All That We Are

by Melissa Toppen

  “Now I need a T.V. too?” She taps her foot.

  “I saw you looking at some online the other day. Don’t act like you don’t want one.” I smirk when she glares in my direction.

  “That’s a very nice offer, Miles, but...”

  “You said yourself that you were going to buy these things over the next few weeks anyway. What’s the harm in letting me buy them for you and you paying me back? Think of it as an advance from work. People do that sort of thing all the time.”

  “They do?” She cocks a brow.

  “I mean, some people do, yeah.” I shrug.

  “You’re not going to let this go, are you?” She finally concedes, clearly seeing that my stubbornness outmatches even hers.

  “Not a chance.”

  She lets out a dramatic sigh before hoisting her purse up onto her shoulder.

  “Fine. I’ll let you buy me a couch and a television, but only if you swear I can set up the payroll deduction first thing tomorrow and you won’t go messing with it later on.”

  “You have my word.” I make a criss-cross motion over my heart.

  “You’re really frustrating. You know that.” She stomps past me, slipping on her flip-flops when she reaches the front door.

  “You’re just figuring that out?” I tease, snagging her keys from the key hook next to the door before she can grab them herself. “Just relax, this will be fun,” I tell her, leading her out into the hallway before stopping to lock the deadbolt.

  “Somehow I doubt that,” she deadpans, failing to hold a straight face for long.

  ——

  “Are you sure I need something this big?” Harlow steps back and looks over the sixty-five-inch television mounted on display in front of us.

  We’ve been shopping for nearly two hours. It didn’t take her long to pick out a couch once we reached the furniture store, but then I had to spend an additional twenty minutes convincing her to let me buy her the whole set. Now she’s been standing in front of the same two televisions for what feels like forever, nibbling on her thumbnail like she can’t decide.

  “Trust me. You’re going to want the bigger screen. It will fit the space a hell of a lot better than the smaller one.”

  “I guess you’re right.” She nods. “Let’s get the bigger one.”

  “Wise choice.” I grin, kissing her on the temple before going in search of a floor associate to help us.

  Not able to find anyone available, I decide to go to the customer service desk where the young girl working promises to send someone over.

  Just as I turn to head back to Harlow, a familiar voice washes over me, and I turn to see Delia just a few feet behind me in line.

  “I thought that was you.” She abandons her spot and comes to stand next to me.

  “Hey, D.” I nod. “Why aren’t you at work?”

  “I should ask you the same thing,” she counters, her usual sass firmly intact.

  “I’m actually heading over soon. I’ve got two appointments this evening.”

  “I just came from there. My speaker is acting up again and you know I can’t work without my tunes.” She holds up the Bluetooth speaker in her hand. “I’m heading back over as soon as I pay for this bad boy.”

  “Everything going okay today?”

  “Smooth as can be. Though Chuck and Tubbs got into a little tiff over an appointment mix up. Apparently one of Chuck’s regulars called to schedule an appointment. Tubbs took the call, ended up overbooking Chuck somehow. Anyway, it all got worked out.”

  “I guess I’ll have to talk to him again about the appointment book. This isn’t the first time he’s done this.”

  “Trust me, I know. The last time he did it to me.” She huffs. “So, what are you doing here?”

  “I’m helping Harlow pick out a T.V. for her new apartment,” I say, not missing the knowing smirk that instantly appears on her face.

  “You’ve been doing an awful lot with Harlow here recently, boss man. Anything I should know?” She rocks back on her heels.

  “If you’re asking are we together, the answer is yes,” I say, knowing by the way her eyes widen that she didn’t expect me to say that, or at least not say it without a little more coaxing from her.

  “I just assumed you were fucking her.” She nods, seeming almost impressed. “So you’re like together, together.”

  “Together, together,” I confirm.

  “Huh? Well, will you look at that. There’s a woman who can tame him after all,” she says more to herself than to me.

  “Are you done? I need to get back to Harlow.” I shake my head, smiling.

  “Oh yes, we don’t want to keep your lady waiting.” She bats her eyelashes dramatically at me.

  “You’re a fucking handful. Remind me why I employ you again.”

  “Because you’d be lost without me,” she says matter of fact.

  “Keep telling yourself that.” I laugh, clapping her on the shoulder as I pass her. “I’ll see you at the shop in a little bit.”

  “Yeah you will,” she calls after me.

  When I finally get back to Harlow, she’s still standing in the same spot only this time she’s talking to an associate.

  “Hey.” I step up next to her just as the female associate leaves to make sure they have the television Harlow wants in stock.

  “Hey.” She leans into me. “What took you so long? I was starting to think you got lost.”

  “Sorry, I ran into Delia. She couldn’t let me slip away without giving me shit for something.”

  “Uh oh.” She grins, knowing how Delia is with me. “What about this time?”

  “You.” The smile instantly falls from her lips and worry creases her forehead as she turns to face me.

  “Me?” she croaks. “You didn’t tell her about us, did you?”

  “I did.” I nod. “You think I’m going to face off with your family but keep it from mine?” I give her a look that tells her she should know better.

  “No, I guess not. I just hadn’t really thought about it.”

  “I told you I’m done hiding and that means I’m done hiding. I don’t care who knows. Truthfully, the more people that know you’re mine, the better. I’ll make sure Tubbs gets that message loud and clear.” I grin, dropping a kiss to her forehead.

  “Tubbs?” She seems confused.

  “Don’t act like you don’t know he’s got a thing for you. I think he’s made that pretty apparent.”

  “Oh, he does not.” She dismisses the thought. “He just likes picking on me.”

  “Trust me, Low, I know Tubbs. Every move he’s made up to this point has been to try to get you into his bed.”

  “Men. I swear I don’t understand any of you.” She rolls her eyes.

  “Okay, we do have that model in stock.” The associate returns, just as I’m about to respond.

  “Great, we’ll take it,” I say instead, throwing Harlow a wink before following the associate to the sales counter.

  ——

  “Hey.” Harlow raps on the open door of Room B where I’m cleaning up after my first appointment.

  “Hey. I didn’t know you were coming by tonight.” I smile, watching her step inside the room.

  She’s wearing a different outfit than she was earlier today when we were shopping – having traded in her jean shorts and tank for a short, form-fitting romper that looks insane on her slender frame.

  “I met Dad and Jackie for dinner at Rock Bottom. I thought maybe you’d be hungry so I brought you something,” she says, holding up a takeout bag that I didn’t even notice until now.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” I tell her, crossing the room toward her.

  “I wanted to.” She turns her face up the instant I reach her, giving me full access to her mouth, where I promptly lay a long, wet kiss.

  “You’ve been drinking,” I murmur against her lips, able to taste the remnants of alcohol on her tongue.

  “I had a couple of beers,” she admits, pressing
her lips back to mine.

  I groan, tightening my grip on her.

  “I’ve missed you,” I say, pulling back just enough to meet her gaze.

  “You just saw me.” She smiles.

  “I still missed you.” I rest my forehead against hers.

  “Hey, boss.” I look up to see Tubbs who falters just inside the door. “Shit, my bad.” He shakes his head, realizing what he just walked in on.

  “You need something?” I growl, irritated by the interruption.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt. Your next appointment is here.”

  “Thanks. I’ll come out and get her when we’re done here.”

  “Cool. Cool.” His eyes dart to Harlow for a split second before he quickly exits the room.

  “Well, that took care of that problem.” I chuckle, knowing Harlow knows exactly what I’m referring to.

  “Men.” She shakes her head and steps out of my embrace. “Here.” She shoves the takeout bag into my hand. “Eat a little something before you start your next appointment, okay?” She takes my face into her hands.

  “Yes, ma’am.” I grin, breaking into a full blown smile when she pushes up and drops a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “I’m coming by your place when I’m ready for dessert,” I tell her as she backs away.

  “I already feel sorry for my neighbors.” She giggles, blowing me a kiss before exiting the room.

  I close the short distance between me and the door and quickly hang my head out into the hallway so I can watch her walk away. I bite my lip to suppress the groan that works its way into my throat at watching her perfect hips sway.

  As if sensing my eyes on her, Harlow turns right as she reaches the mouth of the hallway. She gives me a knowing smile and a small wave before disappearing into the lobby.

  Fuck me. I am so far gone it’s not even funny.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Harlow

  “I was starting to think you’d forgotten you owned a phone.” I huff the instant Winston’s voice comes on the line.

  “Some of us have actual lives and don’t live on our devices,” he kicks back, the familiar sounds of my dad’s car shop filtering in through the background.

  “Yeah, I know. I’m one of them,” I remind him. If anyone avoids technology, it’s me. I don’t do social media, and I’m rarely on my phone outside of sending a quick text or making an actual phone call. “Sounds like you’re in a mood,” I point out.

  “Not in a mood, just busy.”

  “Well, I won’t keep you. I just haven’t talked to you in a couple of weeks, and I feel like you’re avoiding me.”

  “I’m not avoiding you.”

  “So you just conveniently decided to stop answering my calls the day Miles came to talk to you?”

  “That’s not true.”

  “It absolutely is true,” I tell him. “You avoided your apartment like the plague the last week I was there, and you didn’t even help me move like you promised you would.”

  “I gave you a bed.”

  “Yeah, that you made our father deliver.”

  “I told you, I’ve been busy,” he clips, irritation clear in his voice.

  “You’re an awful liar, Winston.” I shake my head even though he can’t see me.

  “Harlow.”

  “Look,” I cut him off before he can say more. “I get that this Miles situation is not ideal for you, and I’m sorry that we didn’t come clean as soon as we realized there was something between us, but we’re happy. Doesn’t that count for something?”

  “It would if I thought there was any chance in hell it would last.”

  “Why are you so sure that it won’t?”

  “Because I know Miles.”

  “And I don’t?” I question.

  “Not nearly as well as you think you do.”

  “So tell me.”

  “I’m not getting in the middle of this, Low. I’m just telling you straight up, don’t get too comfortable. It’s only a matter of time before this ends.”

  “That’s your opinion. I guess we will just have to prove you wrong.”

  “I hope you can.” He pauses, sliding his hand over the phone as he talks to one of the other guys at the shop. “Hey, Low, I gotta go.”

  “Okay, but you’re having dinner with Miles and me tomorrow.”

  “I don’t know if I can.”

  “You can. I’ve already checked with Stella, and she promised you two would be there. Preston’s. Seven o’clock. No excuses.”

  “I’m not sure how I feel about you going behind my back with Stella.”

  “I’m not sure I really care,” I counter playfully. “Seriously, Winst, Miles and I are together. It’s time you wrap your head around that so we can all move on with our lives. He loves you, I love you, and we just want things to go back to normal. Or as normal as they can.”

  “You’re very pushy. You know that?”

  “I do because you are too.” I smile. “Wonder where we get it from,” I say, knowing we both already know.

  “Dad,” we say in unison, both of us laughing directly after.

  “So tomorrow. Seven o’clock?”

  “Fine, I’ll be there.” He tries to hide it, but I can hear the smile in his voice.

  “Love you,” I sing into the phone.

  “Love you too,” he grumbles, promptly ending the call seconds later.

  ——

  “You seem nervous.” Miles slides his hand under the booth and squeezes the top of my thigh.

  “I am nervous,” I admit, jumping slightly at the contact.

  “Don’t be. It’s Winston. He’ll come around.” He gives me a reassuring smile.

  “I know.” I blow out a slow breath. “I just can’t help but feel a little guilty.”

  “You have no reason to feel guilty.”

  “But I do. I feel like I blew in and disrupted his whole life. First, by invading his apartment and being there a lot longer than I intended. Then by hooking up with his best friend.”

  “He’s your brother. You didn’t invade or mess anything up. Things happen, and we adjust.”

  “When did you become so sure of everything?” I question. Knowing when this first started he was questioning things way more than I was.

  “I’m in love with you, Harlow Cabell. Of that, there’s nothing to feel unsure about.”

  I suck in a breath, the weight of his words settling down over me like a warm blanket, cocooning me in their safety.

  “I...” I start to respond, but my words die off when I look up and catch sight of Stella and Winston heading our way.

  “Hey, you two.” Stella smiles, sliding down into the booth directly across from me.

  “Hey.” I look up at my brother as he takes the seat next to her, settling in across from Miles.

  “This place is really cool.” Stella looks around the dimly lit restaurant. “I can’t believe I’ve never been here before.”

  “There food is incredible too,” I interject. “I had forgotten how good it was until Delia and I came here after work last week.”

  “Delia?” my brother questions, his gaze falling to me. “Now that’s a pairing I didn’t see coming.”

  “Delia is amazing,” I tell him, having grown quite fond of the girl over the last few weeks. It’s an unlikely friendship. I’ll give him that. But once you get past Delia’s hard exterior, it’s impossible not to like her.

  “I’m not arguing with you there.” Winston opens his menu, turning his gaze downward. “I just never pictured you two as friends. You’re so different.”

  “Sometimes being different is a good thing,” I argue, feeling Miles’ eyes on the side of my face seconds before his hand finds my leg again under the table.

  “It absolutely is,” Stella agrees. “Look at me and this one.” She hitches her thumb toward Winston. “We couldn’t be more different, and yet we just make sense.” She smiles adoringly at him.

  “Because you’re both batshit crazy,” Mile
s jokes, garnering a playful elbow to the ribs from me. “What?” He smirks at me. “It’s true.”

  “That doesn’t mean you have to say it out loud,” I tell him, unable to contain the smile that spreads across my face every time I look at him.

  “This is fucking weird,” Winston grumbles under his breath, drawing our attention in his direction.

  “Well, for the record, I think you two look super cute together,” Stella says, dropping her chin into her hand as she rests her elbow on the table, instantly drawing my gaze to the large diamond perched on her ring finger.

  “Um...” I point to her hand, my gaze bouncing to my brother.

  “Oh yeah, about that.” A slow smile forms on Winston’s face. “So, Stella and I have decided we’re gonna get hitched.”

  “What!” I blurt, not able to contain my excitement over the news. “Since when?”

  “Since last night.” Stella beams, holding her hand out so I can get a better look at the gorgeous princess cut diamond on her finger.

  “And no one called me?” I huff.

  “I wanted to, but Winston wanted to wait and tell you guys in person. Surprise!” Her smile widens.

  “It’s about damn time.” Miles grins across the table at Winston.

  “That’s what I said.” Stella giggles. “Took him long enough.” She nudges her fiancé playfully.

  “Do Dad and Jackie know?” I ask my brother directly.

  “Told them this morning.” He nods, his earlier unease seeming to dissipate a bit as a lazy smile pulls at his lips.

  “You guys.” I sigh, so happy I could cry.

  “We’ve decided not to wait,” Stella informs us. “We’re going to do a small ceremony at the end of August and make it official already.”

  “That’s only two months away,” I gawk. “That soon?”

  “Neither one of us wants a big wedding, and honestly, I’m ready to be Mrs. Winston Cabell already. Ahhh, just the sound of it makes me all tingly inside.”

  “Women.” Winston chuckles under his breath.

  “You love me so shut it.” Stella lays a light smack to his bicep.