Forbidden - Karla Sorensen Page 0,34
which I’d been thinking about for months before Aiden ever took ownership, I didn’t even notice Molly’s car pull in. It wasn’t until she pulled open the front door and shouted, “I’m so sorry I’m late.”
I jumped, hand slapping my chest. “Holy shit, Molly.”
She eyed me. “Didn’t you see me peel into the parking lot?”
“Apparently not.” I tossed my notebook aside and stood.
Her hair was tumbling out of a ponytail, her chest already glistened with sweat, and I tilted my head to the side as I studied her workout tank. “Is your shirt on backward?”
She glanced down. “Ummm …”
“Oh, my word. That’s why you’re late?”
Molly laughed.
“You know what I keep thinking?”
“What?”
“You’re not even newlyweds, and you and Noah are already nauseating. What’s it going to be like when you’re actually married?”
She blew out a hard breath. “Please. We’re basically having our honeymoon before the wedding. He was all worked up after training camp today, so … ” She shrugged. “Gotta get that tension out somehow, you know?”
Nope, sure didn’t.
“Honestly, I don’t want to think about you and Noah and the kind of activities you get to have right now.”
Molly laughed again, sitting on the bench in front of the window as she tugged on her workout shoes. While she wasn’t looking, I studied my older sister. Made me wonder about how it must feel to have someone in your life like that.
And because I was me … I didn’t ask.
“Where are we starting first?” she asked.
I blinked. “Umm, I have some bodyweight exercises mapped out. Arm day today.”
“Oh, goody,” she muttered.
While she made her way over to where the ropes and bands were laid out on the rubberized floor, I cued up some music.
We worked our way through a few things, and like I usually did, I worked out alongside her.
Molly and I were shoulder to shoulder, passing a medicine ball back and forth after twisting to the side, when I asked a question that later, I’d really, really wish I hadn’t asked.
“You get all your RSVPs back?”
With a twist, I handed the black ball to her, and she mirrored my movement with a grimace. My quads were burning as I held the squat and waited for her to give it back. But when she turned back toward me, I caught a look … just a glimpse of discomfort.
“What?” I asked. I took the ball and twisted again.
When it was in Molly’s hands, I stood. She did the same, setting the ball down at her feet.
“Nothing.”
But she didn’t make eye contact when she said it.
“Molly.”
“Isabel.”
“You had a look, and don’t even pretend you didn’t. Is Noah still on that let’s invite the entire team kick?”
She exhaled a laugh. “No. Too many guys travel during the bye week anyway.” Molly paused, her eyes finally locking on mine. “But we did end up sending out a last-minute invite this week. And … and I don’t think you’re going to understand why.”
My head reared back. “What do I have to do with it?”
Before she answered, Molly leaned down to snag her water bottle, and she took a long sip. By the time she set her water down, more than ten seconds could’ve elapsed, but it felt like an hour.
“I know we have some complicated family dynamics,” she said slowly, “but I feel like we can’t avoid some of it.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I know. And Logan told me that we had to be nice to Nick even though we haven’t seen them once since they moved to the East Coast,” I said, referencing our other half-brother, who was a total a-hole. Thankfully, we rarely had to see him and his wife. There was about a minute, back when we were younger, when he challenged Logan for custody of the four of us. Gawd, what pricks we’d all be if he’d been the one to raise us.
Molly’s eyes searched mine. “I wasn’t talking about Nick.”
“Okay. Who?”
“Noah and I decided to send an invitation to Brooke’s last known address,” she said, lifting her chin.
My skin went hot. “What?” I whispered.
She nodded, and my skin went ice, ice cold. The change was shocking, bracing, and my heart went wild in my chest. I felt like Molly had taken a crowbar to my rib cage, prying me open like I was on a hinge.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Molly said calmly. “But Noah agreed that it was the right thing to do.”
“Why would you want her at your wedding?”
“Because … because this is a big deal! Getting married