33.0
A/N : I've never gone this long without updating. So sorry guys! My semester just ended and my birthday is coming up, so I just got caught up with a few things.
Seven more chapters left !
The jet touched down smoother than any commercial flight I'd ever been on.
No overhead announcements, no strangers brushing against my shoulder, no flashing cameras.
Just a quiet landing strip in Houston and Monte waiting at the bottom of the stairs with sunglasses tucked into his suit pocket like he belonged on a movie poster.
Brooks had insisted on flying private.
"It's safer," he'd said. "I'm not putting you and Alina through another airport right now."
He didn't have to say the rest.
Not with reporters still trying to buy the address to our street.
Not with people online pulling apart pictures of my hair, my clothes, my body.
His hand rested low on my back as we stepped off the plane. Sam and Rylan followed behind us, rolling their suitcases, while Alina clutched Jessie in one hand and my pinky with the other.
Sam kept sneaking glances at Brooks — not mean ones, more like she was trying to study him.
Rylan, calm and steady, stayed close, her hand brushing Sam's waist each time they walked over a bump on the pavement.
The Texas heat greeted us — thick, warm, settling over my skin like a second shirt. A black SUV that Brooke's coordinated waited at the edge of the tarmac, window tinted, A/C humming.
"Alright, baby," I murmured, unbuckling Alina's straps. "Time to get in your seat."
Alina hopped off the plane steps clutching both dolls, curls frizzing instantly in the humidity. Brooks helped her into the SUV first, tightening the car seat straps with the same seriousness he used for security briefings.
"Too tight?" he asked quietly.
She tested it by pushing her belly out. "Jessie says it's okay."
Woody, dangling upside down in her other hand, apparently agreed.
I slid in beside her. Sam and Rylan climbed into the third row. Brooks shut the door softly before circling to the passenger seat.
The SUV started moving, humming down the long airport road into Houston — open highway, big sky, the kind of sunset that looked like someone had poured gold into the clouds.
Alina made her toys high five, then fight, then nap — all within thirty seconds. Jessie kept falling onto the floorboard. Brooks kept reaching back and handing her back without complaint.
My phone buzzed.
Tati calling.
I put it on speaker.
Immediately screaming and laughter.
"Tati?" I said, wincing at the sound level.
"Amira!" she screamed. "Where are you guys? The airbnb is—" More yelling. A crash. A cackle that could only be Mya.
I bit back a laugh. "We just landed. We're on the way."
"Oh thank God," she breathed dramatically. "We're drunk already we need sober guidance."
In the background, Heather yelled, "I'm not drunk I'm just tipsy."
"—and Seth went to the store and left me here alone. Oh, and Miles is mad because I told him Alina's coming and now he keeps asking when his friend will be here. Once you guys come my mom and his babysitter is gonna take them."
"We're fifteen minutes away."
"You guys wi-," The phone clicked off before she could finish her statement.
We laughed softly even Brooks.
Outside the window, the skyline slid closer.
Alina dropped Woody again. Brooks reached back automatically, handed him to her without even looking.
"Woody loves Houston," she announced.
I smoothed her curls.
"So do we," I whispered.
The words hit deeper than I meant them to.
The first time I ever came to Houston, my life had been split clean in half — before and after, girl and ghost.
I'd run here because I didn't know what else to do, didn't know where else to land.
Every street felt too big, every night too loud, and I spent the first months counting the exits like I might need to disappear again.
Coming back now — older, steadier, with Alina's little hand in mine — felt like walking into a version of myself I didn't hate anymore.
Houston wasn't just a place.
It was a chapter I survived.
And now, it was a chapter I was returning to on purpose.
The drive into the neighborhood was long, winding, lined with tall trees and houses so big they made the sky look smaller. Everything looked private, gated, expensive.
The Airbnb sat at the end — wide porch, three stories, brick and white columns like a southern mansion they used for movies.
The second the SUV door slid open, the front door of the house burst wide.
"Hey!" Heather screamed, practically hanging out of the frame.
Mya pushed past her. "Move, Heather, I can't see—"
She spotted us. "Oh my gosh!"
Brittany didn't wait. She barreled across the lawn in heels that deserved workers' comp, arms open wide.
I barely got out a breath before she collided with me.
"Oh my GOD," she gasped into my hair. "I missed you so much. You're here. You're—" She pulled back, looked at Alina, and her whole face melted. "Oh. OH."
Alina blinked up at her, confused but polite. "Hi."
Mya's eyes got wide. "Girl—she looks just like you but tiny!"
Heather smacked her arm. "No, she looks like Amira and... wait." Her eyes slid to Brooks.
Brooks lifted a polite hand. "How are you?"
Mya whispered not quietly, "Damn, that's him in person?"
Brittany whispered back, "Shut up, don't embarrass us—"
Then Tati came flying out the door like something had set her on fire.
She screamed.
I screamed.
We threw arms around each other and jumped like idiots.
"You're here," she breathed, squeezing me again. "You're here, and you brought my favorite girl."
She scooped Alina up with one arm like she weighed nothing.
"Hi, baby," Tati whispered, kissing her cheek.
Seth appeared in the doorway — tall, soft-eyed, tattoos peeking from under his t-shirt. His presence was huge without him needing to say anything.
He shook Brooks's hand, clapped him on the back. "Heard a lot about you."
Brooks nodded. "Likewise."
Rylan stepped up next, shaking Seth's hand with a grip that made him raise a brow. Sam smiled shyly, then disappeared into Tati's arms, their old promise of "ride or die" sliding back into place without words.
Inside, the house was chaos — champagne bottles, dresses hanging everywhere, candles lit in half the rooms. Seth's friends nodded at Brooks but didn't bother him.
Tati's mom showed up a few minutes later — warm smile, soft voice — and swooped Miles and Alina toward the guest room stocked with toys.
And then it naturally happened:
The split.
Seth and his friends drifted toward the pool house.
Rylan followed them, gravitating toward the quieter masculine energy.
Sam grabbed me and Heather and Mya and Brittany and we headed upstairs.
Before I followed, I looked back.
Brooks was standing by the kitchen island, sleeves rolled, laughing at something Seth said.
But when his eyes met mine even from across the room everything in me tightened.
Warm.
Familiar.
And a little dangerous.
He gave me a small smile, like he knew exactly what I was thinking and wasn't going to say it out loud.
And even though everything between us was good.
and soft.
and new.
A small, embarrassing ache stirred in my chest.
He still hadn't asked me to be his girlfriend.
Not officially.
Not with words.
We lived together. We slept tangled. He kissed me every morning like it was instinct, but there was no title.
No claim.
And I hated that it bothered me.
I tore my gaze away and followed the girls upstairs — into laughter, champagne, nostalgia, and the kind of chaos I'd missed without knowing I missed it.
Houston already felt loud and alive.
And the night hadn't even started yet.
By the time the sun finally slid low enough to soften the Houston heat, the day had already worn us out in the best way.
Tati had a full itinerary ready before we even unzipped our suitcases. Lunch at her favorite rooftop spot, shopping at boutiques she swore were life-changing, drinks at a patio bar.
Somewhere between the second margarita and Mya screaming "This is my song," in the middle of the store, I realized I hadn't felt like this in a long time.
Light. Normal. Like someone who used to dance for a living, laugh for fun, and remember what it felt like to love my friends without guilt attached to it.
As the sky went dark enough to look like velvet, we stepped onto the sidewalk still buzzing.
Heather stretched her arms over her head. "Okay, I'm not ready to go back yet."
Mya whipped her head around. "We're in Houston. What do you think we're doing?"
Brittany grinned, already tapping her phone. "This is Tati's last night being Ms. Morales. We're going to the club."
Tati tapped her middle finger and thumb together like she'd been waiting for someone to finally say it. "Thankgya."
And just like that, we were piling into the Uber, skirts riding up, perfume thick in the air, all of us talking over each other as we sped through downtown.
Neon signs flickered past the window; the closer we got, the louder the bass grew — a heartbeat pulsing through the street.
Ten chaotic minutes later, we tumbled out of an Uber in front of a low-lit club glowing pink and purple. Music thumped from inside, the bass rolling down the sidewalk like a welcome.
The bouncer's eyes flicked over us, bored at first — until they landed on me.
His eyebrows lifted. A slow, knowing smirk. "Aren't you—"
Before he could finish, Sam stepped closer, smooth as ever, one hand sliding around my elbow. Not tight. Just enough.
She pulled three hundred dollar bills out of her purse. "It's six of us. Will that be good?"
The bouncer blinked, seemed to reconsider whatever he was about to say, and backed off with a nod. "Yeah. Yeah, you're good. Y'all enjoy."
I exhaled through my nose, the moment small but sharp — like reality tugging me by the sleeve.
Sam didn't look at me, didn't make it a thing. She just squeezed my arm once, thumb brushing my skin.
A silent I got you.
A silent Don't let it ruin the night.
I didn't.