Page 65 of One Kind Soul

I love Nicole.

Of course he did. She was exceptional in every way and he felt whole with her around.

“What do I do now?” He’d been doing fine on his own with Nicole, but now that love was involved, he didn’t know what came next. He’d never been in this situation before.

But Landon and Donovan had.

“Tell her how you feel,” Donovan said. “She needs to know you’re serious about her.”

Landon nodded. “Don’t let anything get in your way. Go for it, man.”

“I’ve only been in love once,” Ben said quietly, “but I think where I went wrong was not being honest about my feelings.”

“Me too,” Jared said. “My whole life I’ve been told not to get emotional, but you know what? Sometimes you have to risk opening up to truly let someone else in.”

“Wow,” Christian said. “When did you all turn into therapists?”

Donovan checked a pretend watch on his wrist. “Like five minutes ago.”

Talk turned to work on the farmhouse as they ate their lunches. Christian had to admit these guys were some of the finest people he knew. Not only had they stepped up to help him clean the store, but they cared about his happiness too. He wouldn’t trade in a single one of them.

And he would tell Nicole he loved her. Tonight. He didn’t need another whole week with her to know it was true.

When they were almost finished eating, the waitress brought over a huge brownie all warm in a small cast iron skillet with vanilla ice cream melting all around it. She set it in front of Christian.

“From the ladies at the bar.” She pointed to two red-headed women, smiling at him.

“Twins.” Ben clutched his chest. “Dude. Twins.”

“I can’t accept this,” Christian said.

“It’s paid for,” the waitress said. “Besides, I can’t unscoop the ice cream. It’s already changed its state of matter.” She gestured to the pooling vanilla goodness swimming around the brownie.

He set the dessert in the middle of the table. “Have at it, guys. I’ll be right back.”

Christian had barely stood when all four of his tablemates picked up a spoon and dove in. That thing would be gone in a few bites. He walked over to the bar, the women’s smiles getting bigger as he approached.

“Afternoon.” He tipped his head at them.

“Hi,” Twin #1 said. “I’m Lora and this is my sister, Lexi. We just moved into town and our cousin said we had to meet Christian Henley. You’re him, right?”

“I am. It’s nice to meet you both. Welcome to Maplehaven.”

“Care to truly welcome us?” Twin #2, Lexi, asked, her gaze roaming over him.

Wow. Direct. Nicole had taken the initiative with him, but she hadn’t made him feel . . . sleazy when she’d done so.

“I can buy you each a drink or a dessert,” he said politely, “but I’m afraid that’s all I can offer.”

Lora pouted and Lexi made the exact same face. It was a little freaky.

“Did we mention you could welcome us both at the same time?” Lora leaned into her sister and ran her leg up Christian’s.

Pre-Nicole, he probably would have jumped at this offer. They would have had their fun and then been pals afterwards and the pattern of going-nowhere relationships would have continued.

But he was in Nicole times now, right where he wanted to be. He certainly didn’t want to do anything that made it post-Nicole times. Not when he was planning to tell her he loved her. Not when he was potentially in a going-somewhere relationship.

Finally.