It was a wonderful thing, and something I’d never truly experienced before. Even when she didn’t share my bed, she sought me out every day. We still hugged the first time we saw each other. Even a few weeks ago when I’d gotten caught in a rainstorm during my morning hike and returned soaking wet.
I wasn’t sleepy, but I couldn’t resist the thought of sliding in next to her. She just looked so damn inviting. Those soft pink lips. The red-tinged blonde hair that fanned out over her pillow. I liked the fact that she still slept in one of my old t-shirts. Of course, I also liked it when she didn’t wear anything to bed.
I stripped down to my boxers and climbed in next to her.
“Knox,” she murmured as I picked up her outstretched hand and kissed it. It always amazed me that even though she took turns sharing our beds, she never woke up confused about where she was or who she was with.
“Go back to sleep,” I whispered, pulling the covers up to her shoulders. I didn’t know whether I should try to get some more shut-eye or whether I should just watch her sweet face as she slept.
She solved that debate by rousing again. “Knox?”
“What is it, sweetheart?”
“Can I be the little spoon?” Her voice was slurred from sleep, but her request was quite clear.
“Of course.” I lifted the covers and she scooted over, pressing her back against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and rested my chin on her head, smelling the sweet, citrus scent of her shampoo. “Go back to sleep—I’ve got you.”
Times like these, I never wanted to let her go.
Hours later, we sat side by side at the kitchen table, Emma’s laptop in front of us. “What about this one?” she asked.
“It’s up to you,” I said.
We’d looked through dozens of pictures of the twins taken on the night of the photo shoot at the gym. At the time, Emma thought they weren’t right for the book she was finishing up, but for her next one, she thought we might find a shot of either Austin or Denver that fit the bill.
“All right.” She scrolled through endless photos. In most of them, I couldn’t even tell if it was Austin or Denver. She always knew, however.
“Are you excited about the book signing?”
“Very. I still can’t believe so many people are coming.”
“It helps that half the female population in Riverside are in love with Austin and Denver. When they invite people, people come.”
“Well, women come,” Emma said and then giggled at the double meaning. But then, as usually happened these days, her smile faded. It was hard to be excited about the book signing when she knew the twins were leaving two days later.
“When are the paperbacks supposed to arrive?” I knew the answer to that, but I wanted to distract her from her sadness.
“Thursday.”
“And if we get this cover done, we can put your next book up as a pre-order, right?” I was less sure about this answer.
“Right. Ronnie says that if people like my book it’ll give them something else to buy.” She smiled at me. “You really did your homework.”
“We all did. Tonio’s been looking into which book review sites you might want to send your next book to. And Denver’s been trying to figure out online advertising.”
Crap, I hadn’t meant to make her face fall again. I patted her arm. “It’ll be okay.”
I wasn’t sure if I meant the book signing or us. It was hard to imagine how empty the house would feel with just me, Tonio, and Emma. Sure, two men should be more than enough to keep Emma safe and happy. And maybe if she’d met Tonio and me after the twins moved out, it would feel right—but it didn’t.
We’d been a team when we met her and we’d been content living here together. But the way I saw it, we were four pieces of a five-piece puzzle. We didn’t know that Emma was the missing piece until after she moved in. From here on out, no matter what we did, we’d always know if there were pieces missing.
“We’ll be okay,” I said, altering my words slightly.
She leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. “I know we will.”
Too bad neither of us sounded very convincing.
26
Emma
“Can you dedicate it to Hailey? That’s my sister.”
“Sure.” It still felt surreal that people were buying my book, let alone that they wanted me to sign it. “How do you spell that?
“The usual way,” the girl said. She couldn’t have been more than nineteen.
“Here you go. Enjoy!” I passed the book back to her.
She flipped open the cover. “That’s not how you spell it.”
Oops. “Sorry. Want me to get you another book?”
“No, it’s okay. I’m going to get that cute guy on the cover to sign it.”