Chapter 21 #3
Carina’s eyes flick to me then, something warm and amused blooming as she laughs softly. “Good intel.”
“Oh!” Meadow’s eyes light up. “You laugh like a nice person.”
“Uhh.” Carina blinks. “Thank you?”
Meadow nods, then turns and gestures vaguely out the doors toward the back yard. “So the weddings are usually out there.”
I close my eyes as a choked snort comes from somewhere behind me. Zoe’s face is buried in her hands. Chase is biting his knuckle, and Lulu is losing it in absolute silence.
Carina glances toward them and then the backyard, polite curiosity on her face. “The… weddings?”
“Out by the beehives,” Meadow adds, clearly warming to her theme. “That’s where we’ll do it.”
My soul has left my body.
Carina’s smile wobbles. “That sounds… festive.”
Meadow tilts her head at Carina. “Do you like flowers?”
“Yes,” Carina says carefully.
“Good,” Meadow replies. “’Cause you’ll be a flower bride!”
Jake puts his face in his hands.
“Meadow,” Charlie makes a strangled noise. “Let’s maybe let people eat before we start wedding planning.”
But Meadow continues, unstoppable now. “Uncle Hutchy will have to wear a suit, which he hates, but Zo Zo says he looks hot when he’s grumpy, so it’s fine.”
I curse the day Zoe Carlson ever spoke to this child.
Carina looks at me, her eyes bright and mouth curved.
“Mhmm,” she hums playfully. “I can see the vision.”
Meadow leans closer, dropping her voice like this is classified information. “Also, Theo would be the ring bear.”
Theo shifts again as he hears his name, one chubby hand fisting my shirt as he takes in the way his sister squints at Carina, then at me. Back and forth, until something clicks.
“Do you have a ring?”
I am actively dissolving.
The table goes dead quiet, and Jake very calmly reaches for a mimosa, like it might save him.
“Get her a big sparkly one.” Meadow points her finger at me. “Like Lulu’s princess one.”
“Jesus Christ,” Logan cries into his hands. “I love this kid.”
Charlie stares at the ceiling. “Meadow—”
“What?” Meadow asks, genuinely confused. “You can’t get married without a ring! It’s the rules!”
Carina presses her lips together, clearly fighting a laugh as she looks at me again. There’s humor there, mixed with zero panic, which somehow makes this worse.
“Well,” she says lightly, taking a sip of her tea, “I’m glad someone’s organized.”
Theo chooses that exact moment to reach out and rest a careful, chubby palm on her arm. She stills and gently turns toward him.
“Oh,” she breathes. “Hi, Theo.”
He leaves his hand there, and Carina doesn’t move it.
And I stand here in the middle of it all, watching the woman I’m obsessed with be gently claimed by my family—and a six-year-old with a wedding spreadsheet in her head.
***
By the time Theo wiggles off me, and the crew resumes their mimosa-fueled brunch chaos, I’ve only half reassembled my brain. Carina fits in so well. Her laughter joins theirs, her dry remarks keep pace with Zoe, and she helps Meadow pour syrup without blinking.
I don’t touch her, not too much. A hand at the small of her back when I pass her the fruit. My fingers threading through hers under the table. Refilling her tea before she has to ask, switching the mug for fresh hot water when I notice she hasn’t taken more than a few careful sips.
At one point, her fingers pause around the handle, and she exhales low, eyes flicking shut for half a second.
“You okay?” I murmur, barely moving my mouth.
She nods, just as quiet. “Yeah. Just… smells.”
I casually get up, walk around the kitchen island, and crack open the window an inch to let the crisp air cut through the sweetness in the room. Our eyes meet, and something unspoken passes between us as she smiles softly.
A few minutes later, she slips down the hall toward the bathroom. I give it one minute, long enough not to be obvious, then I slip out of the dining room.
She’s just stepping back into the hallway when I find her, one hand braced lightly against the wall, shoulders relaxed but tired. Her eyes lift to mine at the same time.
“Hi,” I say quietly.
“Hi.”
I reach past her to straighten a crooked photo frame on the wall, my fingers brushing her arm as I do.
“You good?” I ask, voice low.
“Yeah.” Her smile is soft, a little worn. “Just needed a minute.”
I nod. “Too many people.”
“Your people,” she corrects.
“They’re… a lot.”
“They are.” She huffs softly. “But they’re good.”
“They like you.”
She lifts a brow. “You sure?”
“Very.” I lean in, my mouth brushing the shell of her ear. “Even Gremlin, which is statistically impossible.”
She huffs a laugh, breath catching just enough to undo me. My hand settles at the curve of her waist without thinking, and I rest it there, letting her lean into me.
I want to do more. I want to press my forehead to hers and promise things I don’t have words for yet. But the hallway is full of noise and shadows, and I know if I touch her more right now, I’m not going to stop.
When she turns her head into mine, our noses brush. The kiss is brief, almost accidental. A soft, closed-mouth press that lingers for half a heartbeat too long.
I pull back first, lifting my thumb to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes search mine, and I see it. That quiet understanding that we’re standing on the edge of something neither of us is naming yet.
“Come on,” I say, just rough enough to cover the lump in my throat. “They’re trying so hard to be normal and not cuss, it’s physically painful.”
She smiles and steps back into my space just enough to brush her fingers against my wrist before we turn and head back.
And when we reenter the living room, Logan’s mid-sentence.
“—and that’s how I ended up with a thumb in my ass during the third period.”
An absolute silence fills the room, and every single person freezes as they realize Carina just heard his sentence. Even Theo, who is halfway into a bowl of marshmallows, looks up.
Logan blinks in our direction. “Oh, fuck. Uh, sorry. Not—like, not like that.”
Zoe snorts. “What other way could you possibly mean?”
Carina calmly lifts her mug off the counter. “Just so we’re clear, are you saying this happened during the game? Or was this one of those weird fucking rituals you all do?”
Logan looks at her, mouth opening and closing. She stares back with full composure, awaiting his reply.
There’s a beat, then the room erupts. Charlie chokes on her mimosa, and Lulu cackles. Chase and Jake look at each other with wide grins, and even Tamara lets out a startled laugh.
And I stare at Carina, realizing I am so deeply, catastrophically fucked.
Because I’ve never loved anyone more.