Page 86 of Fearlessly Us

Grinning, I tug Caitlin a little closer. “I was hoping to steal Caitlin away a little early for some Halloween fun.”

“I’ve got a few things to finish up first.” Caitlin glances up at me, and I can see her hesitation to leave the office early, not because she doesn’t want to, but because she feels like she shouldn’t. Like setting aside her work for the day means she’ll be letting her people down.

“No, you don’t.” When Hallie and Molly say the words together, I know for sure I’m not the only one who has Caitlin’s back.

“There is literally nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.” Hallie slips past us into Caitlin’s office, grabbing Caitlin’s bag and jacket off the couch against the far wall and pressing them into her hands then leaning in and kissing her cheek. “Go, Cait. Have Halloween fun and don’t you dare even think about setting foot in this office until at least nine tomorrow morning. If you come earlier than that I’ll know, and I’ll have Jules put you on doc review for the Thomas litigation for the next three weeks.”

Caitlin rolls her eyes. “You know I’m twenty-seven years old, right? You can’t tell me what to do.”

Hallie shrugs, unbothered. “Seven or twenty-seven, I’m still your mom and lucky for you, I’m also your boss, and I’m ordering you to get the hell out of this office.”

Molly cackles. “Hal, you’re so sexy when you’re all authoritative.”

“No,” Caitlin says sharply, pointing at Hallie.

“What?” Hallie asks, all innocence.

Caitlin rolls her eyes, and her exasperation is sexy as fuck. “You were about to say something about how Dad also thinks you’re sexy when you’re all authoritative and then I would have had to throw up a little in my mouth and bleach my brain and I’d really rather not do either of those things, so if I promise to leave now and do whatever ridiculous Halloween shit Drew has planned, can you promise to stop being gross?”

Hallie grins like this was her plan all along. “Deal.”

“Thank god,” Caitlin mutters, walking straight out the door without another word or a backwards glance like she’s confident I’ll follow her—and she should be. I would follow her anywhere.

Turning to Hallie, I give her a smile. “Thanks for the assist.”

Hallie’s smile turns soft, and when she steps in and wraps me in a hug, I’m so shocked it takes me a second to catch up, but once I do, my entire body relaxes before another wave of emotion hits me because it’s been almost three decades since I’ve been hugged by a mom and my brain doesn’t know how to process it. Hallie isn’t my mom, but from the second Cam and I started hanging around with Tyler and this whole chaotic bunch, Hallie and her friends have accepted us as their own. And even though I didn’t trust it—still don’t entirely—for the boy who was never accepted by the one person who was supposed to love him, being embraced by all these people is no small thing.

Especially because these people belong to the one person who is more important to me than any person on earth.

“You’re good for her,” Hallie says quietly, easing back but taking my hands in hers and squeezing.

My jaw works as I try to find my voice. “I want to be,” I manage. “I really want to be.”

“There’s no want about it. You already are. I can see it all over her. And she’s good for you. I can see that too.”

“She’s…” I trail off, not sure exactly what to say. “Everything,” I finally finish. “She’s everything.” I feel like I should say more, but the words won’t come. But when Hallie’s smile widens, her hands squeezing mine again, I know it’s enough. That for the first time in as long as I can remember, it feels like I’m enough, and that’s everything too.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

DREW

“Trunk-or-treat?” Caitlin asks with a laugh. “I need more information.”

Holding onto the wheel with my left hand, I slide my right one onto her thigh, smiling when she lays her hand over mine like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “It’s a Halloween thing a bunch of high schools in the area do. Students dress up and decorate their cars and park them in a big parking lot with the trunks open to hand out candy. The kids come from different organizations and programs around the city that work with at-risk kids, foster kids, and kids from underserved communities.” I pause, trying to figure out how to say this next part, wondering if I should have led with it. If this is going to freak her out and make her wish she never said yes to this little excursion.

“It’s…kind of Avery’s program. I mean, she helped organize it at her school.”

Caitlin turns to me, her free hand coming up to rest on my neck, sifting her fingers through my hair like she knows I need the extra comfort. “Avery, your sister?”

I nod and swallow down the emotion that tries to rise at the word sister. The way Caitlin doesn’t hedge or equivocate or try to come up with some other way to explain my relationship to the girl I haven’t really known since she was a toddler, but who still feels like the closest thing I have to family. “Yeah. Is it weird for you to meet her? Like, too soon or whatever? I’m sorry, I should have told you before instead of springing it on you like this. Avery told me what she was doing, and I thought it sounded cool. Then I mentioned it to some of the guys on the team and they wanted in too, so it turned into a whole thing. If meeting her before we’ve even really defined whatever this is between us is too much, I totally get it. I can text her that something came up and we can just…”

“Breathe, Drew.”

Caitlin’s words cut me off and I inhale sharply, holding my breath for a couple seconds before letting it out slowly. “Sorry,” I mumble. “I don’t know how to do this.”

Caitlin laughs lightly, her fingernails grazing the back of my neck in a way that both heats and soothes. “How to introduce me to a member of your family? You’ve met a zillion members of the tangled web I call a family. My mom’s best friend caught us kissing in my office twenty minutes ago and then my mom showed up too. Why is this different?”

I shrug, unable to come up with a real answer. “It’s not, I guess. I’ve just…never had family to introduce someone to,” I admit. “And I haven’t had anyone who mattered enough for me to consider what it meant that I didn’t have any family for them to meet.” Stopping at a red light, I glance over at her, the way her brown hair tumbles down her back in waves and the way the soft blue sweater she’s wearing makes her eyes shine, more sky than storm today. Cheeks a little pink from the cool October air and the full pink lips I want to feel against my own all over again. Fuck, she’s so pretty. Lifting her hand, I press a kiss to her knuckles. “I’m glad you’re with me,” I say finally. “Really glad.”