Page 37

Cece claps her hands. “No one has to cramp anyone’s style. I just happen to have an empty apartment at my disposal.”

“You mean the apartment in our brownstone that you insist we keep literally empty because you told us to?” I ask. “The one without any furniture in it at all?”

Cece eyes me. “Have you been in there lately?”

“No one goes in there,” Cooper says. “I figured that’s where you do your spells.”

Everyone laughs, but Cece just eyes Cooper like she knows something he doesn’t. “Coop honey, I do my spells in my own house; everyone knows that. I furnished the empty apartment just last week.”

“You did what?” my brothers and I all ask simultaneously, making the girls laugh again.

Cece just shrugs. “I had a feeling we would be needing the apartment, so I furnished it.” She turns to Hannah. “The apartment is yours for as long as you need it, Hannah. It’s a good place to get away. Even if it’s just for a few nights.”

Hannah shakes her head. “It’s really not necessary. I probably won’t be here long, anyway.”

Jo reaches over and takes Hannah’s hand. “It’s perfect, Han. Stay with us. It’s a fun house, and you can write from anywhere, right? I’ve been missing you. I’m so happy you’re here.”

Hannah holds Jo’s hand so tightly her knuckles turn white, and I can see Jo’s concern for her sister written all over her face.

“Two days or two years, whatever you need. You’re Jo’s sister so you belong to us too.

We take care of our own, and no one in my family stays at a hotel in our own city.

” Cece leans back in her chair and crosses her legs, a satisfied smile on her face like she’s sure she’s about to get her way in all things.

“She looks kind of like a mafia don,” Amelia mumbles, and I snort out a laugh because she’s not wrong.

Hannah takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.

“Okay. Just for a few nights.” Her eyes are a little wary as she reaches her arms up and gathers her hair into a ponytail.

As she wraps a hair tie around it, Noah’s sharp inhale fills the room.

Before I can even turn to him to see what’s wrong, he’s up out of his chair, kneeling in front of Hannah and taking her hands in his.

“What is this?” The gentle tone in his voice is a direct contrast to the murderous expression in his eyes as he runs his thumbs over what I now see are light bruises circling both of Hannah’s wrists.

They were covered by her sleeves, but her sweatshirt slipped up when she did her hair, exposing the injury.

Hannah yanks her wrists away, wrapping her sleeves tightly around her hands, and when she speaks, her voice is tight. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing, Hannah. You’re hurt. Who hurt you?” he asks, his voice low and dangerous as he lays his hands on top of her now covered ones. Hannah sets her mouth in a line, her face turning red and her eyes just a little too bright. “Was it him?”

I don’t know who the him is that Noah is talking about, but Hannah seems to because for the second time, she yanks her hands away from Noah, glaring at him. “No,” she snaps. “It was no one. Seriously, don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal.”

Jo leans down and whispers something in Hannah’s ear, and Hannah closes her eyes, taking a deep breath and whispering something back.

Jo glances back at Jordan and they have some kind of wordless interaction.

Jordan nods and kisses her, squeezing her hand before Jo gets up and, without a backward glance, leads Hannah out of the room.

Jaw tight and hands clenched into fists, Noah watches the girls until they disappear around the corner and flinches a little when the front door closes, a pained expression on his face, and every muscle in his body coiled tight and primed for motion.

It’s Cece who breaks the silence in the room, laying a hand on Noah’s shoulder before he can spring up and follow Hannah and Jo. “Not yet, Noah.”

I have no idea what she means, but Noah seems to get it because he nods, closing his eyes and letting out a long, slow breath, scrubbing his hands over his face.

Then he stands and sits back down in his chair, his gaze still on the living room doorway like he’s waiting for Jo and Hannah to reappear.

“Okay, we’re ordering Chinese food,” my dad says, pulling out his phone. When he reaches out and lays a hand on Noah’s shoulder, I know this is his attempt to distract my brother from whatever just happened with Hannah. “Everyone is staying for dinner and then we’re having game night.”

“As long as we’re not playing Monopoly,” Cooper says. “It takes a zillion years and Mom cheats.”

“Don’t try and deny it, Pamela Wyles,” I say when she opens her mouth to argue. “You’ve been cheating at Monopoly since we were kids.”

She scoffs. “I have not. I’m just that good.”

Jordan laughs, kicking his feet out in front of him. “No, you fucking aren’t. No one is that good. You’re a cheating cheater who cheats and Monopoly is, objectively, the worst board game in the entire world. We’re not playing it.”

“Ticket to Ride,” Noah says. “And s’mores in the fireplace.”

Amelia grins at Noah. “I kill at Ticket to Ride. And I really love s’mores.”

She glances back at me, and I know she’s thinking of the s’mores we made together on Dean Miller’s patio, and I am too.

How badly I wanted to touch her, to kiss her, for her to be mine.

I have all of that now, and I can’t even believe it’s real.

Even having to keep it a secret at work with no expiration date in sight to that little act of subterfuge, it’s still the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

I wrap my arms around Amelia and tug her back into my chest while the rest of my family keeps arguing about board games.

Amelia leans up and kisses my jaw. “I love it here.”

I love you .

It’s not time for the words yet, so instead I press a kiss to her temple and lean my head against hers. “Ames, having you here is my favorite thing in the world.”