9. Blake
CHAPTER NINE
blake
I WATCHED DELANEY WALK away and blew out a breath between my lips, willing her not to look back. There would be no hiding the tent growing in my pants from the way she’d just slid off my lap, her ass rubbing against my dick as she dismounted.
Fuck, I’d been doing so good at keeping myself in check.
Yeah, maybe I’d let myself get too carried away for a bit there because holding her felt like the most natural thing in the world. But overall, I’d kept my shit together. Somehow, I’d managed to keep my thoughts far away from the reality of the situation. I didn’t think about how good she felt. Didn’t think of how perfectly she fit in my lap. Didn’t think about how dizzying it felt to breathe her in. Didn’t think about how soft her skin was. Didn’t think about what she felt like beneath my lips.
I didn’t think about any of that because Delaney would have instantly known that I was thinking about it. I’d be having the same problem I was having now. She undoubtedly would have felt it, felt me , and I couldn’t risk that.
But now? Now, as she was walking away, her hips swaying as she flicked that sweet-smelling hair of hers over her shoulder?
Yeah, I was thinking about it now.
And I needed to stop.
We still had dinner to get through, a dinner where I had to convince my siblings that this was real.
When Delaney disappeared into the dining room, I stood and adjusted myself before following her. I could hear Sully’s voice from here, saying hi to Delaney and welcoming her to the family. Theo said something next, but I couldn’t quite make it out. His voice was softer, his tone deeper. When I rounded the corner, a flash of blonde hair drew me in, and I found my way to Delaney’s side. I pulled out the chair for her, and she smiled at me over her shoulder before sitting.
“Theo is a Dr. London, too, right?” she checked, speaking softly while the rest of my siblings carried on around us. “He has his doctorate?”
I nodded. My younger brother was a professor at the University of Minnesota.
“And what does Sully do again?”
“Software developer. He could have a PhD, too, if he wanted.” I snorted. “But he couldn’t be less interested in schooling.” I picked up a bottle of wine off the table and poured her a glass. “You’ll need this,” I said, handing it to her with a wink.
“What a gentleman,” Sully drawled, his voice growing louder to capture my attention. He clapped his hands mockingly, and I glared at the laptop propped on the corner of the table where Sully’s and Theo’s faces floated on the screen in a video call.
“Fuck off, Sullivan,” I muttered, and my brother laughed.
“What was that, Blakey? I couldn’t hear you all the way over here in Minnesota.”
Settling in my seat next to Delaney, I turned to my sister. “Nat, there’s this annoying buzzing coming from your end of the table. I think it’s the computer. Could you maybe close it for me?”
“No!” Sully leaned in, plastering his face far too close to the camera. Next to him, Theo was shaking with laughter. “I promise I’ll be nice. I won’t even complain that you didn’t invite me to your wedding.”
Gemma cleared her throat as she gave Sully the side-eye. “I don’t know if you know this, but we actually all gathered here today to discuss your love life, Sully. How’s that going again?”
Sully threw himself back into his chair dramatically, pretending he was mortally wounded. Then he recovered, his face coming back into view with a grin on it. “Gemma, you’re always such a sly little?—”
“Careful how you finish that sentence,” Noah grunted, but there was a curve to his lips because Sully would never cross that line. Gemma knew how to keep the London boys in check, and we loved her for it.
The first time she came to visit in Minnesota, she wasn’t even dating Noah, but she called me out for acting like a jealous asshole to him all the same, and honestly, I think she saved our relationship a little bit. I loved my brother, and while I had no interest in his fame or money, the people I met always did. And since that sometimes got a little old, my bitterness showed. Gemma was right to call me out on it.
“Sully’s too busy pining over his ex to have a love life,” Theo said, which caused Sully’s jaw to drop and the rest of my siblings to raise their eyebrows with interest. It was typically an unspoken rule not to bring up exes at the dinner table, especially not Ellie, the woman everyone thought at one point that Sully would marry.
“Hey,” he said defensively as soon as he recovered. “As it would turn out, hopelessly pining for years works out for some people. Take a look at?—”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Natalie intervened, and I’d never wanted to hug my sister more than I did right now. I had no doubt in my mind that my name had been the one about to come out of my brother’s mouth. “Chloe, can you start passing the salad around before your uncles derail the entire dinner?”
Chloe giggled as she picked up the salad bowl and passed it to Gemma, who gave her a little wink when she took it. I chanced a glance at Delaney as Theo switched the conversation to the NFL draft, asking Noah for his thoughts on the Knights’ picks. Delaney gave me a reassuring smile, and I reached over to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear just like I told her I would.
Except no one was really watching us, and it was probably bad timing if the point was to be convincing newlyweds. I needed to be better about this, more intentional, instead of just taking advantage of all the opportunities to touch her.
I’d spent years tiptoeing around my attraction to Delaney. Years carefully ensuring I never crossed a line that would ruin our friendship. And while I was selfishly enjoying this little scenario where I got to pretend she was mine—even if for only a few hours here and there—I was cognizant that I could still accidentally cross that line.
When she brought up boundaries in the car on the way here, I thought that was exactly what had happened. I’d been momentarily gutted when she’d brought up the kiss, at least until the groan of frustration she let out told me I was reading the situation wrong. But I wasn’t sure I read the situation right, either, and I was still on edge, still worried I’d do something wrong, even though all of this felt so right.
“Hey,” she said because I was still looking at her.
I liked that I had an excuse to do that now.
“Hey,” I murmured, my lips tugging up into a smile that she owned. She saw it, too. I could tell by her expression that she saw the difference between how I looked at her and how I looked at everyone else. She knew we understood each other in a way no one else did, and to her, that was all this look was—an inside joke, a trading of secrets, an insider glimpse that only two people who’d known each other for years and had gone through the worst of it together would understand.
Funnily enough, she was the only one who didn’t know my biggest secret—as evidenced by how Sully had almost just blurted it out like it was common knowledge.
It practically was.
“What are you newlyweds doing for your honeymoon?”
I froze. Delaney’s eyes grew wide, and I forced myself not to react before turning toward Noah, who had asked the question.
“Oh, I…” I hesitated to clear my throat, hoping the answer would come to me. And, of course, my youngest brother took that opportunity to pounce.
“You didn’t plan a wedding, so I sure as hell hope you’re planning a honeymoon, Blakey.”
“ Sullivan ,” Natalie hissed, and I decided I owed my sister an entire week of babysitting. Maybe a month. “You’re about to get kicked out of family dinner.”
“I’m sure he has something planned,” Noah cut in, trying to smooth things over, and then Delaney attempted to do the same thing, which genuinely pained me.
“You know, it’s not easy for two cardiologists who just started new jobs to find time for a honeymoon. It’s just not really in the cards for us,” she said with a dazzling laugh, attempting to appease my family and give me an out. And she wasn’t wrong; Natalie nodded across the table with sympathy, knowing the truth of Delaney’s words all too well.
But something about it didn’t sit right with me. The way Delaney shrugged off the idea of ever being able to go on a honeymoon reminded me of how she talked about her wedding dress, the one she liked but didn’t love because it was a repurposed debutante gown. I knew this marriage was fake, but that didn’t mean it had to be a disappointment. I didn’t want it to be a disappointment.
“But we’ll have to manage it because I already booked our flights for next week,” I lied before I could think too much about it, and Delaney whipped around, her eyes scrutinizing me in a way the rest of her expression couldn’t in front of our audience. But her shock was still apparent enough that I had to smother a chuckle and add, “It was going to be a surprise. Sorry, sweetheart.”
Her lips parted as her eyes bored into mine, trying to figure out if she could lie over my lie. She reached out, her hand slipping onto my thigh in a way that caused a jolt of heat to course through me. She squeezed my leg, and while it probably looked affectionate to the rest of my family, I knew it was a what the fuck squeeze.
Her lips pulled into a confused grin, and I had to give it to her—she was playing the part well. “What are you talking about, Blake?”
All I did was smile. “You have a passport, right?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes, I have a passport.”
“Perfect.”
“Where are you going?” Noah asked through a bite of chicken, and Gemma promptly elbowed him hard enough that I heard him grunt.
“Maybe he wants it to be a surprise,” she hissed.
“It’s okay,” I laughed because there was one place I’d always wanted to take Delaney. And suddenly, I didn’t have to worry about what to say at all. “Delaney had an obsession with this puzzle all through med school.”
“It was not an obsession,” she muttered, even though I glanced over to see her looking a little dazed. She still had her hand resting on my thigh, and I reached down and curled my fingers around hers, squeezing them.
“It was, but it was a cute one, Lane. You did that puzzle until the cardboard edges were fraying.”
Her lips twitched like she wanted to smile but was too confused about what was going on to let herself.
“The puzzle was a picture of a tulip field,” I continued. “There’s one lone windmill surrounded by thousands of tulips in all different colors. One time, she asked me if I could ever imagine seeing that many rows of tulips in real life. I didn’t have an answer at the time, but things are different now. And it just so happens that the tulips are in bloom this time of year. It’s just getting to the end of the season, but I think we can still get there in time.”
Delaney stared at me. And then she started to shake her head, in denial of everything I’d just said. The room was quiet, the silence eating us alive, until Natalie broke it.
“Shut up, that’s so cute.”
Still, I didn’t look away from Delaney.
Not until my sister gasped, yanking my attention away.
“Oh, and the ring ,” she crooned, leaning forward to get a better look at Delaney’s hand, the one that wasn’t in my grasp, from across the table. “Blake?—”
“One thing at a time, Nat,” I laughed. Nervously, hoping my interjection would distract Natalie from bringing the ring up again. “So, what do you say?” I asked Delaney, even though there was really only one thing she could say right now, considering the circumstances. There would be a car conversation later, I was sure. But I couldn’t help but hang on to her response all the same.
“Blake,” she said breathlessly, a smile creeping onto her face to mix with slight exasperation. She couldn’t believe what I was spinning this into, and I could also tell that her speechlessness wasn’t fake. And I was maybe enjoying that a little too much. “Yes.”
I squeezed her hand in response, and all she could do was shake her head with a growing grin.
This was the third time I’d gotten a yes out of Delaney Delacroix since she’d moved to Boston.
Marriage. Moving in. Honeymoon.
And I knew they all had asterisks next to them, but at the moment…frankly, I didn’t care.
I followed Natalie into the kitchen after dinner, even though I knew she would argue with me about doing the dishes. But she’d already done enough as a hostess tonight, and my sister was tired. I could see it in her face, and while I might not be able to fix all her problems, I could clean her kitchen.
“Thanks for dinner, Nat,” I said as I plucked the empty salad bowl out of her hands and took it to the sink. “I’ve got it from here.”
“Oh, Blake.” She sighed, her eyes rolling up. “Thank you, but you know better than to leave Delaney at the hands of our siblings. Go back out there with her.”
“She’s not with our siblings,” I said pragmatically. “She’s with Gemma, Chloe, and Delilah in the living room.”
Natalie nodded her head from side to side, satisfied with that answer and coming to the conclusion that Delaney would, in fact, be okay given her current company.
“Get yourself a glass of wine and relax, Nat,” I encouraged, and that seemed to be all I needed to say. Natalie grabbed a bottle of pinot off the counter and filled a glass with it, sighing heavily for the second time.
“Thank you.” The words were muttered into a wineglass, and I chuckled before starting to load the dishwasher.
“That asshole still causing you problems?” I ventured lightly, not sure if she’d want to talk about her ex-husband right now. But I also knew that Natalie didn’t have a whole lot of people to talk to. She didn’t slow down enough to talk, not unless it was carefully scheduled into her life. So maybe now was the perfect time.
She nodded, glancing at Noah as he walked by her carrying a load of dirty plates. “He’s filing for more custody of Chloe, and I need a new lawyer.”
“Why?”
“My previous divorce lawyer is no longer practicing.”
“I could just kick that asshole’s ass,” Noah muttered beneath his breath as he lowered the plates into the sink.
I nodded, on board with this plan. “Noah and I could show up at his office. Have a nice little chat.”
“ Don’t do that,” Natalie said pointedly, glaring at the both of us above the rim of her wine glass.
Noah’s shoulders slumped, relenting because we both knew Chloe was what was at stake here.
“Fine, then at least let me find you a lawyer. I think Julian and Juniper are visiting Juni’s sister in New York this week, but when they get back, I can get you in touch with them.”
Natalie frowned. “Thanks, but I’m not sure I can wait a week before at least getting the process started and having contact with someone about it.”
Noah slipped his phone out of his pocket. “Then I’ll ask them if they know anyone else who can help.”
Natalie nodded, and even though she didn’t say much, I could see the mixture of distress and relief on her face. Noah crossed the kitchen and pulled her into a hug, which she detached from her wineglass to return until Noah’s phone buzzed with a response. Pulling away, he looked at the message and then said, “Oh, duh.”
Natalie cleared her throat and went to retrieve her wine again. “What?”
“Julian said to reach out to Cameron, which I should have thought of.”
“Do I know him?” Natalie asked, rubbing her forehead like she had a headache coming on. Or maybe she already had one.
Noah pocketed his phone and pursed his lips as he thought. “I don’t think you’ve met Cam. He went to law school with Jules, and now they work at the same firm, but we originally met because his sister, Collins, went to undergrad with us.”
Natalie rubbed her forehead again, and I couldn’t blame her. Keeping up with Noah’s friend list that mostly stemmed from his college experience was exhausting sometimes.
“Got it,” she muttered. “Well, if you could send me his contact info, that would be amazing.”
“Will do,” Noah said as he pulled out his phone again.
“We’ll get this sorted, Nat.” I wiped my hands on a nearby towel, abandoning the dishes for a second to wrap my arm around my sister’s shoulders and give her a squeeze. “It’ll be okay.”
“It will,” she agreed with a nod I could tell was fake. “But don’t worry about it. We’re here to talk about you tonight.” She gave me a little elbow nudge, her lips stretching into a smile as she glanced over at me. “You finally got the girl. I’m happy for you, Blake.”
I grinned back at her, but I knew it was lacking. I didn’t really get the girl. And the realization of that was so much heavier when my family kept giving me that look and congratulating me on something that wasn’t real.
Natalie immediately clocked me. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head, prepared to feed her some lie or another, but then changed my mind and said something that had a semblance of truth.
“I’m worried I made a mistake.”
When Noah’s head snapped up and Natalie’s brows rose straight into her hairline, I quickly amended, “Not because I don’t want this. It’s the opposite. I want this—her— so much, and I don’t want to mess it up. I hope I didn’t mess it up.”
Natalie’s expression softened. “I don’t think you messed it up. It’s clear how deep your connection with Delaney goes, even though you got married so quickly. You think we didn’t notice that you were having whole conversations with your eyes?” A gentle laugh fell from her lips before she pursed them, and I knew there was more she wanted to say that she wasn’t.
“But what?”
“Just…” Nat shrugged. “Well, I just think there’s something to be said for the dating phase. And even though you’re already married doesn’t mean you should skip it.”
“In other words, you better take that girl on a date,” Noah said, jerking his head toward the living room. “A lot of them.”
“Thank you for explaining that for me, Noah.” I rolled my eyes before glancing through the doorway. I could see a sliver of Delaney from this angle, her shiny blonde hair and flowery dress, and felt my lips cracking into a smile I couldn’t control.
Fuck me.
I inched closer to the doorway and realized that Delaney was holding Delilah in her arms, looking down at her sleeping form.
This time, it wasn’t my lips that cracked; it was my chest. It cracked wide open.
“My career keeps me so busy that I could never imagine my life with kids,” I heard Delaney say. Her voice was a soft hush, a rare little confession directed at Gemma, who sat on the sofa beside her. “But I also…” Her voice dropped, but Gemma gave an encouraging look, and Delaney shrugged with a smile. “I never really imagined I’d be married, either.”
Those words had haunted me for over a decade. Those were the words that kept me in check all these years. Delaney never wanted a husband. We’d only made it here by happenstance. But regardless, it was nice to see Delaney have an authentic moment with Gemma. Maybe they’d become friends. That would be good for Lane. For both of them.
“Sometimes things don’t go as planned,” Gemma said with a warm look at her daughter. “And sometimes that really is for the best.”
I hoped to hell that Gemma was right about that. Just because it had worked out for her and Noah didn’t mean it would work out for us.
“Go ahead.” Natalie’s voice startled me from behind, and I whirled to face her. “Don’t worry about the dishes. Go get your girl and get out of here.”
I grinned crookedly. “Kickin’ me out already, Nat?”
“I’m kicking you out with love ,” she laughed, and I knew it was the truth.
I walked into the living room as Delaney was handing my niece back to Gemma. She heard my footsteps and turned as soon as Delilah was out of her arms.
“Hi,” she said breathlessly, her vibrant gaze flicking over me in a way that got my blood pumping faster and fucked with my head. Thank God that look was for the benefit of Gemma because I could barely handle it without exploding.
“Hey, sweetheart,” I murmured, and a flush of color spread over her cheeks. Had no one ever used a term of endearment with this woman before? She was watching me like she wasn’t used to such romantic softness, and fuck, I hated that when I’d been wanting to give it to her for so long. “Ready to go?”
She nodded and stood, taking my outstretched hand. I was ready for the heat of her touch this time, but that didn’t mean I didn’t feel it. I felt it everywhere. You’d think I’d be used to it after years of proximity, that maybe it would fade, but it only ever burned stronger, brighter.
Delaney took that moment to flash a shy, seductive smile at me, almost like she could feel it, too. Like she knew what she was doing to me.
That couldn’t be the case, but that still didn’t mean that I wasn’t fucked.
Especially considering the honeymoon we had ahead of us—the one I was suddenly determined to take my best friend on.