Beautiful Broken Promises(62)

As soon as I shut off the spray of my shower, my phone started ringing. I knew who it was immediately by the ringtone—Audrey. I rushed to pull on my shorts and snatched up the phone before the last verse blasted through the bathroom.

“Hey, doll.”

“I miss you! Are you coming back yet?” she asked, not missing a beat. I smiled when I heard the happiness in her voice.

“I’m about ready. I know we’re all tired of being here.”

“So… all of you will be coming?”

“That’s my plan.”

“How are you getting along with Raegan?”

“Are we playing twenty questions, doll?” I laughed into the phone. “We’re all happy and Raegan and I get along great.”

“Oh God, what did you do?” She dropped her voice and said, “Lane…”

“What?” I chuckled. “I didn’t do anything…” Guilty was my middle name.

“You slept with her!?” she shouted. I had to hold the phone away from my ear at her shrill volume. “Oh my God. You better bring that little princess of yours to Texas so I can hug her and spoil her to death. But also bring Raegan!! I need to meet her!!” The sheer excitement in her voice made me want to backtrack the crazy train this conversation was on.

“You’re getting a bit outrageous.”

“You didn’t deny it! Now why would you put the moves on that poor girl? She must be gorgeous for you to cross that line,” she started to ramble.

“I didn’t cross the line. She did! She came into my shower.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I bit into my tongue harshly. Why the f*ck did I just say that?

“Ohhh… so she’s more like Emerson,” Audrey chuckled with a smile in her voice. Em was our friend back home. During college, she had the reputation of being the promiscuous girl on campus and I’d heard many rumors of how she seduced Jaxon. They’re married now, but they still talk about her philandering days, much to Jaxon’s discomfort.

“No! She’s not like Emerson.” I didn’t want her to think Rae was slutty. That wasn’t what was going on here, and I felt the urge to defend what was happening between us… even though I had no clue.

“Hey! I take offense to that,” I heard Emerson’s voice shout through the line.

Heat rose up in my cheeks. “Audrey…” I growled into the phone. I heard her speaking on the other end of the line, but she must have had the mouthpiece covered because I couldn’t make out her words clearly. Finally, she sounded closer than she had before.

“Sorry, Lane! They just wanted to see how things were with you… and then… the conversation took that turn!”

“They?” God, if the guys were there, I would never hear the end of it.

“Just the girls. Em and Quinn. I swear.”

“Don’t call me on speakerphone anymore,” I grumbled.

“I promise, I won’t. So you really like Raegan, huh?”

“That seems to be the direction it’s going at the moment…” I was over this gossip session. I started walking toward the living room to find my shoes so I could join the people I really needed to be with right now.

“Eek! I’m so excited for you! I can’t wait to squish little Kate in my arms. You have no idea. I dream about it every night.”

“Please, don’t squish my daughter.” I started to chuckle again.

“I can’t help it. I love her so much already, Lane. I seriously can’t believe you just said the word ‘daughter,’” she said, and I heard the hitch in her words.

“Oh, doll, not the waterworks right now please,” I begged. A girl who’s crying is bad. A girl who’s crying over the phone is so much worse because you’re absolutely powerless to help. I needed to divert her. “Hey, can you start doing me some favors?”

“Of course,” she responded.

“Can you start getting my place ready for us to come back? I don’t have anything for two four-year-olds. Well, almost five-year-olds now. I’m gonna need your help, but don’t go overboard!”

“I’m on it!” I started to hear her name off all of the things Raegan and I would potentially need in the house, but the sound of the key turning in the lock redirected my attention.

My body began to perk up at the idea of seeing all of them. I was ready to hug Kate and get back to our chess game. I was ready to finish reading that comic book with Braden. And I was just ready for Raegan, period. Primed and ready to go for anything she wanted from me.