Authors: Colleen Hoover
I nod, trying to run through tomorrow’s schedule in my head. I already knew Ryle was off tomorrow, so I didn’t have anything planned.
I suddenly feel the need to sit down. There aren’t any chairs, but luckily, the floor is clean. “I need to sit down.”
Ryle helps me to the floor and then he lowers himself in front of me, still holding my hands.
“Does Allysa know?” I ask him.
He smiles and nods his head. “She’s so excited, Lily. I’ve been thinking about getting an apartment here for a while now. After we decided to stay in Boston for good, I just
went ahead with it to surprise you. She helped, but I was starting to worry she’d tell you before I had the chance.”
I just can’t wrap my head around this. I live here? Me and Allysa get to be neighbors now? I don’t know why I feel like this should bother me, because I really am excited about
it.
He smiles and then says, “I know you need a minute to process everything, but you haven’t seen the best part and it’s killing me.”
“Show me!”
He grins and pulls me to my feet. We make our way through the living room and down a hallway. He opens each door and tells me what the rooms are, but doesn’t even give me time to go in any
of them. By the time we make it to the master bedroom, I’ve concluded that we live in a three-bedroom, two-bath apartment. With an office.
I don’t even have time to process the beauty of the bedroom as he pulls me across the room. He reaches a wall covered by a curtain and he turns and faces me. “It’s not a ground
that you can plant a garden in, but with a few pots, it can come close.” He pulls the curtain aside and opens a door, revealing a huge balcony. I follow him outside, already daydreaming about
all the potted plants I could fit up here.
“It overlooks the same view as the rooftop deck,” he says. “We’ll always have the same view we had from the night we met.”
It took a while to sink in, but it all hits me in this moment and I just start crying. Ryle pulls me to his chest and wraps his arms tightly around me. “Lily,” he whispers, running
his hand over my hair. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
I laugh between my tears. “I just can’t believe I live here.” I pull away from his chest and look up at him. “Are we rich? How can you afford this?”
He laughs. “You married a neurosurgeon, Lily. You aren’t necessarily strapped for cash.”
His comment makes me laugh and then I cry some more. And then we have our very first visitor because someone begins pounding on the door.
“Allysa,” he says. “She’s been waiting down the hall.”
I run to the front door and swing it open and we both hug and squeal and I might even cry a little more.
We spend the rest of the evening at our new apartment. Ryle orders Chinese takeout and Marshall comes down to eat with us. We have no tables or chairs yet, so the four of us sit in the middle of
the living room floor and eat straight out of the containers. We talk about how we’ll decorate, we talk about all the neighborly things we’ll do together, we talk about Allysa’s
impending delivery.
It’s everything and more.
I can’t wait to tell my mother.
Allysa is three days overdue.
We’ve lived in our new apartment for a week now. We successfully got all of our stuff moved the day Ryle was off, and Allysa and I went furniture shopping the second day we moved in. We
were practically settled by the third day. We got our first piece of mail yesterday. It was a utility bill for establishing service, so it finally feels official now.
I’m married. I have a great husband. An awesome house. My best friend just happens to be my sister-in-law and I’m about to be an aunt.
Dare I say it . . . but can my life get any better?
I close my laptop and get ready to leave for the evening. I’ve been leaving earlier now than I usually do because I’m so excited to get home to my new apartment. Just as I begin to
close my office door, Ryle uses his key to open the front door to the store. He lets the door fall shut behind him as he walks in with his hands full.
There’s a newspaper tucked under his arm and two coffees in his hands. Despite the frenzied look about him and the urgency in his step, he’s smiling. “Lily,” he says,
walking toward me. He shoves one of the coffees in my hand and then pulls the newspaper out from under his arm. “Three things. One . . . did you see the paper?” He hands
it to me. The paper is folded inside-out. He points at the article. “You got it, Lily. You got it!”
I try not to get my hopes up as I look down at the article. He could be talking about something totally different from what I’m thinking. Once I read the headline, I realize he’s
talking about
exactly
what I was thinking. “I got it?”
I’d been notified that my business was nominated for an award for Best of Boston. It’s a people’s choice awards the newspaper holds annually, and Lily Bloom’s was
nominated under the “Best new businesses in Boston” category. The criteria are for businesses that have been open less than two years. I had a suspicion I might have been chosen when a
reporter for the paper called me last week and asked me a series of questions.
The title reads
“Best new businesses in Boston. Votes are in for your top ten!”
I smile and almost spill my coffee when Ryle pulls me in, picks me up, and spins me around.
He said he had three pieces of news, and if he started with that one, I have no idea what the other two could be. “What’s the second thing?”
He sets me back down on my feet and says, “I started with the best one. I was too excited.” He takes a sip of his coffee and then says, “I got selected for the training at
Cambridge.”
My face is taken over by a huge smile. “You did?” He nods and then he hugs me and spins me around again. “I’m so proud of you,” I say, kissing him.
“We’re both so successful, it’s sickening.”
He laughs.
“Number three?” I ask him.
He pulls back. “Oh, yeah. Number three.” He casually leans against the counter and takes a slow sip of his coffee. He gently places his coffee back on the counter. “Allysa is
in labor.”
“What?!” I yell.
“Yeah.” He nods toward our coffees. “That’s why I brought you caffeine. We aren’t getting any sleep tonight.”
I start clapping, jumping up and down, and then panicking as I try to find my purse, my jacket, my keys, my phone, the light switch. Right before we make it to the door, Ryle rushes back to the
counter and grabs the newspaper and tucks it under his arm. My hands are shaking with excitement as I lock the door.
“We’re gonna be aunts!” I say as I run to my car.
Ryle laughs at my joke and says, “
Uncles
, Lily. We’re gonna be
uncles
.”
• • •
Marshall calmly steps out into the hallway. Ryle and I both perk up and wait for the news. It’s been quiet in there for the past half an hour. We’ve been waiting to
hear Allysa scream in agony—a sign she delivered—but there were no sounds at all. Not even the cries of a newborn. My hands go up to my mouth and seeing the look on Marshall’s
face has me fearing the worst.
His shoulders just start shaking and tears pour out of his eyes. “I’m a dad.” And then he punches the air. “I’m a DAD!”
He hugs Ryle and then me and says, “Give us fifteen minutes and you can come inside to meet her.”
When he closes the door, Ryle and I both release huge sighs of relief. We look at each other and smile. “You were thinking the worst, too?” he asks.
I nod and then hug him. “You’re an uncle,” I say, smiling.
He kisses my head and says, “You too.”
Half an hour later, Ryle and I are both standing next to the bed, watching Allysa hold her new baby. She’s absolutely perfect. A little too new to tell who she looks like yet, but
she’s beautiful, regardless.
“You want to hold your niece?” Allysa says to Ryle.
He kind of stiffens up like he’s nervous, but then he nods. She leans over and puts the baby in Ryle’s arms, showing him how to hold her. He stares down at her nervously and then
walks over to the couch and takes a seat. “Have you guys decided on a name yet?” he asks.
“Yes,” Allysa says.
Ryle and I both look at Allysa and she smiles, teary eyed. “We wanted to name her after someone Marshall and I both think the world of. So we added an
E
to your name. We’re
calling her Rylee.”
I instantly look back over at Ryle and he blows out a quick breath like he’s a little in shock. He looks back down at Rylee and just starts smiling. “Wow,” he whispers.
“I don’t know what to say.”
I squeeze Allysa’s hand and then walk over and take a seat next to Ryle. I’ve had a lot of moments when I thought I couldn’t love him more than I already do, but once again
I’m proven wrong. Seeing the way he looks at his new baby niece makes my heart expand.
Marshall sits down on the bed next to Allysa. “Did you guys hear how quiet Issa was through the whole thing? Not a single peep. She didn’t even take drugs.” He puts his arm
around her and lies down next to her on the bed. “I feel like I’m in that movie
Hancock
with Will Smith and I’m about to find out I’m married to a
superhero.”
Ryle laughs. “She’s kicked my ass a time or two growing up. I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“No cussing around Rylee,” Marshall says.
“Ass,”
Ryle whispers to her.
We both laugh and then he asks me if I want to hold her. I make like I have grabby hands because waiting for my turn has been killing me. I pull her into my arms and am shocked by how much love
I have for her already.
“When are Mom and Dad coming in?” Ryle asks Allysa.
“They’ll be here by lunch tomorrow.”
“I should probably get some sleep then. Just got off a long shift.” He looks back at me. “You coming with?”
I shake my head. “I want to hang out for a little while longer. Just take my car and I’ll catch a cab home.”
He kisses me on the side of my head and then rests his head against mine as we both look down at Rylee. “I think we should make one of these,” he says.
I glance up at him, not sure if I heard him correctly.
He winks. “If I’m asleep when you get home later, wake me up. We’ll start on it tonight.” He tells Marshall and Allysa goodbye and Marshall walks him out.
I glance over at Allysa and she’s smiling. “I told you he’d want babies with you.”
I grin and walk back over to her bed. She scoots over and makes room for me. I hand Rylee back to her and we snuggle together on her bed and watch Rylee sleep, like it’s the most
magnificent thing we’ve ever seen.
It’s three hours later and after ten o’clock when I make it back home. I stayed with Allysa for another hour after Ryle left and then went back to my office to
finish up a few things so that I don’t have to go in for the next two days. Whenever Ryle has a day off, I try to coincide my own days off with his.
The lights are off when I walk through the front door, so that means Ryle is already in bed.
The entire drive home I thought about what he’d said. I wasn’t expecting this conversation to come up so soon. I’m almost twenty-five, but I had it in my head it would be at
least a couple of years before we started trying for a family. I’m still not certain I’m ready for it yet, but knowing it’s now something he wants someday has put me in an
incredibly happy mood.
I decide to make myself a quick bite to eat before waking him up. I haven’t had dinner yet and I’m starving. When I flip on the kitchen light, I scream. My hand goes to my chest and
I fall against the counter. “Jesus Christ, Ryle! What are you doing?”
He’s leaning with his back against the wall next to the refrigerator. His feet are crossed at the ankles and his eyes are narrowed in my direction. He’s flipping something over in
his fingers, staring at me.
My eyes fall to the counter to his left and I see an empty glass that probably recently held scotch. He drinks it on occasion to help him fall asleep.
I look back at him and there’s a smirk on his face. My body instantly grows warm at that smile because I know what comes next. This apartment is about to become a frenzy of clothes and
kisses. We’ve christened nearly every room since we moved in here, but the kitchen is one we haven’t tackled yet.
I smile back at him, my heart still beating erratically from the shock of finding him here in the dark. His eyes fall to his hand, and I notice he’s holding the Boston magnet. I brought it
from the old apartment and stuck it on this fridge when we moved in.
He places it back on the fridge and taps it. “Where’d you get this?”
I look at the magnet and then back at him. The last thing I want to do is tell him that magnet came from Atlas on my sixteenth birthday. It would only bring up an already sore subject, and
I’m too excited for what’s about to come next between us to give him the naked truth right now.
I shrug. “I can’t remember. I’ve had it forever.”
He stares at me silently and then straightens up, taking two steps toward me. I back myself against the counter and my breath catches. His hands meet my waist and he slides them between my ass
and my jeans and pulls me against him. His mouth claims mine and he kisses me while he begins to lower my jeans.
Okay. So we’re doing this right now.
His lips drag down my neck as I kick off my shoes and then he pulls my jeans off the rest of the way.
I guess I can eat later. Christening the kitchen just became my priority.
When his mouth is back on mine, he lifts me and sets me down on the countertop, standing between my knees. I can smell the scotch on his breath, and I kind of like it. I’m already
breathing heavily as his warm lips slide across mine. He takes a fistful of my hair and he tugs gently so that I’m looking up at him.
“Naked truth?” he whispers, looking at my mouth like he’s about to devour me.
I nod.
His other hand begins to slide slowly up my thigh until there’s nowhere left for his hand to go. He slips two warm fingers inside of me, keeping my gaze locked with his. I suck in a rush
of air as my legs tighten around his waist. I begin to slowly move against his hand, moaning softly as he stares heatedly at me.