Chapter 20 #2
Brynn reveled in the moment as Hallie panted into her mouth, her whole body jerking against her as she carried her through her orgasm. It was, frankly, the most gratifying thing she’d ever experienced, being the cause of such simple, encompassing pleasure in another person.
Hallie took a few seconds to come down while Brynn kept her fingers pressed against her center, rubbing slow circles there. She loved the slightly dazed, blissed-out look on Hallie’s face, the calmest she’d been since they’d gotten out of bed this morning.
“Orgasms are good for stress relief,” Brynn said needlessly, since the evidence was clearly splayed out underneath her.
It took long seconds before Hallie answered. “Is that so?”
She smiled down at Hallie. “Want to go again just to be sure?”
They weren’t late, technically.
Well, they were five minutes late, but Brynn’s parents were even later. Which was really unlike them.
But she hadn’t been able to dwell on it because, as they’d walked up to the table, Reese and Sydney had already been smirking.
Brynn had found it confusing until Sydney had gestured to Hallie to fix one of the buttons on her shirt.
Brynn had turned toward Hallie and quickly redone the buttons; it had been her fault in the first place that they’d been askew.
Since they were having brunch on a weekday, the restaurant was sparsely filled. Reese had told Hallie in no uncertain terms that the inn could survive for a few hours without them. Whether Hallie was committed to a better work-life balance or not, Reese wasn’t going to let it go.
And Brynn sort of loved that. The weird balance of work and friendship that they were all finding amongst one another. They even had a group chat thread, which was something Brynn had never had before with a group of friends.
Granted, they were actually two couples, but they all had friendships outside of their relationships with each other.
Sydney had even texted Brynn one-on-one the other day!
It was clear that she was making an effort to make Brynn feel included, and even if it was mostly because she was Hallie’s girlfriend now, it meant a lot.
When Brynn’s parents arrived seconds later, she and Hallie were both still standing. Her dad—luckily, since meeting her parents individually was probably better—was over at the host stand, no doubt to make it clear that he’d be picking up the check for the table.
“Hi, Mom. Everything okay?” Brynn asked when she leaned forward to hug her.
Her mom hugged her close, holding on to her for a few extra seconds than their already abnormally long hugs lasted. “We went to Boston Children’s Hospital this morning to volunteer.”
Brynn’s throat was instantly full. This was a big moment for her parents.
Sure, they donated money to pediatric cancer causes, but she didn’t think that they’d been back to the hospital since her sister had died.
Brynn, over the years, had volunteered there fairly regularly, even though it was something she didn’t talk to her parents about.
“How was it?” she asked softly, still in her mom’s arms.
Her mom squeezed her once more before letting her go. “Hard but good. I’m glad that we did it. And I’m glad that you gave us the push that we needed.”
Brynn blushed. Praise from her parents wasn’t uncommon, but this felt different.
She felt like she had actually done something that warranted the pride evident in her mom’s tone.
“You know me. Always here to bring down the hammer,” she joked at the same time that she wrapped her arm around Hallie’s waist and pulled her close.
As much as she wanted to talk more about her parents’ day, right now, she was ready to introduce them to a very important person.
“Mom, this is Hallie Thatcher. My girlfriend.”
Just saying the words made her heart swell with happiness. God, she was so lucky.
Brynn barely had the chance to whisper, “She’s a hugger,” before Hallie was pulled into the arms of Margie Fitzpatrick. Besides, calling the full-bodied embrace her mom leveled on Hallie “a hug” wouldn’t have done it justice.
Brynn held her breath, waiting for Hallie to shoot her a pleading look to be saved except…
that didn’t happen. In response to her mom’s intense affection, Hallie leaned into the hug with her whole body, allowing herself to be wrapped up and squeezed so tightly that even Brynn could feel it in her own ribs.
“I’m so glad to meet you, Hallie. Brynn’s told us so much about you.”
Finally, Hallie looked over to her, a blush on her cheeks. “All good things I hope,” she said when Brynn’s mom finally saw fit to let her go. Probably because her dad was on his way over now, too.
She didn’t miss the look on her mom’s face, knowing that whatever was coming was going to be loving teasing at her own expense. “I don’t think I’ve heard her gush about anything so much except for when she discovered existentialism as a ten-year-old.”
And god, did Brynn’s whole body go melty when Hallie laughed and said, “I may have gotten that TedTalk from her a couple of times already. So have no fear, it’s still one of her favorites.”
How was this her life? It was unfathomable that the people she cared about most in the world were so casually talking about all the things that had made the younger version of her embarrassed and ashamed, given the delight she took in things most kids hadn’t cared about, much less heard of, in the slightest.
A smile was still plastered on her face when her dad pulled Hallie into an embrace, too. There was no world in which Stan Fitzpatrick was going to miss the chance for a hug. His version of them could, at times, be crushing, but she watched as he wrapped Hallie softly in his giant frame.
“So nice to meet you, Hallie. You must be a very special woman to have captured our daughter’s attention so fully,” he said, stepping back to give Hallie a little breathing room. She was honestly shocked at the level of restraint—for them—that her parents were displaying.
“She captured mine first, so I’m just lucky that the feeling was mutual.”
Brynn knew that Hallie was good with people. She’d seen it play out day after day at the inn, but given her nervousness leading up to this brunch, Brynn hadn’t expected for her to be so… smooth.
Brynn hadn’t been nervous leading up to brunch.
She already had relationships with everyone at the table, which always helped make her feel at ease.
And she loved to do anything, as long as it was with Hallie.
But when they all finally settled in their seats, after her parents and Sydney and Reese had said their hellos, she felt the strangest sensation wash over her.
It wasn’t that she needed today to go well. Even if it didn’t, she was sure about Hallie. More sure than she’d been about anything in her life until now. But still, there was a feeling itching at her that she couldn’t shake as the waiter took their drink orders.
She looked over to meet Hallie’s stare, their hands finding their way to one another under the table.
The realization hit her as the warmth from Hallie’s palm spread through her own.
It was Hallie who she hoped liked her parents instead of the other way around.
They could be overbearing and intense and involved, but she loved them deeply. She hoped Hallie did, too.
The overwhelming need to check in on her girlfriend took root in Brynn’s stomach, but before she had the chance to whisper to her, her dad spoke. “Hallie, how are you liking The Stone’s Throw under Reese’s ownership?”
“What happened to no business talk at social gatherings?” Brynn cut in, looking at her dad. It was a long-standing rule that their family had, and it had been invoked a great deal when she’d been with Grant.
Which, Brynn realized in this moment, probably had far more to do with Grant, specifically, than with her dad preferring not to discuss work at the table.
But Hallie squeezed Brynn’s hand and smiled. “I love it. Honestly, Reese is my favorite owner I’ve worked with at the inn.” Brynn noticed that she didn’t clarify it was her parents who’d previously owned The Stone’s Throw; everyone at the table already knew.
Reese was clearly delighted by the praise, which she leveled right back in Hallie’s direction. “Hallie makes it easy. I would have never survived taking over the inn if I didn’t have her support. It’s not an understatement to say that she runs the place.”
“With an iron fist,” Sydney cut in, bringing her own fist down gently on the table.
Everyone laughed before Reese added, “Spoken like a true lifelong best friend, babe. But really, we’d all be lost without her. I’m going to do everything that I can to keep her at The Stone’s Throw for as long as she wants to be there.”
“The free housing goes a long way,” Hallie teased, which made everyone laugh again.
God, would there ever be a time when she wasn’t completely charmed by everything about Hallie? Brynn hoped not.
The waiter returned with their drinks, and they all placed their orders.
Because they had known that being late was a possibility after their late morning activities, Hallie had read the menu out loud to Brynn on the drive to the restaurant.
Which was another thing that Brynn loved—knowing what she was getting into in social situations.
Hallie was the same, so she’d already had the menu pulled up before Brynn had even asked.
As the meal wore on, she could feel Hallie’s hand soften in her own.
The conversation shifted from The Stone’s Throw to the business that Reese and Brynn’s dad did together, to what Sydney had going on in her daily life.
Brynn even chimed in with a few stories about the inn, especially when it had to do with Hallie being an absolute boss at her job.
Not that Hallie needed a hype woman. Brynn just genuinely loved having the chance to talk about her whenever the opportunity presented itself.