“Would you like me to lie to you so your feelings don’t get hurt?” I ask carefully.
“Yes. If that’s an option, I’d like you to always take it,” Bobby says.
Before I even have a chance to answer, Henry beat me to it. “You’re really good at hockey.”
The guys play fight and while everyone’s distracted, Russ kisses my neck and whispers into my ear. “You’re doing so well. They love you.”
Calm quickly resumes and Bobby looks back to me for confirmation. I nod enthusiastically. “She absolutely asked about you.”
When I told Jenna about Bobby’s long-lived crush on her response was less than happy. “Fantastic. I love it when people return as adults and want to fuck me like I didn’t literally look after them as children.” She made a loud and dramatic retching noise. “I hate men.”
“Maybe I really will work there next year,” he says, much to the disapproval of his friends.
“I hope you’re better at fixing toilets than Russ,” I laugh.
Learning how much Russ likes to touch me when there aren’t any rules prohibiting it has been my favorite discovery of coming back to Maple Hills.
My brain is frazzled trying to suppress my natural instinct to overshare and, despite being a somewhat confident person, the pressure to make sure the people Russ loves so much like me is a lot.
The homewarming—or housecoming, whichever one it is—party is less of a party and more of a chilled day hanging out together. It’s needed after a dramatic couple of days and I love seeing Russ ease me into it all.
I take a break from the action to video call Emilia and Poppy in the backyard. They’re both big fans of my tent and can’t believe I convinced Russ to sleep in it with me. I’m pretty sure Russ would sew a tent from scratch if he thought it’d make me happy.
The back door opens and JJ appears, spotting me on a deck chair on my own. He ambles over, hands in his pockets and sits down beside across from me. “Pops and Emilia send their love,” I say as he sits.
“I saw Emilia’s story. They look like they’re having fun.”
“This feels very formal,” I say awkwardly, shuffling on my seat. Shielding my eyes from the sunlight, I try hard to focus on JJ’s very serious face. “Are you about to give me a lecture? A pep talk? Life advice?” Oh God, the rambling is back.
“A thank you. This is the happiest I’ve seen Russ in the two years I’ve known him.”
The butterflies that live in my stomach dance around happily. “He makes me happy too. Thank you for teaching him to fake being confident long enough for him to talk to me that night.”
“Thank you for letting him see himself the way we see him.”
“This got really fucking deep,” I say. “I think I prefer you making me do Jenga dares.”
“Yeah, it was a bit unnecessarily emotional wasn’t it. I’m trying this mature thing out, don’t think it’s going to stick.” He stands, holding out his hand to me to stand too. “Are you interested in being introduced to drunk Hungry Hippos?”
Walking back into the house, JJ announces he wants to play the new game and disappears to find what he needs. Walking into the kitchen, I spot Russ getting two glasses out of the cupboard. “Stop, thief.” He puts the glasses on the counter, turning to lean against it with his arms folded across his chest.
“I’m the thief?”
“You look familiar. Have you burgled here before?”
He reaches out and pulls me closer, nudging my chin up with his hand, kissing me in a way that makes my knees go weak. I don’t need to search for validation or attention, because I have everything I need right here with this man.
“Tell me a secret, Callaghan.” He brushes my hair out of my face, staring at me like I’m the only thing he sees in this world.
He doesn’t even hesitate. “I’m falling in love with you, Aurora.”
Ten million butterflies. “I’m falling in love with you too.”
Epilogue
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Aurora holds her stomach, groaning dramatically. I drape my arm across her shoulders, tugging her closer until I can kiss the top of her head. I’ve spent the last six weeks reassuring her, and now I’m just giving her affection because she doesn’t listen to me anyway. “This was a horrible idea. Why did you let me do this?”
“What happened to ‘Aurora Callaghan doesn’t have bad ideas’ and ‘When have I ever been wrong?’ or—”