Chapter 35
Chapter thirty-five
Long Night
Jasmine Chamberlain
“Have you gotten taller? You look taller,” Grayson says as he yanks me into a hug. I barely got in MJ and Bash’s door before being attacked.
I laugh. “I’m eighteen, not twelve. I think I’m done growing.”
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you that my mind is playing tricks on me,” he says when he pulls back.
His wife, Sloane, shakes her head. “It hasn’t been more than a couple of weeks, Gray.” She pulls me in for a much gentler hug. “Apologies, he had caffeine before he came.”
My eyes widen. “Why did you let him do that?”
Grayson is what I imagine a human golden retriever puppy is like, but somehow more energetic. And when he has caffeine? None of us are safe.
“I needed it. She’s been keeping me up—” Sloane smacks her hand over his mouth.
“Writing. We’re cowriting a book. He was going to say writing.”
The blush on her cheeks says otherwise, but I’m going to choose not to think about that for too long. Grayson might be my brother-in-law’s brother, but he feels and acts more like an honorary uncle.
Grayson pries Sloane’s hand off all while wearing a grin. “Don’t leave tonight without losing a chess match.”
I shake my head. “I’ve been practicing, old man. I’m going to beat you,” I say as I pass him to go farther into the house.
“Old man?” He laces his voice with mock outrage. “I teach you to become a prodigy and this is my thanks?”
“You are getting a few gray hairs,” his twin brother, Adrian, drawls from where he’s standing in the oversized living room.
The Holt house is more of a mansion, and it’s made almost entirely of glass. Every window is lined with plants. It feels as though you’re walking through a greenhouse mixed with an art gallery thanks to MJ’s art and their daughter Maddie’s photos on every wall.
“We’re twins,” Grayson says pointedly as he follows me into the room. “If one of us has gray hairs, we both do.”
Adrian’s wife, Juliette, reaches up to run her fingers through the side of Adrian’s dark hair. “I like them. He looks sophisticated.”
Adrian doesn’t say anything, but the faint smile on his lips tells me he’s pleased. He’s the opposite to his brother in every way but their looks. If Grayson is a golden retriever, Adrian is a German shepherd.
Maddie comes in from outside where I can see a few of my family members are huddled around a bonfire. “Jaz!”
“Hey, Mad Dog,” I say, using the nickname Grayson bestowed upon her a few years ago.
She gives me a hug, her blonde curls mixing with my brown ones. “How’s college? Have you met any cute boys? Do you like your roommates? Are you dating anyone?” She blurts out the questions in quick succession.
I laugh at her enthusiasm. She’s in high school currently, and no doubt itching for the day she can go off to college herself.
Though if she becomes a Thrasher, every boy on campus will be afraid to so much as look at her, given that her dad is the formidable Coach Bash.
My stomach twists at the thought of him trying to protect me, and me lying to him.
I know it was wrong of him to do, but it’s still hard not to feel guilty after all he’s done for me.
“College is great! My roommates are the best.” I lean closer and lower my voice. “The boys are very cute.”
“I heard that!” Grayson says, and pulls Maddie away. “No talking to her about dating. She’s already boy crazy enough.”
Maddie rolls her eyes. “I’ve been on a couple of dates.”
“And each one has given your dad a heart attack,” MJ says as she comes in from the kitchen. She pulls me in for a hug. “It’s good to see you. We’ve missed you.”
I let out a light laugh, trying not to let my nerves show. “I haven’t been gone long, and not really gone at all. I’m in the same city.”
“Dahlia cried last week ’cause you weren’t at movie night,” Maddie whispers to me.
MJ gives her a sharp look that tells me she wasn’t supposed to share that tidbit. Note to self: never tell Maddie a secret.
“She did?” I ask MJ.
MJ sighs. “I think it was a movie you used to watch as kids? It got to her a little. There’s no need to feel guilty,” she says with a pointed look. I have no idea how she can see right through me, but she always does. “But maybe…hug her a little longer tonight.”
I nod and look out the floor-to-ceiling windows again.
Dahlia and Levi are outside, cuddled up on a blanket.
They must not realize I’m here yet. Levi’s brother Maverick is also outside with his wife, Evie, and their son, Beckett.
Bash is out there too, holding baby Sage with a smile on his face.
Seeing him makes my muscles tense. I try to relax, though, because I know everyone in here will notice.
Only a few more days, and then we’ll tell everyone. Tomorrow night is homecoming, and then this will all be over.
“I’ll go out there to say hi,” I say, and MJ gives me a soft smile.
“Tell them dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”
I nod and head outside. Dahlia’s gaze lands on me and she jumps up. I’m crushed into a hug before I can even say hello.
“You’re going to bruise my lungs,” I choke out.
She releases me from her viselike grip. “Then you’ll have a permanent reminder of my love.”
I laugh. “I think I can remember just fine without that.”
Levi comes up next and wraps me in a much gentler, but no less loving, hug. “We’ve missed you at the house,” he says as he pulls away. “It’s quiet without you there.”
I roll my eyes and shove his shoulder while he laughs. “No house that Dahlia lives in can be quiet. I know what her weekend cleaning sessions are like.”
Music blaring through the speakers. More dancing than cleaning. And getting caught up in mementos she forgot she had. It was the best. I swallow, trying to dislodge the emotion stuck in my throat.
“Yeah, but it’s less loud with only one person singing,” he says.
Dahlia wraps an arm around his waist. “Don’t pretend you aren’t singing along too, Detective.”
“Yeah,” I add, “I seem to remember coming home to you dancing around with a broom—”
He cuts me off. “I don’t think anyone wants to hear that story.”
“I think everyone wants to hear that story,” Bash says.
Maverick and Evie laugh from their blanket nearby
I meet Levi’s pleading gaze. “It’s not my story to tell,” I say after making him sweat for a second.
“You’re my favorite sister,” he breathes out.
“I’m telling MJ you said that,” Dahlia says.
He groans. “I have a feeling this is going to be a long night.”
I’m about to reply when I hear Bash cheer, “He came!”
Somehow, I don’t even have to turn around to know. My heart picks up speed. My palms grow damp. Slowly, I turn around and confirm my theory. There, on the other side of the glass, standing in a crowd of my family is Shepherd. He finds me instantly, looking over MJ’s shoulder as he hugs her.
Yes, it’s going to be a very long night.