Ember sighs in ecstasy and sits on the end of my couch, grabbing the nachos first.
“Okay, before you completely freak out, I need this. My husband has gone insane. Certifiably insane. He monitors my food, my sleep, and even our sex! Since he can’t be with me all the time, he’s recruited Cruz, Alex, Chloe, and my dad. I am constantly under watch. At first, it was sweet, but now, I’m not sure I can live with him like this.” She stuffs a load of nachos in her mouth and gives a muffled groan.
Reese hands me a glass of wine and gives me the side-eye.
“And before you argue about drinking at four-thirty before kickboxing, do it.” Ember covers her full mouth. “I’m not allowed to kickbox anymore. Too dangerous.” She air-quotes.
I stifle a laugh and hide my face when she gives me an evil glare.
“Oh, you think this is funny? Get used to it. This is your world. Finn is cut from the same cloth. No doubt in my mind, we’ll have to come up with a way to sneak you out of your protective bubble when the time comes.”
I go to sit by her, enjoying the glass of wine and the entertainment. Reese settles next to me, stretching her legs out and boxing me in.
“Tell us exactly why you had to be covert today. Why not walk out, get in your car, and peel out?”
Ember’s eyes get wide as saucers, and she swallows hard, starting to choke. We hand her a bottle of water, and she gulps it, shaking her head. “You have no idea. Robbie isn’t only protective, he’s uber-protective. There’s a gadget on my car, and my phone is traced. He can find me. Y’all were my only hope at normalcy. That’s why I called Presley from the shop phone. I left my phone there, taking no chances, but I did leave a note I was going out for a bit before I snuck out. It will take a while to find me. I figure Finn has the same tracking in Presley’s phone, so having her come get me would be ridiculous. Finn would know her every mile. He’s the expert.”
“What?” I screech.
“You didn’t know?” she asks, again stuffing her face.
“No way. Finn would tell me if he put a tracker-thing on my car. As for my phone, he may have traced me once, but that’s it. He does have a GPS on Winnie in case of emergency, but Dad agreed to that.”
Both girls give me a look that verifies how stupid I sound.
“No…” I whisper. “You think?”
“These guys don’t play around, and he loves you, so yes, I think he can find you.” Ember pushes the half-eaten plate of nachos toward us and leans back, patting her stomach. “But regardless, those were sooo good.”
I snag a chip before Reese takes over, and nibble, thinking about Finn and his monitoring me.
“Finn wants to buy a house,” I blurt out.
“We know,” they say in unison, not shocked at all.
“I’m scared,” I admit.
“We know,” they repeat.
“How do you know? I just got scared two hours ago. It’s a big step.”
“Ember knows because Robbie told her. I know because I know you,” Reese explains, refilling our glasses.
“Hand me the ice cream. I think we have at least thirty minutes before I’m busted.” Ember reaches for the carton. “You must keep this here for me. It’s coffee flavored, which is gross, but I’m not allowed to have coffee anymore.”
I wince in sympathy and picture her life changing dramatically. But I watch her rubbing her small baby bump with a dreamy grin.
“You excited?”
“More than you know. I am petrified of being a mom, because I never really had one, but Jenna and Chloe are amazing.”
“You’ll do great. Robbie will be with you every step of the way.”
“He will. Even if I’m being a pisser right now, he’s going to be an amazing dad,” she gushes.
“Ugh! Stop it.” Reese chugs her wine and pours more. “Not all of us have perfect guys. I’ve hit a dry spell… can we talk about something fun?”
“How about you and Tripp?” I duck into Ember, waiting for Reese to slap me. Instead, she knocks me with a pillow.