30. Hadley
Chapter thirty
Hadley
“That was hot,” Madison says the minute Wes disappears back into the kitchen.
“It was barely a kiss.”
“It was adorable, and I’m kind of jealous,” Sutton interjects.
“Who’s jealous?” Ansley asks, coming over to us with a bowl of chips in one hand and a plate of deli meat, carrots, and celery in the other.
“I said I was kind of jealous of Hadley and Wes,” Sutton tells Ansley, grabbing a carrot off her plate and taking a bite of it.
“Remind me again why you and Sebastian aren’t dating,” Ansley asks, getting settled. “Oh, that’s right, because you’re too stubborn to say yes.”
Sutton shakes her head. “I think I’m about done with the dating scene. It’s exhausting.”
She snags a chip from Ansley’s bowl.
“Hey, hands off. Get your own.” Ansley smacks Sutton’s hand away, holding her bowl out of her grasp.
“Here.” Becca walks over with a bowl of chips and sets them down on the coffee table. “I don’t know why the guys felt the need to put all the snacks on the dining room table. It looks nice set up over there, but it just means we have to keep getting up. I told Holt to bring everything over here.”
“Dating is shit,” Rachel, Madison’s friend, pipes up.
Sutton opens her mouth as if to say something, but then abruptly closes it, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone, her eyes widening when she sees who’s calling.
“Hello,” she says into the phone before turning to us. “Sorry, it’s my sister. I need to take it.” She starts talking again as she steps away.
“Did you know she had a sister?” Ansley asks.
“No. Did any of you?” I answer, glancing at the other women.
“No idea,” Madison says, shaking her head.
I turn my attention to Ansley and Becca. “I’m realizing I don’t know much about Sutton. Does she have a lot of siblings?” I squint as if that will somehow answer the question.
“Does who have a lot of siblings?” Holt asks.
He sets a platter down on the coffee table before heading over to where Becca is perched on the end of the sofa. He gives her a quick kiss.
“Sutton,” Madison says. “Hey, Dad.” She waves her father over.
“What’s up, Mads?” Jake comes over, holding Hazel.
“What do you know about Sutton?” Madison asks.
“Not much. Mainly her educational background and her work experience. Why?” Jake asks.
Before anyone else can say anything, the woman in question walks back into the room.
“What?” She wipes her mouth. “Do I have food on my face? Food on my shirt? Wouldn’t be the first time.” She pulls her top away from her body and inspects it.
“No, no food,” Madison says, resting her hands on her stomach. “We feel like bad friends because we didn’t know you had a sister.”
“You have siblings?” Wes asks, coming up to us, some of the guys trailing along with him.
Sutton turns red, rocking back on her heels and glancing around the room. “I do. Two half-siblings from my father’s second marriage.”
Wes widens his eyes at me as if to say he’s as shocked as I am at the news, and given the way everyone else is staring at Sutton with some level of surprise on their faces, I’d say they all feel the same. Sutton fiddles with the ring on her thumb, staring at the ground.
“That must have been rough growing up,” Holt says. “One sibling is hard enough. I can’t imagine multiple.”
“Hey now,” I protest, and my brother laughs.
“I’ve always wanted siblings,” Wes says.
“You can have mine,” I mumble.
Sutton shifts on her feet. “My father—” She blows out a breath, wrapping her arms around herself. “There’s a big age gap between me and my younger siblings.”
Wes opens his mouth as if to ask something else, but I shake my head slightly at him. We need to change the subject. I glance around the room and catch Becca’s eye. She winks at me as if to say she’s got this.
“How about the parents-to-be open their presents?” Becca suggests.
The conversation shifts as the guys start bringing the presents over. I take a moment to study Sutton. I wonder what else I don’t know about my friend.
We spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying ourselves. After the presents are opened, the cake that Rachel made is brought out, and we sit around laughing and talking for a few hours. Thankfully, no one asks Sutton anymore questions about her family.
“Ready to go home, tornado?” Wes asks as I’m wiping my hands on a towel in the kitchen, having loaded the dishwasher even though Hunter and Madison both told me I didn’t need to.
I know I didn’t need to. But I wanted to help. Figured it would be one less thing they’d have to worry about.
“Yep.”
He follows me out of the kitchen, and we say goodbye to everyone before he takes my hand and leads me out of the house so we can go home.
I don’t let myself linger on the fact that Wes’s house is starting to feel like home because I’m still not certain this won’t end in heartbreak.