“Pfft.” Elliot waves all that away. “Boston is the best city in the world. Everyone knows that.”
“Sure is,” I hear Jordan say quietly behind me, leaning his cheek against my head.
“Okay, friends,” Noah says, pushing away from the fence. “I’ve gotta go. I’m on call tonight, and I have to get to the hospital.”
“Will we see you before we leave?” I ask, pulling away from Jordan to hug his brother.
“I wish. I’m on for twenty-four.” Noah wraps his arms around me in a tight hug. “Come back, okay?” he whispers into my ear. “You make him happy, and he hasn’t been happy in so long. And say hi to Hannah for me.”
I smile, filled with affection for all of these men who love each other so much. “Couldn’t keep me away. From here or from him,” I whisper back. “And I’ll say hi to Hannah, but you know she has a pretty serious boyfriend, right?”
“For now,” Noah mutters, and I wonder what that’s all about but don’t have time to think about it before Jordan pulls Noah back.
“Dude, that’s a long enough hug.”
When I turn, Jordan is smirking at his brother. I step into Jordan, who immediately wraps his arms back around me. “Don’t worry, J,” I say, patting his arm. “You’re the only Wyles brother who gets me going.”
“Fucking right I am,” he mutters, while the rest of his brothers laugh.
Noah throws his arms around Jordan, so I’m squeezed in between them. “Love you, brother.”
“Love you back,” Jordan says, his voice laced with emotion.
“I’ll head home with you,” Cooper says. “I have some work to do before tomorrow.” Cooper is an associate at a big law firm in Boston, and from what Jordan has told me, he works almost nonstop. “Jo Jo, you were definitely right about the gummy peach/gummy coke bottle combo. It’s my new favorite.”
“It changed your life, right?”
He wraps me in a tight hug. “Sure did. You officially have the best taste in candy ever.”
“That’s the best compliment you could ever give me.”
“I’m heading out too.” Elliot leans in to hug both of us, and then I step aside and watch as all four brothers wrap their arms around each other in a four-way hug. Tears prick my eyes as Elliot grips the back of Jordan’s neck and squeezes. The emotion from their hug and the way they love each other is palpable. It’s so clear to me how much the four of them need each other, that this is where Jordan belongs. I hope he sees it. And I hope, maybe, he wants me to be here with him too.
It's a lot to hope for, but I’ve always been an optimistic sort of person.
When they break apart, we all exchange one more hug before they turn to leave.
“Hey, Elliot?” I call, and he turns back to me. “Keep looking for the girl from the plane. You never know what might happen.”
He flashes me a grin and glances from me to Jordan. “You sure don’t.” Then he turns and heads off with Noah and Cooper.
“Where do they all live?” I ask Jordan as we watch them go. They all stayed at their parents’ house for the weekend, so I have no idea where they call home.
Jordan kisses the top of my head and turns us back to the Harbor so we stand together, looking out at the water. “If you can believe it, they all live in the same building in Back Bay.”
I grin, leaning my head on Jordan’s shoulder. “That sounds like so much fun.”
“It really does,” he says, a wistful note in his voice. He turns me around to face him, leaning down to give me a soft kiss, smiling against my lips. “Is there anything else you want to do before we head back to New York tonight?”
I reach my hands up, sifting my fingers through Jordan’s messy brown hair, and I meet his eyes, the water of the Harbor turning his irises cobalt. “I want to know what your favorite place in Boston is. Can you take me there?”
Jordan smiles, gripping my hips and pulling me closer to him, kissing me again. My blood zings at the feel of his lips on mine, and I wonder if kissing him will ever feel habitual.
I hope not. Jordan Wyles lights every part of me right up.
“I know just the place,” he says when we break apart. “Do you mind a bit of a walk?”
I lace our fingers together, swinging our joined hands between us. “With you? Literally never.”
