Blair waved a hand at her. “Don’t sweat it. What are we even celebrating? In case you missed it, America kind of sucks right now. I think crying today is far more logical than running around shouting ’Merica !”

Erin laughed again. “You’re not wrong.”

Blair smirked. “I never am.”

If it were up to Blair, they would have spent the whole day out there, away from everyone else. Just the two of them. She didn’t want a superficial relationship with Erin. Now that she had gotten a peek into her past, she wanted to know more. She wanted to know what made her laugh and exactly how she looked when she did. She wanted to know what made her the happiest, so she could give it to her. She wanted to know her , all of the best and the worst parts.

Unfortunately, less than a minute later, Erin pointed back toward the house. “We should probably get back to the party before my family realizes I’m missing and thinks I bailed on them.”

Blair put her hands in her pockets and rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet. She wanted to think of any excuse to keep Erin out here with her, even if that was completely selfish. “I’m sure they’re okay. My mom probably swept them up in some long-winded conversation about who knows what.”

Erin stared back at the house as if she was watching for someone. “I don’t want Nolan to get upset.”

That was all Blair needed to hear. As much as she wanted to be selfish and try to take advantage of finally having alone time with Erin, she knew someone else needed Erin more, and she would never do anything to hurt the little boy who had quickly become her favorite person in the world.

Chapter 12

Erin

“Mommy!” Nolan yelled as soon as they walked through the sliding glass doors to the pool area. He hopped out of the pool where he had been playing with his cousin and wrapped Erin in a cold, wet hug.

Her emotions were still going haywire from earlier, so she had to work hard not to cry just from his hug. What the hell is wrong with me? Erin couldn’t believe she had word vomited all over Blair just a few minutes ago. Not only that, but she had actually cried on her shoulder. Correction—sobbed. It crossed so many lines, Erin didn’t want to think about it. The problem was, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Blair had been so perfect and said all the right things. Erin wondered how much of what Blair had said was true.