Unexpected Fate

“And she said this because why? Because you’ve been a little shy with him lately?”

“Mom! Yes. It’s been terrible. Ever since he was here with me when I was sick, things have just been weird. It’s like my body is hyperaware of him when he comes around. Then boom, I turn into a mute freak.”

She laughs, stirs the noodles and moves over to work on the salad. “Sweetheart, that—everything you’re feeling—is completely normal. You and Cohen have been traveling two different roads on the way to this point for so long that it only makes sense that there will be a head-on crash when you finally connect. You should listen to her. She’s right.”

“I am listening to her. That’s why we went to the pole dancing class,” I mumble.

“You did what?” she asks, shocked.

“We went to a pole dancing and sensual empowerment class at the gym. It was a lot of fun, but it really worked. And . . . uh, Cohen was there when we left.”

“Oh wow. And how did that go?”

“I think my heart is still about to beat out of my chest.”

She laughs and reaches over to pull me toward her body. “That, my sweet girl, is the calm before the storm. If you think that is powerful, just wait until you’re hit with it full force.”

I shiver and she laughs.

“What are my girls in here gossiping about?” Daddy says, coming into the room and around the island to give me a kiss on the forehead and one to Mom that has me looking away.

“You two really need to remember that some things can’t be unseen,” I gripe.

“Little princess, just how do you think you got into this world?” he asks and then booms out a laugh when I cringe.

I look over at Mom, who gives me a wink, and shake my head when Daddy continues to laugh.

I watch them both for a little while and pray, not for the first time, that one day I’ll have what they have.

Hopefully one day soon.

“DAD IS GOING TO KICK your ass,” Nate grumbles under the weight of my favorite reading chair that he and Liam are carrying up to my new bedroom.

The townhouse that Mom and Melissa picked out for the twins, Maddi, and me is a lot more than just that. It’s a freaking townhouse on crack. It’s a five-bedroom, three-story, huge-ass house located in one of the best gated communities around. She clearly downplayed it. I expected them to have put the house in their name, which I would have had a huge problem with, but Thursday morning, I had a call from the realtor asking me to meet him in his office on my lunch break. Seems my mom and Melissa had gone above and beyond. They had put first and last months’ rent as a down payment and wouldn’t even entertain the arguing. Emmy had been there with them. Three against four should have given us good odds—but then they brought out the big guns and started to talk about ‘the dads’ finding out and what would they say if we weren’t in the best of the best.

Whatever.

We signed the lease, all four of us, and in less than thirty minutes, we were handed the keys.

It was amazing!

It’s been two days since Mom took Dad up to the mountains, and I’ve enlisted Nate and Liam to help me get the heavy stuff out of my room. Mom told me to take all the furniture, but I felt too bad about it knowing that, if Daddy came home to an empty room, he very well might have heart failure. My new bedroom suite is being delivered tomorrow. Maddi and I went in on the living room stuff and entertainment systems. Lyn and Lila picked up the kitchen and patio furniture.

“If he kicks my ass, what’s going to happen to you? You’re the one who helped me move out!” I laugh when his face pales.

“Don’t be such a baby, Nate,” Liam says, continuing to lift the chair up the stairs.

I give him a smile. Liam Beckett, Aunt Dee and Uncle Beck’s son, has been my best friend for so long that I couldn’t imagine moving out and not having him here to witness this moment. I’ve been begging for him to come help hold my dad back so I could make my escape for years. I’ve always been close with Liam. Our mothers have been friends forever, and since we’re close in age, we just kind of became buds. We were born close together, so we were lucky to grow up together and hit each grade in the same class. There was one year—third, I think—that we weren’t in the same class. Mom and Aunt Dee say all the time that I cried for weeks until they realized I wouldn’t stop until the school moved Liam into my class.

I don’t believe it for a second. Even if there is home video footage of it somewhere.

“Lee, where did you put the keys to my car?” I call up the stairs, where he and Nate climbed with my reading chair.

“I don’t know, Dani. Look by the front door table thingie!” he yells down.

“It’s an accent table, doofus!” I yell back.

“What the hell ever that is,” I hear him grumble.

I spend the next few minutes looking all over for my car keys. I need to get the last of my clothes and shoes out so I can start organizing my closet. My purses and the first, second, and third waves of my clothes and shoes came over early this morning. The girls left to get dinner a little while ago, so I knew they wouldn’t be any help.

“Where the hell are they?” I grumble, looking in the coat closet before moving into the living room, which is just off the entryway, and bending over to look under the couch.

“Looking for these?”

I jump when I hear Cohen speak in a gruff tone just behind me. Coming off the floor with a squeal, I land right in his arms, my back pressed firmly against his chest and his arms clasping my arms to keep my steady.

“You jerk! Are you trying to give me a heart attack!?” I yell as I push back against him and try to move away. I realize my mistake instantly when I feel him go statue still and his harsh intake of breath against my ear. Then I feel him, really feel him, hard and hot against my back, and it’s my turn to groan.

“I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you.” His hips move almost as if they have a mind of their own. “You just didn’t hear me call your name.”

“Can you let me go?” I ask.

“Why, Dani-girl? Scared?” He hums when I push back lightly and roll my hips.

“Hardly. Just depends on if you want Nate and Lee to see you manhandling me when they come down here.” I’m only half joking. I wouldn’t call what I’m feeling scared. Well, not scared of him. Scared of the enormity of these feelings? Absolutely.

“I’ll hear them coming,” he responds.