HARLEY
Two weeks later,when Carter and I walk into my sister, Penelope’s, house for our weekly dinner, I come to a halt when I see a particular woman standing in the kitchen talking with Camila and Penelope. A second later, I’m letting out a squeal and dropping Carter’s hand so I can dash across the room.
Taylor, my sister, who’s been away with her sexy rock star, Asa, while he’s on his last tour, barely has a chance to turn around before I’m crashing into her. She’s been gone for two months. My excitement might seem strange after not seeing her for only two months, but my sisters and I never go that long without seeing each other. I think the longest any of us has been gone was a handful of days, and that’s only because Penelope has a branch of her PR firm out in California and she has to travel out there occasionally. My sisters and I, along with Wesley, have always been extremely close. It stems from the abuse we all went through as kids and our mother being too sick to care for us.
“Jesus, Harley,” Taylor says with a laugh and she wraps her arms around me. “You act like I’ve been gone for two years.”
“Two months may as well be two years.” We let go of each other. “I wish you could stay longer.”
“I’ll be back permanently before you know it.”
Taylor and Asa are here for only two days, and the only reason they are is because Penelope and her boy toy—I jokingly call him that in my head because Kai is so much younger than her—are getting married tomorrow, and Penelope refuses to get married without all of her siblings present.
Asa steps forward and leans down to kiss my cheek. “Hey, Harley. How are you?”
I give him a smile. “I’m good. How’s the tour going?”
“Long and tedious. Don’t get me wrong, I love my fans, but I’m ready for that part of my life to be over so I can really start this new chapter.”
Asa’s one of the sweetest guys I know, and he’s one hundred percent dedicated to my sister. He must be if he’s willing to give up his rock star ways to be with her.
Feeling a presence at my back, I turn to Carter and grab his hand to pull him beside me. “Taylor, you remember Carter Beckett, right?”
I haven’t told Taylor that Carter and I are dating, and I asked the others not to mention it either. I wanted to tell her in person when she came for Penelope and Kai’s wedding. So I expect the surprise on her face when she looks down at our laced fingers.
“I remember him. You were a couple of grades ahead of us, right?”
“Yeah.”
I introduce Carter to Asa next and they shake hands. I’ve brought Carter to a few family dinners, so he’s already met everyone else.
A few minutes later, we move to the big table in the dining room. Most of the time we do these dinners at Penelope’s house because she’s the only one who has a big enough table to fit us all. My sisters and I mostly talk about Penelope and Kai’s wedding, while the men talk about… whatever men talk about.
It’s still hard to picture my straitlaced, no-nonsense sister getting married to someone twelve years younger than her. But she looks happy. Happier than I’ve seen her in a long time, and that’s what matters.
“How’s life on the road?” I ask Taylor once there’s a break in the conversation.
“I love being with Asa, but I can’t fucking wait to get home. You don’t realize how small those tour buses are until you live on one day after day. Asa’s bandmates are great, but I’m tired of looking at their faces and worrying if they’re going to hear Asa and me….” She stops, conscious of Sam being at the dinner table.
“They do,” Asa says on the other side of her.
Most of us sputter out laughs while Taylor groans. “And that just ensured you won’t be getting any more until the tour is over and we have real privacy.”
Asa chuckles, tossing his arm over the back of her chair. “It’s funny that you actually think that’s going to work.”
“Laugh all you want. You won’t think it’s so funny when we get back on the bus and you see that I was right.” She gives Asa a pointed look before bringing her gaze to me. “So, how long have you and Carter been dating? I won’t lie and say I wasn’t surprised. I didn’t even know he was back in town.”
“He got back a few months ago. It was actually days after he moved back that we got together.” I leave out the part of our attempted one-night stand. “He took over Dr. Rosen’s position at the clinic.”
“How’s your mom doing?” Taylor asks, leaning forward so she can see Carter.
“She’s doing good.” He flicks his eyes to Sam across the table. “A lot better lately.”
Since that first meeting at Wesley and Jersey’s place, Sam’s asked to see Deandra a few more times. He sees Carter each week when we all get together for our family dinners. We’ve also been at Deandra’s house a couple of times when she has Sam, Wesley, and Jersey over. I can tell with each visit, he becomes more and more comfortable.
When talk turns to Penelope and the baby she’s carrying, I look over to Carter and find his eyes on me. He gives me a chin lift and one side of his mouth kicks up. I chew on my lip nervously. He sees the anxious tick, and I feel his hand wrap around mine under the table.
I pull in a deep breath and gather my courage, then clear my throat loudly to gather everyone’s attention. All eyes come to me.