Calling Me Home by Louise Bay Read Free Book Online Page A

staring at me, focusing on Haven. She grinned like a Cheshire cat and rolled her eyes at me. Jake raised his glass, and Beth had her hands clasped in front of her, a smile on her face.
    I turned back to Luke. “I love you too. You know that, right?” I’d known in my heart for so long that I loved him, that I sort of assumed that he knew, but saying it out loud felt . . . right.
    “I can only hope that you do.”
    “You have nothing to hope for. You have my love. All of it. Forever.” I drew my eyebrows together, trying to convey how serious I was. He needed to understand that I was only ever going to love him.
    “I’m never going to get tired of you telling me.”
    “I love you,” I repeated. I’d loved him for as long as I could remember, but it felt different now. It was deeper, more substantial, almost as if I could reach out and touch whatever it was that was between us.
    Luke grinned and squeezed my hand. “I love you.”
    “Okay, you two. You can stop before I start gagging,” Haven said.
    “You’re okay with this? I need you to be good with this. I won’t lose either of you.” I hoped her smile was an indication that she had come round to the idea.
    “Well, not the PDA, obviously. But I can’t think of anything better than you two being together.”
    I didn’t understand. What had changed for her? “But—”
    “There’s no but,” she interrupted. “However, if you fuck this up, I’m going to kill you both. I’m not having my family break apart.”
    “I can live with that. We’re not going to fuck this up,” Luke replied.
    “So how long have you known, been together?” Beth asked, looking between Luke and me. “You look really together.”
    My skin heated. We looked like a couple? I glanced over at Haven. Shit, I hope she wasn’t mad that she didn’t know straight away.
    “Just a few days, I guess, but it’s been a long time coming,” Luke replied. “I knew since I split with Emma. I just needed to grow up a little, and then convince this one.” He tilted his head in my direction and slid his arm around the back of my chair, leaning into me.
    “And you’re convinced?” Haven asked me.
    “I am. Are you?”
    “She’s worried that you won’t approve,” Luke interjected. I placed my hand on his thigh. Not being with Luke wasn’t an option.
    “You don’t need my approval, and anyway, whatever you do, you’ll always have it. I just wanted to make sure you were all clear about the consequences. No matter what, we have a family to hold together. I didn’t want you two putting that on the line just to get your rocks off.”
    I exhaled, relieved that Haven wasn’t mad. Not even remotely. I wouldn’t have to talk her round, convince her that she wasn’t going to lose either of us. She was cheering for us; I could see it in her smile. By raising concerns, she had only ever been trying to protect us both. I grinned as she pulled me toward her and kissed my cheek.
    The love surrounding me was overwhelming.
    “We know that,” Luke said, but I couldn’t concentrate on the rest of his sentence. I was replaying the word we in my head again and again. It fit. The heat of his body brought me back into the moment. The skate of his fingers across my back every now and then made me feel safe.
    We were a we.
    And we were a family.
    “We have plenty to celebrate,” Jake said.
    “Oh, and I got into business school,” I added. On an ordinary day, it would have been a huge deal. Today it just felt like the cherry on the top of a huge cake.
    The table erupted with congratulations and hugs.
    Life was unfolding in the best possible way.

 
    Luke
    “So, was I right?” Jake asked as we recovered from our run. The sun was starting to break through the hostile air, thawing the ice that had collected on the edges of buildings and bus stops, but it was still cold, and we needed to keep moving toward the tube station.
    My training had dropped off since Ashleigh and I had become a couple.