Midlife Baby (Small Town Lovers)

I let out a shaky breath at his growled words and pressed my forehead to his. “Right back at you Grady. Forever.”

“Hey man, you stole my thunder!” Derek joked from his spot beside Bella on the sofa.

I laughed and shook my head. “Congratulations on your engagement I told the happy couple. Levi just showed me the announcement.”

Bella shook her head. “He couldn’t resist a full page ad announcing our engagement. Congratulations to you too.”

Grady stood and smiled at Derek. “Let’s see who gets down the aisle first.”

“After the babies,” I said over their macho posturing.

“After the tour,” Bella added. “But before the baby.” The room fell silent for a long moment and then erupted in applause and whistles and words of congratulations.

I leaned back in the lounge and looked at all the people who had gathered to celebrate with me and Grady today. These were my friends, they were my family. They were my tribe. No, they were our tribe.

All this time I’d been trying to run away from love, to keep people at a distance and it turned out I had a whole community right here who loved me and wanted the best for me.

And now I had it all.

Everything I ever wanted.

“Love you,” Grady mouthed the words to me and winked.

No I had so much more than I wanted and it all started with a drunken birthday celebration with a sexy tattooed bartender.