23. Katie

CHAPTER 23

Katie

“ Y oo-hoo! Big summer blowout!” Ellie yells out.

I laugh, looking at Cody, who’s shaking his head at Ellie’s Frozen reference. “We’re in the kitchen!” I yell back.

Ellie comes busting around the corner, her arms full of brown paper bags. “I brought provisions.”

“For an army?” I quip.

“Haha. I haven’t seen you in weeks, and I’m mad at you for that, but I couldn’t come empty-handed.” Ellie starts to set her things on the counter. There are boxes of candy and popcorn, a case of Cayman Jack margaritas, and a box of Drumstick ice cream cones.

Cody takes in all the food with wide eyes. “Wow, your bellies are going to hurt tonight.”

Ellie smiles, running her hand through his soft brown hair. “I love you so much, kiddo. Please never change.”

“If I don’t change, then I’ll never grow,” he responds seriously.

Ellie wraps him in a big hug. “Fuck, I missed you guys. Let’s not go this long without seeing each other again, please. ”

“That’s a dollar,” Cody says when Ellie finally lets him go.

Ellie grabs out a five. “Let’s just say this will cover me for an hour, and I’ll add more when I need to.”

“You sound like Nolan.” Cody takes his bill to his jar.

Ellie’s eyebrows wing up to her hair. “I do?”

“Mm-hmm. He usually starts the night by putting a bunch of money in the jar, too.” Cody laughs.

Ellie widens her eyes at me. She very much wants more detail on that tidbit of information.

“Later,” I mouth to her. She narrows her eyes, very obviously threatening bodily harm if I don’t tell her.

“Cody, you want an ice cream before you get ready for bed?” I ask.

“Yes, please.”

The three of us sit at the island and catch up on our lives. It really has been entirely too long since I’ve spent time with Ellie. I’ve been so busy these past few weeks, and my weekends have been spent with Nolan and Cody. I feel pretty guilty about that, actually. Ellie asks Cody what he’s been up to recently, and he drops the bomb about Bryce.

I grimace. I’m really gonna hear it now. Shit. Having Nolan around to vent to, I sort of forgot to tell Ellie about our visit a couple of weeks ago.

“Wow, you guys have been busy.” Ellie’s eyes are shooting daggers at me so sharp I’d be bleeding out on the floor if they were real.

“Yeah, that’s why we haven’t been able to hang out in a while.” Cody finishes off his ice cream and jumps down from his stool. “I’m going to brush my teeth. Come on, Cash.”

Our sweet pup follows him like the good boy he is, and I’m left with my best friend who is spitting mad at me right now.

“I’m sorry, Ells. I swear I was going to tell you everything tonight.”

“But you didn’t think I’d want to know when it was actually happening? Have you seen Bryce again since the first time? No, hold that thought. I need to finish yelling at you first, and then you can talk.” She swallows, but then her shoulders droop. “Why wouldn’t you tell me? About any of it? Nolan or Bryce or anything.”

The hurt is shining from her eyes, and I can’t take it. I stand from my stool and move in to hug her. “There are a lot of reasons for not talking to you about Nolan, and I swear I’ll tell you all of them. The Bryce thing… well, that’s a little more complicated. I’m so used to dealing with that shit on my own that I just wasn’t thinking straight. Nolan was here when he called, and he was so steady and comforting that I just went into planning mode instead of freaking out.”

Ellie sighs. “I guess I can get behind Nolan being the one to comfort you instead of me, even if I’m super fucking jealous, and I plan on making him pay for it later.”

I laugh. “Come get me drunk, and I swear I’ll spill every detail from beginning to end.”

“Deal.”

We collect our snacks, setting them up in the living room for best vegging success. I check on Cody to make sure he’s showered and ready for bed. He’s got his book propped up on his belly, his knees bent and his feet tucked up by his butt.

“Just wanted to say good night.” I sit down by his hip.

“Could you turn my music on? You and Aunt Ellie can get kind of noisy when you have girls’ nights.”

I smirk at him. “Of course. Try not to stay up too late reading, okay? I know it’s Friday, but you’ve got a birthday party tomorrow afternoon that you won’t want to be too tired to attend.”

“I won’t. Promise.”

I kiss him on the forehead. “I love you, baby. Have sweet dreams.”

“’Night, Mom.”

I walk back out to the living room and flop down onto the couch. Ellie hands me a pre-opened drink with a smile. Hopefully, that means she’s not too mad at me anymore. She’s going to get her revenge with a million questions, but I don’t mind that too much.

“Okay, take a sip and start from the beginning.”

I take a big gulp and decide where the beginning is. “I guess New Year’s is when things first started. We both drank entirely too much, and we kissed when the ball dropped.”

“How was it?”

“One of the best kisses of my life.”

Ellie squeals. “Okay, continue.”

I tell her everything that came after our heart-stopping kiss. “He was—is—like a different person, Ellie. I swear to God. He’s this silly guy who can make me laugh without effort, but the minute we get under the covers”—I shiver—“he becomes this dominant guy who knows exactly what to do with me.”

“Hot damn. I’ve always wondered about him. I kind of assumed he’d be a fun and exciting lover, but apparently, I was wrong.”

“I thought the same thing! So very, very wrong, and I am not mad about it.”

“What happened after that? Why didn’t you tell me it happened?”

“See… I sort of snuck out of his hotel room in the middle of the night.”

Ellie gasps. “Without saying anything to him?”

“Yeah... I just assumed he wouldn’t want anything more than that. We both know he wasn’t the dating type. I didn’t want to stick around and have the ‘thanks for the one night, but I’ll see you never’ conversation. Especially because we would have to see each other.”

Ellie tilts her head. “Fair. I wouldn’t have wanted to have that conversation either. So how did you get here?”

“Nolan made it clear he wasn’t going to stop pursuing me. When I realized he meant it, I agreed to a date. Sue was going to hang with Cody, but she got sick and couldn’t come over. I tried to end the date there, but Nolan made the three of us dinner, and we watched a Disney movie with Cody sitting between us.”

“Awww. That’s adorable.”

“After that, I didn’t think he would come around again. I hesitated to share any of this with you, partially because he’s your brother-in-law. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to take sides when it was over. Plus, I was a little embarrassed about letting him in.”

“I’d always pick your side, babe. No matter what. I have a confession, though.”

I tilt my head in confusion. What could she have to tell me?

“I’ve sort of known something was going on this whole time. That night I gave Nolan your address, I forced Adam to help me pump Nolan for information. He kept most of the details to himself, but I encouraged him to woo you.”

My jaw drops. “You asshole!”

Ellie starts giggling. “Since you didn’t think it necessary to share any of the details, I had to do something! I see now that my handiwork resulted in him sticking around.”

“Much to my astonishment. I’m not sure why either. It’s not like it’s been easy to date me.”

Ellie scoffs. “Don’t be like that. You know damn good and well that you’re a catch. And it seems to me that he believes that, as well.”

“He was incredible when Bryce called me, Ells. I’ve never experienced that level of support before. It’s my own fault. I’ve never allowed anyone in enough to even offer.” Ellie’s hand on my arm tells me she understands what I’m saying. I don’t want to make her feel bad. She’s my best friend and the most supportive person I know—besides Nolan now, I guess. “He was strong when I couldn’t be and never once made me feel less than for it. He held me up and provided a sounding board for me to vent all my worries. I had no idea that’s what a relationship could be like.”

“It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?” Ellie’s sad smile is full of understanding. She knows all about having to deal with your baggage on your own.

“Yeah. I’m happy, Ellie. Really and truly happy for the first time in my life.”

“I’m so excited for you. You deserve all the happiness you can find. Now, explain how Bryce fits into the picture.”

It’s a little like purging every emotion I’ve been feeling these past few weeks as I tell Ellie everything that happened. She’s properly outraged by Bryce’s threats and equally understanding about how I’m feeling about the situation.

“I don’t believe he’s being 100 percent honest about the reason he’s coming around again. In fact, I’m not sure he’s even expressed why he’s doing this. But I feel like I owe it to Cody to let him get to know his dad. What if he’s changed? I can’t deny Cody the opportunity just because I can’t stand to be in the same room as Bryce.”

“I think as long as you’re cautious, it can’t hurt to see what he wants from you. In the end, you can’t shelter Cody from every bad thing in the world. I know you want to, but it’s physically impossible. If Cody wants to see Bryce again, then great. If he doesn’t, then that’s a different matter.”

“That’s what I’ve been thinking, too. If Cody is happy, then that’s all that matters to me.” I turn our conversation back on Ellie, and we spend the rest of the night catching up on everything we’ve missed these past few weeks. It’s cathartic and healing and everything I’ve needed.

“Promise we won’t go this long only exchanging a few text messages again?” Ellie asks.

I pull her into me to hug her. “I promise.”