Tate tilted his head to the side and reached for her arm, and when she took a deep breath, he asked softly, “Do you think we could talk for a minute?”
She scanned the room, but when there was apparently no plausible way for her to say no, she nodded. Tate caught Logan watching them from across the kitchen.
“How about we go out on the balcony? Let me grab your coat.”
“Okay,” she said as she untied the apron and removed it.
Tate left to get the black-and-white-zebra-print coat she’d walked in with, and when he got back to the living room, he saw her standing over by the sliding doors, waiting for him. He spotted Cole sipping on his scotch, and when he gave a nod of his head, Tate held her coat up for her to slip into before he opened the door.
As they stepped out onto the balcony, the cool night air hit his cheeks, and Tate shoved his hands into his pockets. She walked over to the railing, and as he stood there, surrounded by the city lights, he wondered where on Earth to start.
* * *
“Think they’re gonna make out?” Logan asked as he stopped by Cole and looked toward the sliding door Tate had just closed.
His brother turned toward him with a wry look on his face, and when he raised his glass to take a sip, Logan winked.
“Really though. How do you think that’ll go?”
Cole shrugged, and Logan noticed Shelly watching the two of them. As a look of understanding appeared in her eyes, she ran a hand down the back of her daughter’s hair and gave them a small smile.
“She’s a contradiction, isn’t she?” Logan mused.
“Shelly?” Cole asked as he leaned a shoulder against the wall. “Yeah, I guess she is.”
“She was pretty fantastic when Tate was in the hospital,” he said, stopping to look at the people laughing in his living room. “You were all pretty amazing.”
Cole reached over and clapped his shoulder. “That’s what family does, Logan. We come together in a crisis. Whether you want us there or not.”
Having never really been part of a family, the sense of belonging that welled up inside him was overwhelming. He swallowed the rest of his drink, and as he was about to make up some excuse to leave Cole’s prying eyes, he heard him say, “I’m really happy for you. You know that?”
Logan glanced over at him and tried to lighten the mood in his usual way—sarcasm. “I think Rachel’s hormones are rubbing off on you. You’ve become very emotional lately.”
Cole pushed off the wall and went over to put his glass on the kitchen counter. “I mean it, Logan. I had no idea if you’d ever, I don’t know, settle down—”
“Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There are no rings happening and no…” Ugh. Logan felt a shiver race up his spine. Children for God’s sake.
Just as he thought it, the little blonde sitting on Shelly’s lap started screaming at the top of her lungs. Cole started laughing, clearly at his expression, and Logan shook his head.
“Hell no. I am not settling down. I’m living with my amazing, sexy boyfriend—”
“Who you love very much and are in a monogamous relationship with.”
Logan didn’t balk, but instead nodded. “Yes. And your point is?”
“My point is, that is settling down. It doesn’t always have to be a ring or a baby.”
“Thank God for that. ’Cause I don’t think I’m ready for a diamond ring just yet.”
“You’re such a smartass,” Cole said. “All I’m saying is that settling down can be unique to whoever it’s applying to. And I think you two are pretty damn close to entwining your lives.”
Logan eyed Cole’s empty glass and gave a false smile. “I think you need another drink. And to go and talk to someone who has a baby and…oh, I don’t know, ovaries?”
Cole rolled his eyes and waved his hand at him. “I’m going, and no more to drink for me, thanks. I’m driving home.”
As Logan watched his brother walk over to sit opposite Josh and his wife, he thought about what he’d just said. About things being unique to certain couples.
The idea of settling down with Tate wasn’t one that scared him at all, but when he caught himself staring at the glass door that led out to the balcony, he wondered how they could make that unique to just them.
* * *
Tate stood beside Rachel as they looked down at the bustling street below. He was trying to decide the best way to start the conversation he wanted to have, and every opening line he ran through his mind felt wrong.
He wondered how, on the same day he’d lost a sister, he’d managed to gain someone who was just as important and helped to ease that void.