Page 12 of All This Time

Her eyes slowly dip down my body and when they return to my gaze, she licks her lips. “Nice to see you too.”

Okay…

Rhonan clears his throat behind me, pulling my attention just in time. I spin around and pull him into a hug.

“Glad you could find some time in your celebrity life for us little people back home,” he says dryly.

When he releases me, I adjust my backwards hat. “Ah, come on. It hasn’t been that long…”

Rhonan arches a brow. “The last time you came home was Ellis’s second birthday party, and she’s about to be five in a few months.”

Guilt slams into me. Not because I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I visited Blossom Peak, but because my friends think my life is too busy for them. Meanwhile, they’ve all come to Charlotte to attend games and spend time with me in the offseason whenever they could.

But coming back here means facing all the bullshit that plagues me when I come into town, things not even my best friends know the full extent of.

One person does, though.

My eyes scour the room and find her instantly, like always.

Laney. She’s across the room, sitting with that perfectly blank face that somehow still radiates annoyance, glaring like she hopes I spontaneously combust.

I see some things haven’t changed, including her ability to make my balls shrivel up with one angry look. She didn’t always look at me like that, though. There was a time when looking into her eyes felt like the safest place in the world.

But one fucking night back in college burned our friendship to the ground. I know I fucked up that night, but Laney and I have never discussed the details, and honestly, I wonder if revisiting it might fix things—or just blow up whatever’s still left.

Luckily, my boys remained a constant for me as I gave all my focus to making it to the NFL, but the three of them have also been busy building their own lives and futures.

Rhonan spent six years in the Marines, but he came back to Blossom Peak to be a sheriff after he met Sarah. They fell fast and started a life together. Then came Ellis—but due to complications duringdelivery, Sarah didn’t make it. Now Rhonan’s living the single dad life and raising one of my favorite humans on the planet. And he’s damn good at it, but I can still see the pain behind his eyes no matter how hard he tries to hide it.

Henley has always been the daredevil of the group. He waited for Dilynne to graduate from high school and then took off to travel for a few years, seeking his next thrill. However, when he broke several bones during a street luge course, Dilynne begged him to stop, so he returned to Blossom Peak and now runs Sky’s The Limit, the town’s ski resort and adventure park.

And then there’s Elliot, the overachiever. After attending Florida State, he went to Duke for law school to be closer to home and came back to work at his family’s law firm. The Thornes are generational lawyers and their name is well-known throughout the state of North Carolina, but they also have some skeletons hidden in their closets. Elliot travels to Charlotte a lot to work on corporate cases, but he chose to live here to be close to his parents, and now he’s getting married, which of course, is why I’m here.

“Fuck, it’s good to see you, man.” Elliot shoves Rhonan and Henley aside to get to me, wrapping me in another hug, this time lifting me from the ground and shaking me up and down a few times before setting me back on my feet.

I fix my shirt as I regain my footing, studying my friend who seems way more cheerful than he typically is. “Jesus, have you been working out?”

Elliot bats his eyelashes at me. “You trying to flatter me already?”

“I mean, as your best man, that’s part of my job, right? Motivational speeches and encouragement?”

“Not sure I’ll need them.” Elliot pulls Tori into his side and kisses the top of her head. “What’s the saying? When you know, you know?”

I nod, though I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that this is really happening.

When Elliot called and told me he reconnected with Tori and had never felt this strongly for a woman before, I was more than happy for him. The guy’s been a workaholic since he graduated from law school, and even before that, his nose was always stuck in a book. He never failed to find time to flirt with women, but marriage was never a goal of his. So, I was shocked when he called to say he was engaged after just six months of dating. Having never been in a serious relationship before, I know I have no room to judge. But anyone would agree that timeline was fast.

Tori rolls her eyes as she giggles. “This guy was adamant about a big wedding too. I said we should elope.”

“I mean, I’m always down for a trip to Vegas.”

“But if you go to Vegas, then I can’t go!” A tiny voice behind the group of grown men and Tori breaks through our conversation as Ellis pushes her way toward me.

I crouch down to intercept her as she runs into my arms. “Ellis, my girl!” Inhaling deeply, I take a moment to savor seeing this little ray of sunshine again in person instead of through a cell phone, kissing the top of her head through her brown hair as dark as her father’s. “How are you, princess?”

“I’m not a princess yet, Uncle Fletcher.” She leans back in my arms as I stand to full height again. “But in the wedding, I get to wear a princess dress.”

I reach down and toy with the tulle on the dress she’s wearing right now. “Then what do you call this thing?”