughed. “You are an evil genius, Candace is right.”
Arabella and I both exchanged a look.
Bree smiled. “Trust me, ladies, I know what I’m doing. I’m a lawyer, after all.”
“What in the world does that have to do with it?” Greer asked as her phone beeped. She picked it up and stared at it, then started to laugh. “Hudson asked if I was ‘available.’”
“He wants phone sex,” Candace said, and Bree nodded in agreement.
Greer huffed. “He does not…”
Her phone beeped again, and she gasped. “He wants phone sex! I’ll be right back!” she yelled, racing up the steps.
“Is she going to…?” Arabella let her question die off, clearly already knowing the answer.
Willa picked up a piece of cheese, tossed it in the air, then caught it in her mouth. She smiled. “Well, all I can say is, Aiden asked me to give him my outfit so I could wear it for him later.”
“I saw him sneaking it out of here!” Bree said with a laugh.
A series of small beeps sounded, and everyone looked around.
“That’s my phone,” Arabella said as she went over and grabbed it off the breakfast table. “I hope my folks are…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes grew wide. “It’s from Hunter.”
“Goddamn, I’m good.” Bree stared at her nails, blew on them, and then smiled at us.
I rushed over to Arabella. “What did he say?”
A blush moved across her face. “He, um…he asked if I was okay and said to make sure I took a couple of Advil before I went to bed so I didn’t feel bad in the morning.”
My heart melted, as did everyone else’s in the room, judging by the awws.
“Oh my gosh, that is the sweetest thing ever!” Candace sighed before she picked up another hangover shot and downed it.
I looked back at Bree, who smirked. “See? They’re thinking about you. Told you.”
But I knew better than to dare hope that Bishop was thinking about me.
Greer came back downstairs and stomped into the kitchen.
“That was fast.”
She huffed and shot me a dirty look. “Apparently, Bishop wants to talk to him about Christmas trees. Cock-blocked by a damn Christmas tree!”
I forced a smile. “Well, looks like your brilliant plan didn’t work for all of us, Bree.”
I glanced down at the strange arrangements of food boards, reached for a Ritz cracker, then a piece of ham and cheese, and put it all in my mouth.
Arabella wrapped her arm around me, and I lay my head on her shoulder.
Bree reached across the island and took my hand. “I saw the way he looked at you, Abby. He’s still in love with you. It was the same way Hunter looked at Arabella. You both might not see what the rest of us see so clearly, but those two guys are head over heels in love with you both. I mean, they don’t love both of you. One loves you and the other loves you.”
Arabella shook her head and laughed softly. I wasn’t sure if it was out of habit or if she couldn’t allow herself to hope that Hunter might still have feelings for her.
I went to open my mouth—and then heard a familiar sound.
Bree’s brows rose slowly. “Whose phone was that?”
Swallowing hard, I remained silent.
“It was Abby’s,” Greer whispered.
“Where’s your phone, Abby?” Bree asked.
I blinked rapidly. “Um…” Glancing around, I snapped my head back to Bree. “I don’t know.”
“Oh my God! Ping it!” Candace yelled, jumping off her stool.
“Ping it?” I asked, confused.
“Your Apple watch!” Greer pointed so quickly she knocked over two of the green hangover mixes.
Arabella grabbed my arm and shook me. “What does your watch say?”
I lifted my wrist and saw the red dot. My heart started to pound. “It’s a notification.”
“From who?” five voices asked.
I swept the notification down and saw Bishop’s name. I gasped and took a few steps back as my eyes met Bree’s.
A wide smile erupted on her face as she singsonged, “I told you!”
My phone went off again, and like a herd of panicked deer, we all rushed toward the sound.
“Why are we running to find her phone?” Willa yelled while we all searched the formal dining room. “You can read it on your watch.”
“No!” Bree shouted. “It won’t be the same.”
“Ping it, Abby!” Greer yelled.
“Oh, right!” I hit the little thing to ping my phone. Everyone went still—until we heard the familiar sound of ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
“It’s over there!” Candace yelled, diving under the dining room table.
“That was impressive. Was she a cheerleader before?” Willa asked.
“I found it!” Candace climbed out from under the table and rushed over to me.
I fumbled the phone in my hands until I righted it. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and then opened them. Then I laughed my ass off.
“What’s so funny?” Bree asked.
“The five of you standing there staring at me. It’s just…funny.”
Candace thrust her finger at me. “Open the message!”
“Right, right,” I said as I opened up the text from Bishop.
My eyes instantly burned when I read it. I took a few steps back again, only to have Bree wrap her arm around my waist to steady me.
“What does it say?” Arabella asked in a worried voice.
I tried to speak, but nothing would come out. Bree gently took my phone from my hands and read the text message. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked up and read it out loud. “He said, ‘I should have kissed you tonight.’”
Gasps filled the room.
Then I did the one thing I swore I would stop doing. I covered my face with my hands, sank to the floor with Bree by my side, and cried—but for once, they were tears of happiness.
“No, no, no, don’t cry, sweetie,” Bree said, kissing the top of my head. “Don’t cry.”
Before I knew it, the six of us were all sitting on the floor in Greer’s formal dining room. When I managed to get myself under control, Candace made us all laugh by telling a story about how she had once been caught kissing a boy in the confessional booth at church during mass.
Over the next few hours, we somehow drank all the green hangover shots and ate all the crackers and cheese—including the shredded cheese—while laughing until our stomachs hurt.
“I have to go to bed, you guys, I’m exhausted,” Willa said as Bree finally helped her to stand up.