Nate(58)

These were his people, his friends, his colleagues.

They weren’t mine, but through Nova, Nate was now my family in a way. That meant I would put on a brave face, and I’d walk my rear back there. I’d find wherever they were, and I’d go in to meet whoever was back there.

Unless they truly didn’t want me back there?

Maybe this really was only for Nate?

“You’re Quincey.”

I turned and recognized her immediately. I would’ve anyway. I was a fan, and I froze for a full beat before an awkward laugh came out. “Sorry. Hi. Yes. You’re Samantha Kade, Mason’s wife.” I held out my hand, and she took it. There was an equally awkward handshake, which I had to laugh at because I hadn’t been fanstruck in a while. “I follow you on your social media since your first Olympics. You became an inspiration for me. I’m Quincey.”

She relaxed, a laugh easing from her, and moved closer.

She was stunning. Jet-black hair. Dark, almond eyes. Heart-shaped face.

“I know. I’m Samantha.”

“Yes…” My breath hitched in my throat. “I—yes. I know. Hi. Quincey. Again.”

So bad.

I should’ve taken an Uber home.

Samantha tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes trailing behind my shoulders. “In full disclosure, Mason didn’t want to do this. So I will take full responsibility for this, and I hope we’re not going to be too much for you.”

“We?” I squeaked. “Who’s we?”

She hesitated, cursing under her breath. “Everyone. Like, yeah. Everyone. I’m so sorry. I’m now thinking about it from your point of view, and I’m really sorry. You…” She looked me up and down. “You look ready to bolt.”

I was somewhere between wanting to gush at meeting her, dying inside at the same time, and a trickle of fear was starting to spread at exactly what ‘everyone’ meant. “How many people are in that room back there?”

“Um. There’s me. Heather. Channing. Grace. Matteo, whom you’ve met. Logan. Taylor. Mason, just for tonight because he played on Thursday. And then we invited your brother…” Her voice trailed off when she saw the fear taking me over. “Oh, no.”

I was speculating that Nate hadn’t shared how my night went with my family.

“I thought things were good there?”

Okay.

Adult time.

This was it. Enough was enough.

I couldn’t bolt. I literally had an Olympian here. She’d catch me.

I put on a smile and thought of puppies. Babies. Nova. I thought of Nova, and instantly, I relaxed. I used that genuineness to help sell it. “No, no, no. I had a moment, but I’m good. And I’m super excited—” Another squeak from me on the super word. “—to meet everyone. Matteo was talking about Channing just tonight, too.”

“He was?” she whispered. She took my hands and squeezed them. “It was supposed to be a surprise baby shower for Nate, except adult-wise. We flew to Fallen Crest. The kids are all staying together at my dad’s. Then we all flew up here. Mason chartered a flight from California. Matteo was here, and Mason can do a night, so we thought we needed to capitalize and officially welcome Nate into adulthood. And we wanted to meet you and Nova. Oh my gosh, we cannot wait to meet Nova.”

This was going to happen. Nate had his people, and I needed to assimilate.

I could do that. I would do that.

“Awesome. Let’s go meet everyone.”





*



Okay.

They were a lot, but after hanging out for three hours now, I was pretty sure I had everyone down. Maybe. I might’ve been making up names at this point, but here I went: Samantha was Mason’s wife. Taylor was Logan’s girlfriend. There was a seriously sexy blonde named Heather. Who was with a fully tatted-out hottie named Channing. I wasn’t going to attempt at recalling the last names. Then there was Matteo and Grace. I was pretty sure Grace and Matteo were together together. I wasn’t totally sure, but they acted more than friends at times, and there were looks. Lots of looks.

I didn't need to worry about my own family because they only invited Graham, and he came alone. Not that I didn’t mind seeing Britney, but she was so connected to Calihan, and there was so much water running over that bridge—enough to cover it completely at this moment.

“Monson is protective of you,” Graham announced, sliding into the chair beside me. He had a pink drink in hand, kicking out a chair in front and lounging back. He threw a leg up and took a good swallow from the pink stuff.

“What are you drinking?”

“No clue.” He didn’t take his eyes off the group just across the room.

We’d eaten. Drank. There were lots of stories, lots of laughter. Gifts had piled up in the corner of the room, but we were back to the stories. I had met everyone, and everyone had been kind. So seriously kind, but an undercurrent was running through the room.

One I didn’t really know what to do with.

That undercurrent: I didn’t belong. I was the outsider.

Even Graham, he belonged more than I did. The guys treated him like he was a long-lost member of their clan.

“How are you holding up?” Graham was frowning at me.

I couldn’t help it. I looked at his pink drink. “Wishing I’d had a few of those tonight.”