“She’s taken, asshole.”

“No, she’s not,” says Alan.

“Sure,” says Cooper, his arms tightening round me, “she is.”

Alan stops and stares on the three of us.

“You’re right here with my brother,” says Alan to Cooper.

“Yep.”

“So who…?”

“She’s with us,” says Drew tightly.

“Us,” echoes Alan, nonetheless not getting it.

“Each of us,” says Drew, wrapping an arm round my shoulders, sandwiching Cooper in between us.

“Mom of God,” breathes Alan. “I all the time knew you have been an fool.” He begins laughing. “Jesus Christ, Andrew. Develop up.” Alan retains laughing as he walks away. Our viewers inside is sort of silent, the one sound coming by means of the opposite set of open doorways the clattering of trays and plates because the caterers proceed their setup. Each eye is on our little drama on the porch.

I see Drew’s father pushing his means by means of the gang, rounding the identical nook Alan had directed me previous.

“Andrew,” he says.

“Dad,” says Drew, taking a deep breath and withdrawing his arm. “That is Cooper Lawson, my boyfriend.”

“Mr. Hicks,” says Cooper. It’s the closest I’ve ever heard him come to sounding meek. Drew’s father offers Cooper a brief nod.

“And you realize Bailey,” finishes Drew.

“Your girlfriend,” says Mr. Hicks, drawing an identical wince from all of us.

“I didn’t plan so that you can discover out like this,” says Drew, remorse thick in his voice.

“No, I anticipate you didn’t,” says Mr. Hicks. “However that’s out of your fingers now. Your voice carries.”

Cooper laughs abruptly, slapping a hand over his mouth to chop it off.

“Sorry,” he says quietly. “It’s that instructor’s voice.” I wish to say Mr. Hick’s lips twitch with humor, but it surely should be my creativeness. He appears completely mortified.

Sound picks up from the ballroom inside, a mass of whispers and quiet conversations drifting by means of the open doorways someplace on the porch. If we are able to hear that a lot, it’s no marvel everyone heard Drew.

“What’s the which means of this?” A stern, indignant male voice precedes its proprietor by a number of beats. Mr. JD Hicks stalks across the nook, his strolling stick thumping arduous each few toes. He’s a burly bear of a person with the vitality of any individual half his age. I’ve solely met him as soon as earlier than, at a cousin’s marriage ceremony a few years in the past. He hasn’t modified—he intimidated me then, too.

Cooper’s expression is unfazed however I can inform he’s having bother processing. We by no means obtained round to speaking about precisely what’s occurring between the three of us, not to mention whether or not to inform anyone. Or what to inform anyone.

Seems to be like we’re going all out, although.

“Grandfather,” says Drew, the anger in his voice tempered with respect. If JD Hicks is intimidating to me, I can’t think about what it should have been like rising up as a part of his household. If something, Drew’s backbone stiffens, bringing him to his full peak. “That is Cooper Lawson. And I imagine you’ve already met Bailey.”

“Andrew.” The elder Mr. Hicks units each fingers on his strolling stick and retains his gaze on Drew, not bothering to look in our path. “Your mother and father have put up along with your dithering for years. Unhealthy sufficient to have left a superbly sound profession to flounder away at some tv studio. Now this?”

Drew’s jaw tightens. “Grandfather, I—”

“No,” says Mr. Hicks. “Now we have tolerated your indecisiveness fairly sufficient. Boyfriends, girlfriends, odd jobs. No dedication, no strings, no accountability.” This final he punctuates by hanging the porch with the tip of his workers. “You have been raised higher than that.”

Drew appears to his father. “Dad, you possibly can’t presumably suppose—”

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