Chapter 34: A New Plan

SLOAN

Once I get all the girls’ attention, they follow me, and everyone piles into the kitchen.

“Okay! Let the first sisterhood huddle commence!” I announce playfully.

“Sloan, am I drunk, or did you just say commence?” Carly hiccups.

“I’m trying to be serious.” I laugh, and everyone giggles. “Fine, dish the dirt, who’s going first?”

“You, Sloan, you’re first.” Priya smiles. “We see Kade keeps pulling you to the side; what do you know?”

“Wow, a strategy! This is like war games,” Carly says.

Priya laughs. “Isn’t that a thing? All is fair in love and war?”

“We’re losing focus,” I remind them before I pick up a few pieces of cheese off a tray and put them in Carly’s hand. “Eat.”

Rhea grabs a glass of water from the fridge and hands it to Carly. “Drink.”

“See, we’ve got this!” Abbot laughs as she snakes Carly’s mixed drink away.

“Ladies!” I say, trying to get their attention one more time.

“Oh, my God!” Priya giggles. “We should do that thing where, like, we all share the same pants, and they make us fall in love.”

“Priya!?” I laugh, and everyone giggles again.

“What I know is that Sean likes Rhea, straight from Kade’s mouth—so, yay!” I explain.

The girls squeal and gather around Rhea and hug her.

“There are so many decibels in here,” Carly whines.

“Carly, sweetie, drink your water,” Abbot says, trying to comfort her.

“You are all impossible. We’ll touch base again after we eat,” I say before the girls help bring the food out to the table.

A moment later, Kade brings all the guys inside, then stands at the head of the table.

“Before we eat, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for being here.

“Sean, Finn, Archer… I’ve known you forever but thank you for supporting me and letting me grow up without too much of a fight.

“Priya and Rhea, thank you for being great sisters and always being so sweet and loving with Sloan. It makes me so happy to see the three of you getting along so well.

“Abbot and Carly, I haven’t really gotten to know you that well, yet, but I can tell you’re amazing people, and you make Sloan happy so that makes me happy.

“Last but not least, Nik. I’ve met you tonight, but you seem cool, and I hope you enjoy the food.”

Kade grins and everyone laughs a little.

“Okay, eat!” Kade shouts.

Everyone loads up their plates, and I make sure all the girls get enough to eat to help them sober up a little.

Looking around the table, I can’t help but notice that everyone is sitting in their couples. They talk among themselves and, occasionally, across the table.

The vibe of the group is light and upbeat. I’m proud of the little family we’re building.

When dinner is done, Kade starts to clean up and wrangles the guys to help him, so I take all the girls into the living room and try to catch up again.

“Okay, how is everyone now that we’ve eaten?” I ask.

Carly laughs. “Better.”

“You seem it. So, who wants to go first?” I insist, and Rhea smiles widely. “Rhea? Have something to tell us?”

“Um, I just, I really like Sean. I told you I’m in deep, like. He’s so big and strong but, like, goofy. I don’t know, I like him.” She blushes.

“Well, I already told you that he’s into you; so, yay!” I laugh, and everyone smiles and gives Rhea a little clap.

“And Abbot, how are you feeling now?” I ask.

“I told you, I like Finn but I’m scared he’ll break my heart. I can’t read him,” Abbot explains.

“Okay, we’ll see if we can get you some intel,” I suggest.

“Me next!” Priya pipes in.

“Priya?”

“Um, I think I like Archer. I always thought the band guys were off-limits, but after seeing how happy Rhea is with Sean, I decided to try to talk to him. He’s such a puzzle but he excites me.”

“And last but not least, Carly?” I say.

She looks nervously around the room, then her eyes land on Abbot. “Your brother is hot. I saw him when we were at the Dubois office the other day and I almost passed out,” she blurts out.

“And then he showed up here and I was, like, ahhh! I can’t talk to him, I’m too shy. Are you mad?”

Abbot smiles. “If you actually like him, more power to you. I think he’s a pain-in-the-ass older brother, but if you see something I don’t, go for it.”

“So, Abbot, take Carly and formally introduce them. The rest of us will focus on getting intel on Finn and Archer. Rhea and Sean are in the bag,” I conclude.

Abbot mockingly throws her hand in the center, but from the look of surprise on her face, I don’t think she was expecting us to follow suit.

Abbot laughs. “Wow, this is so cheesy.”

“You love it… But we’re not sharing pants,” I add.

Kade and the rest of the guys rumble into the room. “Ladies, may we interrupt?” he asks.

“Of course, come on in,” I smile and wave them over.

The guys start to filter in and sit around the room; everyone is laughing and having a good time. Kade sits next to me and holds my hand while he socializes.

I take a minute and look down at our hands entwined, then at my swollen belly. I can’t help but feel like everything has worked out exactly as I wanted.

I’m so happily married; soon, Clover will be born; and I have my dream job. We’re building a wonderful group of friends, and our families are happy.

Throwing out the plan was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Throwing out the plan led me to exactly what I’ve wanted all along: true happiness with someone who really cares about me and my well-being.

A perfect, handsome man that treats me like a princess and a beautiful life I would have envied less than a year ago.

But I can’t stop myself from thinking, and a new plan is forming in my mind: if everyone keeps getting along, we’ll all grow older together, and our kids will play together.

We’re creating the foundation of something really special.

Sure, I’m not a matchmaker, but I do love it when a plan comes together.

^End of Book One^