Even in the midst of my own confusion, I was happy to hear it. Ivy had meshed well with the other women, enough that they’d developed lasting bonds.
Ivy was able to do things like that. Me? I overthought and groused and generally pushed people away.
“Of course she has. I’m to come back there and it’ll be just like it was that day in April. One big, happy, dysfunctional family.”
“I put the fun in dysfunctional, thanks though.”
“Aren’t you assuming an awful lot? Just because Ivy is friends with Zoe and Maggie doesn’t mean we can just pick up where we left off. Her life continues despite me being out here. I can’t expect her to just hit the pause button and wait for me.”
Except I did. In my head, in my heart, I couldn’t help it. Because every fucking part of me was waiting for her.
“That’s true. She may be shagging the high school football team even as we speak. I imagine she could still fit into one of those tiny cheer uniforms too. Just like Britney Spears.”
Now I had that picture of Ivy in my head, complete with pigtails and pom-poms. Sometimes I hated that bastard.
“You aren’t funny.”
“Tell me, mate, what is it you’re afraid of? That you’ll come back here and Ivy will demand you drop down on one knee and produce a ring?” He waited a beat. “Or that she won’t?”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Which?”
I started to reply, then stopped. Of course she didn’t expect a ring. Even if things had gotten far more intense than we’d expected, she wasn’t looking to settle down yet.
Just as I wasn’t.
But wasn’t that like finding your next big hit? You might be looking or you might not, but when you stumbled upon a gold record, only an idiot would put it back on the shelf.
Bloody shelves again. I was going to ban that word from my vocabulary.
“How’s Zoe?” I asked instead of continuing along that line of thought. Ian was relentless, and at heart, he was a good soul. But I didn’t want to be counseled or guided. I just wanted Ivy, and having her in my life wasn’t so simple.
Ian sighed. “She’s fine.”
“And the baby?”
“He’s perfect. Kicks up a storm hard enough for me to feel it most nights.”
“Is that because you’re on top of her at the time?”
“Goes to show how much you know. At this stage, she’s on top of me.”
I shook my head. “Have you picked a name?”
“No. Our lists have lists. You’re going to come out for the birth.”
It wasn’t a question. “Is this your new way to try to get me to work with you? And Kellan?” I couldn’t hide the touch of sarcasm in my tone.
Sneaking around working together and inviting me to join in after the fact. I saw how it was.
“No, it’s my ongoing way to demonstrate you’re family to me, and as someone who had to fight for his, that’s important.”
I blew out a breath. “Low blow. Very low blow.”
“I play to win. So? Flynn’s already sent his regrets, but only because he’ll be out of the country for some shows and can’t rebook them.”
The third spoke of our trio was a crafty one, I had to give him that. Not that I thought he was lying.