36. Chapter 36 #2
Isabella clung to my hand for the first few laps, concentrating so hard on keeping her feet beneath her that she barely looked up.
Before long, she had the hang of it well enough to relax and enjoy herself.
Lacey and Scarlett eventually stole her from me, one on either side, and the three of them made their way around together while Nat followed at a much more cautious pace and loudly informed Jae that his ability to skate backward was obnoxious.
Jae only grinned and kept skating backward with irritating ease.
Nik and Lucian turned a casual lap into a race, which meant I had no choice but to join them before either could claim he’d beaten me at anything.
By the time I circled back, Isabella had gotten brave enough to let go of Lacey’s hand and skate several feet on her own before grabbing Scarlett again.
By the time we finally called it quits, the winter light was fading, the temperature had dropped, and every one of us was running on fumes.
Our gloves were damp, our boots and cuffs had soaked through, and my fingers and toes had gone from cold to mostly numb.
Isabella’s cheeks and nose were bright pink, and her dark hair, hanging loose around the fur-trimmed hood of her snowsuit, was wild and tangled.
She was exhausted and ridiculously happy.
The others weren’t in much better shape.
Even Jae had stopped pretending he had endless energy.
We were cold, starving, and more than ready to get back to Nik and Lacey’s, strip off the wet layers, and spend the rest of the evening in front of a fire with food and something alcoholic.
The elevator stopped several floors below the penthouse, and Nat immediately stepped out.
“I love every one of you, but I’m taking the hottest shower Manhattan can legally provide and going nowhere else tonight.”
Jae followed her into the hall. “Same. My beautiful feet have suffered enough.”
Lacey laughed. “Text me when you’re alive again.”
Jae blew her a kiss, then pointed at Isabella. “You’re ours now. Don’t make plans without us.”
Isabella smiled. “See you soon.”
The doors closed, and the elevator continued upward.
Warmth hit us the second it opened into Nik and Lacey’s penthouse.
After most of the day outside, the place felt almost tropical.
Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, Central Park had faded into blue-gray dusk, the snow still bright against the darkening city.
Inside, enormous black-and-white landscapes dominated the walls, and music played softly through hidden speakers.
We shrugged off our coats and left them in the entryway.
“My feet are never going to be warm again,” Scarlett complained as she wrestled with one boot.
“But it was fun,” Isabella reminded her.
“Yes, but frostbite is where I draw the line.”
“You don’t have frostbite,” Lucian said.
Scarlett glanced up at him. “Thank you, Doctor Byrnes.”
Lacey laughed and took Scarlett and Isabella to change into dry clothes while Lucian and I followed Nik into the kitchen.
The man had a kitchen most professional chefs would sell a kidney for, and he actually knew how to cook.
He’d planned ahead too. A huge pot of chili had been simmering since morning, filling the room with the smell of beef, tomatoes, peppers, and spices.
Nik went to work slicing bread and setting out everything that went with it while Lucian and I poured ourselves tumblers of whiskey and stayed out of his way.
The girls joined us a little while later in dry clothes. Lacey opened a bottle of wine, and soon all six of us were crowded around the kitchen island with bowls of chili, warm bread, and drinks.
Six starving people could put away a hell of a lot of food.
Stuffed and mellow from the whiskey and wine, we moved into the living room with dessert, mugs of cocoa, and Irish coffee. The fire was going, and everyone settled in wherever they were comfortable.
Lucian and Scarlett claimed one end of the sectional, Nik and Lacey the other. Isabella tucked herself into my side beneath my arm, her mug of cocoa warming her hands.
Before long, Lacey and Scarlett were trading ideas about all the places they wanted to show Isabella.
“We have to take you down Fifth Avenue,” Lacey said. “And not just drive past it. You need to actually walk it.”
Scarlett nodded. “Then Broadway. You can’t live in Manhattan and never see a show.”
Isabella brightened. “I would love that.”
“Oh, we’re absolutely doing that,” Lacey said. “And downtown too. There’s so much I want to show you.”
“Other than what we did today, I’m a blank slate when it comes to Manhattan,” Isabella joked.
Scarlett laughed. “That just means we get to have so much fun showing you.”
“Agreed,” Lacey said.
From there it became a blur as the list kept growing.
I liked hearing Lacey and Scarlett talk as though showing Isabella their favorite parts of Manhattan was already a given. They weren’t treating her like a guest they had to entertain. They were pulling her into their lives.
Assuming she chose to stay.
The thought kept me from getting too comfortable with the picture.
I wanted her with me. I wanted her in my bed and beside me when I woke up.
But wanting those things didn’t tell me what Isabella wanted for herself, and I still wasn’t sure Manhattan—or the world I lived in—was where she ought to build whatever came next.
Lucian glanced toward Scarlett. “Seeing as you’re making enough plans here to keep yourself busy for the next six months, I’m thinking you don’t need to come to Boston with me.”
Scarlett shifted against him. “So you still have to go?”
“Aye. There’s no getting around that. But I could commute. Show my face there enough to deal with the situation. Uncle Jack expects me there, and neither Lach nor I is stupid enough to tell Uncle Jack to go fuck himself when the man practically owns Boston.”
“Speak for yourself,” I said.
Lucian gave me a dry look. “You can tell him. I’ll watch.”
That earned a laugh from Lacey.