26. Blake
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
blake
R ETURNING TO WORK AFTER the honeymoon was abysmal.
I’d always enjoyed my work, even craved it, but now all I craved was more of Delaney. More time with her, more slow mornings, more hot nights, more of everything. I spent the entire day, every day, anxious for the moment when I’d grab my coat, walk through the halls, and see her waiting for me. She’d walk over from SCMC, so we could go home together. Or on nights where I had my CPR classes—well, our CPR classes at this point—we would walk there together.
Because that was our routine now, and I felt utterly spoiled by it. Delaney and I had fallen into a pattern that felt so utterly domestic it was hard to remind myself that I couldn’t have everything, not yet.
Because the reality was that, despite being two friends who were married, shared the same bed at night, and gave each other orgasms, Delaney and I weren’t yet where I ultimately wanted us to be. Sure, we were on the same page about sex and kissing. But if I could get her on the same page about wanting this thing for real, wanting that ring to stay permanently on her finger, that’d be great.
I also had to contend with the reality where I had patients to follow up with and friends and family to check in on, and outside of everything involving Delaney, that had been my focus for the last two weeks.
Today, it involved a number of appointments, including one with Grayson and Nessa, where we further discussed their daughter Gracie’s potential for inheriting aortic coarctation, like her older brother. They also tentatively brought up questions about what the likelihood might be of any of their future children inheriting a congenital heart defect, and I could tell they were holding their breath the entire time. My chest squeezed for them because ultimately, I couldn’t provide them with a guarantee that it wouldn’t happen; their oldest Gabriel was proof of that.
I sat in the exam room for a few extra minutes after they left, grappling with my emotions and trying not to think about a scenario where it was me and Delaney navigating through what we might do if it were our kids. Which was ridiculous because Delaney didn’t want to settle down in a traditional sense. She didn’t want marriage. She didn’t want any of that.
Was I foolish for thinking that I could make something work between us? For thinking that I could convince her to try out a real relationship? For thinking she might want to stay married after this entire inheritance situation was settled? I badly wanted it to be possible. I didn’t need kids, but I did need her. I wanted a family with her—even if that family was just the two of us.
After getting through the workday despite feeling tired and Delaney-deprived, I met Natalie and Noah outside a tall, shiny building in Boston’s financial district.
They both said I didn’t need to come today, but I’d been helping Natalie deal with her custody situation since I’d moved to the East Coast, and I wanted to see it through. Noah had been so busy with becoming a parent lately that he was less familiar with the workings of the bullshit that Natalie had been going through, but he’d connected us with the lawyer we were meeting with today and wanted to be here.
“There’s my favorite married brother,” Noah called as I walked up.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m your only married brother,” I grunted despite the fuzzy feeling I got whenever I received the reminder I was married to Delaney.
“I haven’t gotten over it, to be honest,” Natalie said with a grin. “That you actually tied the knot. How was the honeymoon? I want to hear all about it!”
“Woah, woah, Nat.” Noah raised a brow, putting up his hands to indicate she should slow the fuck down. “I don’t know if we want to hear all about it.”
“No.” A smirk slipped onto my lips, unbidden. “You probably don’t.”
The sound of Delaney moaning my name echoed in my ears, and my body tightened in response.
Suddenly, I wished I was at home. Preferably, at home eating my wife out on the kitchen table like I did last night.
Natalie looked unimpressed. “We talked about this, Blake. Don’t forget to date your wife, too. Women want more than sex.”
That comment snapped me out of it. “I took her on a date first,” I said defensively, but my stomach still turned at what she’d said. I didn’t like the implication or the thought that my relationship with Delaney had been reduced to sex. I knew, at my core, that wasn’t the case, but it still had me itching to take the next step with her and soon.
I wanted to ask her on a date. One that was completely transparent and not at all fake. And I wanted to do it soon.
Natalie sighed. “Well, that’s good, at least. I’m so happy to see you married, and I want it to stay that way.”
“I want the same thing,” I grunted. She had no fucking idea how badly I wanted that. “In fact, this married man misses his wife, so let’s get in there and do this thing.”
Natalie’s face fell, and internally, I berated myself. I knew what her next words were going to be before she even responded.
“You don’t have to come with, Blake. I’m good. And I have Noah, too.”
“I can handle smart people things sometimes, you know,” Noah said, a single brow cocked.
“I know you can,” I assured him because even though he’d said it with sarcasm, there was a bit of doubt lurking in the depths of his eyes. “But I want to be here. Just because I’m married doesn’t mean I don’t have time for my family, too.”
Natalie sighed. “Okay, let’s go,” she said before quietly murmuring, “Thank you.”
I grabbed her hand and squeezed it before we followed Noah into the building, up the elevator, and to the entrance of the Gardner Law offices.
A man with a blinding smile and a sharp suit met us by the receptionist.
“Cameron Bryant,” he said, his voice smooth and deep. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Blake London,” I replied. “Same to you. Thanks so much for meeting with us.”
I shook his hand before he turned to Natalie, and I couldn’t remember ever seeing my sister—highly trained trauma surgeon Dr. London— blush at shaking a man’s hand before, but I swore that was what happened when she introduced herself. Cameron’s dimples indented in response, like he noticed, and I decided it was good I was staying for this meeting. Noah seemed to clock the exchange, too, his eyes darting between Cameron and Natalie.
Once introductions had been exchanged, Cameron led us into the labyrinth of offices in the law firm. But we didn’t get very far before we were cut short by the appearance of a tall man with deep auburn hair.
“Not even going to stop to say hi, huh?” Julian drawled, leaning in the doorway of his office. Beside him, a plaque that said The Briggses hung on the wall beside the door, and I knew the moment Noah noticed it because a laugh burst through his lips.
“Do they honestly let you two share an office?” he choked through his laughter.
“Sure do,” Julian said smugly.
Noah shook his head, pointing to the plaque on the wall. “Did you have to put in a special order for that?”
“Of course he did,” Julian’s wife, Juniper, cut in from the office. She walked up to stand beside Julian in the doorway and then smiled at Noah and me in acknowledgment before turning to Natalie to introduce herself. “Juniper Briggs. It’s so lovely to meet you. I’ve heard a plethora of nice things about you from Gemma.”
Julian’s grin broadened at her introduction. It had only been about six months since Julian and Juniper’s wedding, which I remembered vividly despite not being in attendance. I’d called my brother that day to find him miserable as he got ready for his best friend’s nuptials. Noah didn’t know how to come to terms with the fact that he was in love with that same friend’s sister, and somehow, I’d managed to convince him to get his head out of his ass and take the fucking plunge.
It was also the day I decided I couldn’t survive watching Delaney be engaged to Austin Long.
That was why I’d called Noah that day—to tell him I’d already lined up a job interview in Boston.
“This is ridiculous. I bet the two of you get nothing done. This definitely shouldn’t be allowed.” Noah tapped on the sign, still stuck on it even after Natalie had greeted the Briggses and introduced herself.
This was her first time meeting both of them. Noah had invited both our family and the Briggs family to share a suite at his playoff game last season, but Natalie hadn’t been able to attend because of work. I was there but hadn’t spent a lot of time with Julian and Juniper, too busy trying to get Theo to behave around the rest of the Briggs sisters so he didn’t get any bones broken by Gemma’s brother. Julian might be smiling right now, but his eyes had shot daggers that day, his normally pale skin flushing red as he did.
“Nah,” Julian replied, ignoring Cameron coughing his agreement with Noah beneath his breath. “It’s all very above board. Nothing like when you moved my sister in with you and didn’t tell me for three fucking months.”
Noah crossed his arms over his chest. “Are we not over this? I thought we were over this.”
“We’re over it,” Juniper pressed, patting Julian’s arm to placate him. “Considering how happy Gems is, right?”
Juniper glanced at her husband, and he caught her chin with two fingers, tipping it up. Juniper’s lips curved, and suddenly, we were in the middle of an intimate moment no one had invited us to. At least until Noah grunted, “Damn right. Also, if you get to marry your sister’s best friend, then she gets to marry me. We’re even, Jules.”
Julian’s brows shot way up—probably because this was the first time Noah had mentioned marrying Gemma in front of him. Or maybe at all. He’d definitely hinted at it but had never stated it so outwardly.
“I’d say so,” I cut in before anything else unraveled. “Glad to see everyone is one big, happy family now.”
Julian jerked out of the trance that Noah’s announcement had momentarily put him in and looked directly at me. “Speaking of happy families, I heard you recently tied the knot. Congratulations, man.” He beamed, clapping me on the shoulder.
“Thank you.” I couldn’t help but grin back. “It’s been a whirlwind of a month, but it’s been amazing.”
“Love to hear that,” Julian said genuinely before his eyes darted to Cameron. “Well, I’ll let Cam take it from here. You’re in great hands, Natalie.”
My sister blushed at Julian’s words.
Again.
Then she cleared her throat. “I’m sure I am.”
Cameron nodded. He ran a hand over his buzzed hair before he unbuttoned his suit jacket like he was suddenly hot. It looked like an expensive suit; the stitching and cut were precise, and the tan color perfectly complemented his light brown skin. If I ever got a chance to marry Delaney again—for real, this time—I might have to ask Cameron where he got his suits. “We’ll get this ex sorted out in no time,” he said. “I can promise you that, Dr. London.”
Cameron’s respect for her title did not go unnoticed by Natalie, who looked more warmly at the lawyer than I’d seen her look at any man recently. It was still slight, masked by her usual guarded expression, but it was something. And I knew Noah noticed it, too.
“Looking forward to it,” Natalie murmured before we waved our goodbyes to the Briggses and followed Cameron down the hallway to his office.
I hoped he was serious about his promise. Because there was no way in hell that Nat’s ex-husband deserved what he was asking for in terms of Chloe’s custody. And Nat needed a lawyer who’d make sure this man regretted everything he’d done to my sister.
I walked through the door to our apartment after we’d finished up at the law firm, feeling more settled about having a plan for Natalie and also feeling ready to make good on what my sister told me to do in regard to my marriage.
I was going to ask Delaney out on a date. Tonight. Right now.
But then I saw her, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
She sat cross-legged on the couch, leaning forward over the coffee table, which she had pulled as close to the edge of the cushions as possible. Spread across the table were five hundred scattered puzzle pieces. Delaney chewed on her lip as she tried to find where one of the pieces fit. Her face was pale, nearly translucent. Her eyes, red.
My stomach turned. I walked on wooden legs toward her, dropping my keys and phone on the kitchen countertop.
She didn’t look up when I approached.
“What’s wrong, Lane?”
A single tear ran down her cheek. She bit down on her lip harder. Then, she tapped the puzzle piece on the table repeatedly, staring at the picture on the lid of the box as though it would magically jump out at her where the piece fit.
I crouched next to the table, willing her to look at me.
She didn’t. But she sighed.
It was a whole-body sigh. A shudder.
“I like this one.” She tapped on the puzzle box—the new one I bought on our trip. “Thank you for getting it for me. I needed to replace the other one.”
“Of course.” I spoke softly, afraid to spook her, afraid that she might stop talking again. “You don’t have to get rid of the original one, though. It carries a lot of memories.”
She finally looked up at me. And what I saw in her gaze terrified me because I didn’t understand it. “Yeah,” she said finally. “It does.”
I tucked a limp piece of hair behind her ear and then trailed my fingers down one of the thick braids she wore in her hair. “How was your day?”
She pursed her lips for a moment. “Not great.”
That didn’t entirely surprise me, but her next comment did.
“I missed you.”
My heart leapt into my throat.
“I missed you, too, sweetheart.” I cupped her cheek, rubbing my thumb beneath her eyes to wipe away the moisture there. “I’m so sorry it got late. But I thought about you all fucking day. Couldn’t wait to get home to see you.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s good that you went with Natalie. She needed you more than me.”
“I’m not so sure about that. Because you haven’t told me what these tears are about.”
“Thank you for packing me a lunch today,” she responded, avoiding my comment. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I want my wife to get enough to eat at work, so yes, I did,” I said solemnly. “But I’m more than happy to do it. No need to thank me.”
She sighed again, but it was heavier. It was weighty . Delaney carried so much weight around on her shoulders.
“Lane, please,” I pleaded, begging her to let me share the burden. “It wasn’t that nurse, was it? Jack or John or whatever? If he got too close to you again, I’m going to?—”
“Not Jack.” Delaney stared up at the ceiling for a moment. “He’s been fine, actually. It’s more—” She dropped her gaze again. “It’s just that I made you do all this for nothing.”
“All…this?”
She waved her hands around like I was supposed to understand her gestures. When I didn’t, she added, “The marriage, the honeymoon, everything.”
A harsh laugh burst through my lips. “That honeymoon was not nothing , Lane. You and I both know that.”
Fuck that idea.
“I know, but—” She broke off with a tiny, frustrated growl. “Ophelia let our marriage slip to my parents. She assumed they knew. And I found out today why Anderson was so worried that they knew. Apparently, we need their approval in order to get the inheritance. It was included in an addendum that, fuck —” She tipped her head back, closing her eyes. “How the hell did this slip past me? I looked at that goddamn will so many times. And now there’s no hope of me ever seeing that money. Of ever opening my clinic.”
Shit.
“You don’t think we can convince them that this is legitimate?”
Something inside me hurt. I hated any topic of conversation that reminded me that this wasn’t legitimate. It felt so fucking real to me at this point, and it killed me that Delaney might not feel the same way.
“I don’t think they care to be convinced.” Delaney opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. “But they still want us to come to dinner on Sunday.”
I nodded. “Okay, so, we’ll go to dinner on Sunday.”
“Blake…” She leveled her head and gaze to meet mine. “You don’t understand.”
“I do. I do understand. But give me a chance.”
Give me a real fucking chance, baby.
“My mom’s not going to buy it,” she continued to protest—as though there would be anything to buy. I wasn’t going to try to sell that I was in love with Delaney. I was just going to walk in there loving her, and for once in my goddamn life, I wasn’t going to hide it. “It won’t work on her. She doesn’t believe in affection. It’s not like when we went to dinner with your family.”
I smiled at her because she thought I didn’t get it, but it was the other way around.
We hadn’t tricked my siblings into believing our relationship was real. Our relationship was real. Their belief in us had nothing to do with the way she’d sat on my lap or how I’d played with her hair. We didn’t fake our chemistry; we just had it. I didn’t make my siblings think that I was in love with Delaney—I was just in love with Delaney, and they instantly knew it, immediately saw how deeply it ran.
And now, after the honeymoon and everything that had happened between us, our connection was that much stronger.
“It’ll work,” I promised. “Besides, you’re right. It’s not like when we went to dinner with my family. Aren’t things different now? Aren’t we different now?”
If she denied that they were, I wasn’t really sure what I would do, how I’d cope.
But she said, “Of course we’re different. But it doesn’t matter. They don’t actually care how real or not real our marriage is. They’ll be upset about the elopement and the inheritance and, I don’t know, maybe if we can make them believe that since we’ve known each other so long that this isn’t sudden or for the money…but it probably won’t change their opinions.”
I thought on that, tipping my head to the side.
If Delaney wanted her parents to think that this had been a long time coming, well, hell…I could make that happen. I could easily make that happen.
“I can convince them of that, Delaney. Just let me try.”
“You don’t have to do this for me,” she sighed, looking pained. “You didn’t sign up for this.”
Finding her hand, I lifted it up, reminding her my ring was on her finger.
“I gave you this, right?”
She nodded.
“I signed up for it, Delaney. I signed up for all of it. And I want all of it. This is why I’m here.”
Tears pooled along her lashes again, but she didn’t say anything. Nothing, except, “Will you help me finish my puzzle?”
Her voice shook as she flashed a wobbly smile.
“Of course, baby.” I settled onto the couch next to her. “Can I put a movie on while we work on it?”
Delaney nodded, and I turned on the TV, spending a quiet minute navigating the controls until I found what I was looking for.
Delaney’s lips pressed together, suppressing her reaction when The Lizzie McGuire Movie started playing.
Then, a laugh hiccupped out of her, and she cleared her throat.
“Thank you, Blake. For everything.” She handed me the puzzle piece in her hand. “Can you figure out where this goes? I’m stuck on it.”
“I got it,” I promised, and that seemed to be a good enough answer for her to finally relax beside me.
Hopefully, all the pieces would be falling into place soon.