Always Only You by Chloe Liese (z-lib.org).epub

a piece of fruit from the pile that Elin’s chopping next to her. “I’ve just been a
little busy with work, lifting and moving the human body all day. I could squatpress
you, Ren.”
Ren lets out a low whistle. “Challenge accepted.”
Elin smiles to herself. “Do you have siblings, Frankie?”
“An older sister.”
“Ah,” Elin says, peering up at me. “You’re close, then.”
“No, not really. I mean we love each other, but there’s an age gap and a
country between us.”
“Hm.” Elin glances down at her task. I feel like I just failed a test or
something.
Willa leans in and whispers, “Don’t worry, she’s just curious. There’s no
right or wrong answer. Trust me. If I got folded into this family, anyone can.”
Pulling out a stool at the island, Willa pats it. “Come on, sit.”
Ren opens his mouth, probably to tell her they kill my hips, but I talk before
he can. “Ren, why don’t you go say hi to the guys? I’ll hang here for a little, then
wander out and visit with them. Gives me some time to settle in.”
Ren seems torn, his eyes dancing between the women like he doesn’t quite
trust them. Suddenly he points a finger at Freya, then to his mother. “You two.
No embarrassing stories from the early years. Frankie’s seen me make a fool out
of myself enough.”
Freya rolls her eyes. “Why are men so fragile? We have other things to talk
about besides the time you pooped in Grandpa’s hat after it had fallen off the
coatrack and landed upside down.”
“I was potty training!” Ren yells. “It looked exactly like the kiddie toilet
upstairs.”
Elin throws her head back in laughter. “Oh. That one gets me. Every time.”
Ziggy glances up from her phone. “Best part of that story is, nobody noticed
until Grandpa put his hat on his head.”
Willa blasts a laugh next to me. But my eyes stay locked on Ren who stands
flushed and embarrassed from ten feet away. “Søren—”
The room goes silent.
“What did you just call him?” Freya says.
Ren smiles at me, ignoring her. “Yes, Francesca.”
“I did almost the same thing.”
Ziggy drops her phone on the counter. “You did?”
“Mhmm.” Extending my hand, I wait for Ren to come within reach. When he
does, I wrap my arm around his warm, solid back. “Except I was at Mass, and I
figured the baptismal font seemed as good a place as any to take a pee.”