31. 31
Ijust kissed Delaney Jones. Aka Lane Jonas.
Wrong—she kissed me.
Either way, kissing happened. The buzzing in my lips won’t let me forget it. After which I promptly hung up on Delaney’s mother. Not on purpose—it was an accident. I was caught off guard and… it just happened. Of course, I let her watch me kiss her daughter before I hung up on her.
Delaney didn’t seem to care that her mother got a show or that I hung up on the woman. She just hopped up to peck me once more before saying goodbye and taking off with my sisters.
As she left, I spouted something really suave like, “Call me!”
I am suddenly back in high school with a huge crush on Fara Frame and no idea how to behave around her. Except that, I”m not afraid of Delaney or talking to her. I”m all grown up—sort of. And a little concerned about my new bride. She”s going out in public when she just had a break-in this week. She likes to act like she”s fine, but I”ve seen her startle. And maybe breathing exercises are a part of her daily routine, or maybe they’re new due to the trauma she’s experienced.
I bounce a nervous knee and stare at my painting—but I can’t see what’s next. My head won’t clear.
Delaney knows what she’s doing. She’s been living this rock star life a whole lot longer than I have. Besides, I told her to call me—and I meant it and not in a pining-after-Fara-Frame way. So I’m just going to assume that’s how she took it.
There’s a knock on my door, and I pop my head up like a jack-in-the-box. “Delaney?”
The door opens to my three burly brothers and one brother-in-law. They let themselves inside, filling the space of my studio.
“Miles!” Owen says, a big smile on his face. “Bachelor party?”
“He isn’t a bachelor anymore.” Levi crosses his arms, peering down at me on my stool.
“Ah, shut it, Levi,” Coop says.
“Coop?” I say, realizing my youngest brother should be in Boise for school. “What are you doing home?”
“You announce you’re married—to a rock star of all people—and I’m supposed to stay at school for the weekend? I’m here to celebrate. Sunday dinner is gonna be fun.” He chuckles, smiling that award-winning grin he’s had since he was a kid.
My brow sits in its constant furrow. “So—”
“We’re going out. Celebrating.” Jude holds a fist out to Levi, and when he is denied, he turns to Coop, who happily bumps fists with our brother-in-law.
“The girls aren’t the only ones who get to party,” Owen says.
His joy is contagious.
“Annie came up with that line, didn’t she?” Levi says. “This whole thing is Annie’s idea.”
Owen bumps his shoulder to Levi’s. “It was mine. Of course we want to celebrate our brother. This is a big deal.”
”Where are we going?” I scratch the back of my head. I”m not sure I”m up for a night out. But then, what else am I going to do? Stay home and stress about Delaney, replay that kiss in my brain—again and again, and again? At this point, it”s like Grandma Bailey”s record of the General Hospital rap anthem: broken and repeating the same line over and over.
Owen points a finger at me. “Pickleball—”
“In the dark?”
“It isn’t dark yet,” Cooper says. He pulls his phone from his pocket. “It’s only seven. We’ve got an hour of light.”
“Yep.” Owen’s finger redirects to Cooper. “And then we’ll hit Twigs.”
“The martini bar?” Levi says, unimpressed—clearly he wasn’t a part of the planning committee.
“They serve food too. We’ll feed you, we promise,” Cooper says, slapping our oldest brother on the back. He may be the youngest, and Levi may be the most bearish, but Coop has never been afraid of our big brother.
This is my bachelor party? Apparently, my expression speaks for me.
“Yep, kinda lame,” Levi agrees.
“I had no time to plan,” Owen complains.
Cooper is the first to laugh. “Come on, Miles. Get your shoes on. I gotta hear how you met Lane Jonas.”
But I don’t want to talk about that—those are lies that I don’t want to tell. “We already told you. The gallery,” I say.
“Yeah, but how does a woman like that decide to talk to a guy like you?” Coop laughs. “I mean, she’s Lane Freaking Jonas.”
“Can we just play pickleball?” I stand and grab my shoes in the corner. “To me, she’s just Delaney. I don’t really think about the fame part. I’d rather not let it get to my head.”
“You married the girl after how long?” Levi says. “I’m not sure there’s a lot going on in your head.”
“He’s smarter than me,” Owen says. “Better to jump at the chance to be with the person you love than wait around forever.”
I ignore my brothers’ bickering and head back to my loft to change. It takes me an entire two minutes to get ready for our night out. Joggers and shoes on, I open the door to find Coop in a headlock, courtesy of Levi.
“Hey.” Coop smiles from his throw, red-faced position. “Ready to go?”
We head out, playing and talking like this is any other night until the sun sets and most of our light is gone before heading off to Twigs.
Before anyone can ask me a question about Delaney, I ask Coop about himself. That’ll take up time. “So, Coop, only two more years before the bar exam and you’re official. Do you think you’ll come home?”
“Home?” He scrunches up his face. We all know Mom is banking on our little brother coming home to practice law. “I don’t know. There’s a big wide world out there, Miles.”
“That’s true.”
“You don’t want to take over for old man Holmes? Mom is planning on it.” Levi twists around in Owen’s Buick to glare at Cooper smashed between me and Jude. The only person Levi might want to protect more than Meredith is our mother.
“Mom knows it’s not a done deal,” Cooper says. “I’m twenty-four, Levi. Don’t make me decide on forever right now, okay?”
Levi faces forward and the air is thick with Bailey men’s nerves and aggression.
“So,” I say, ready to ease the tension, “my wife’s pretty hot, eh?”
Cooper cracks a grin and Owen belts out a laugh from up front.