Chapter Thirty-Six
Smile
Ariana
Present
My birthday had always been a point of contention in my life.
How could it not be, when you’re born on Christmas Eve?
My mother always said it was the best Christmas gift she ever had — or at least, she said it when I was young, before the light in her eyes was snuffed out.
The older I got, the more I realized my birthday was the worst day ever.
We never truly celebrated it. I was lucky if I got a birthday cake after our Christmas Eve dinner, and usually, my birthday and Christmas gift was one and the same.
“It was expensive,” Mom would say. “So it counts for both your birthday and Christmas.”
“You’re lucky to get anything at all,” Jay would chime in once he was in the picture. “Do you know how many kids wake up to no presents?”
I’d learned to live with it. And honestly, I’d grown numb to wanting anything more as I got older.
The first birthday I spent with Nathan, he took me out for a nice dinner and bought me a beautiful diamond tennis bracelet.
He always made sure I had a gift after that, but the celebration was subpar — a dinner, usually, or sometimes a breakfast if we had a holiday party to attend with his colleagues. That happened more often than not.
I was used to spending my birthday with other people celebrating a completely different holiday.
The only one to ever make my birthday feel special was Shane.
And if everything went right tonight, he’d do it again.
It’d be the best birthday yet.
Oddly, I didn’t feel nervous as I walked into the stunning event space on Nathan’s arm. I expected my hands to tremble, my breaths to be shallow, but instead, I was calm and, if anything, a bit eager.
I believed in our plan. I believed in justice being served.
Still, there was something humming under the surface of my confidence as we entered the party, Nathan beaming at the guests who were already there and ready to greet us.
He’d hired multiple event planners to make his vision come to life — a winter wonderland in Tampa.
The Vinoy had been an easy choice, and he’d literally bought out the bride who was set to have her wedding here tonight.
The waterfront event space was one of the most luxe Tampa had to offer, and the event staff had transformed both the ballroom and the outdoor space into a magical world.
Outside, snow fell in soft, perfect drifts from hidden machines, artificial but convincing, dissolving in the warm Florida air before it could gather on the ground.
A small ice-skating rink had been built along the waterfront, its surface gleaming beneath strands of white lights, guests laughing as they wobbled across it with champagne flutes in hand.
Beyond it, aerial artists in crystal-studded white silks twisted and floated overhead, their movements slow and ethereal, like living ornaments suspended in midair.
Near the center of the terrace, a woman performed inside a massive glass snow globe, her breath fogging the clear walls as she danced through swirling flakes, the illusion so complete it felt like watching winter itself trapped and displayed for admiration.
Inside the ballroom, towering white florals climbed the walls, lit from below to glow like frost. Mirrored bars reflected candlelight in every direction, doubling the spectacle. The music from the band was lush and sweeping, designed to impress rather than invite.
There were nods to me, if you knew where to look — my favorite flowers tucked into the arrangements, a signature cocktail bearing my name in elegant script — but they felt like afterthoughts, like accents added once the real purpose of the night had already been decided.
This wasn’t a birthday party.
It was a performance.
Nathan moved through the crowd like a king holding court, pausing just long enough at each cluster of guests to charm, flatter, and negotiate.
His hand remained firm on my arm, guiding me where he wanted me, presenting me when it suited him, his smile never wavering.
I couldn’t help but compare how he was tonight versus how he’d been the night of Skate for Change.
He’d fooled me with his admiration that night, making up for the executive dinner, playing his part of doting husband.
Tonight, his true colors shone too brightly to hide.
“Would be nice if you smiled a little more,” he murmured between the teeth of his flashy smile as he toted me through the ballroom, waving to someone across the room he wanted to talk to. “It’s your birthday party, not a funeral.”
“Oh, it’s a birthday party? For whom? Jesus?”
My sass surprised him. I saw it in how his head jerked toward me, like he was incredulous at my audacity. I never spoke to him like that.
But fuck it.
I was tired and over his bullshit, and I knew he was getting buried tonight.
“This was a very expensive party,” he said, narrowing his gaze as he pulled us to a stop. “Maybe you should show a little gratitude.”
“And maybe you should stop pretending tonight has anything to do with me.”
Again, that surprise lit his face, then his nostrils flared, his skin turning red as he opened his mouth. But I didn’t get to hear whatever he wanted to say, because in a sweep, my eyes were covered from behind, and I couldn’t help but smile when I realized exactly who it was.
“Guess who?”
I ripped his hands away, turning to see my not-so-little brother looking far too grown in his tuxedo. He was taller than I was by a full two feet, but that didn’t stop me from leaping up to throw my arms around his neck and pull him into a fierce hug.
“You made it!”
“You think I’d miss it?” He laughed into my ear, spinning me around before setting my feet on the ground again. “That whole finals bit was a lie.”
“I had a sneaky suspicion, considering most finals are done by early December. Besides, you’d already promised you’d come. I knew my baby brother wouldn’t bail on me.”
“I thought I could surprise you. Why didn’t you question me?”
“I wanted to let you think you surprised me.”
Georgie grinned, taking me under his arm and threatening to dig his knuckles into my head, but he stopped short, kissing my hair, instead. “Punk.”
“Brat,” I shot back.
And then he gave me another squeeze, his adoration for me palpable. “Missed you.”
“Missed you more.”
It was the wildest thing, to look at the man Georgie had become. I still remembered the tiny baby sleeping in a crib in my bedroom. I remembered the frightened little boy who came under my guardianship. I remembered the awkward teenager trying to figure it all out.
And I saw so much in him.
I saw my mother, her bright blue eyes and wide smile.
But I also saw Jay, his impressive height and shocking dark hair.
I saw years of fear and terror, a child just trying to survive.
And I saw the man who emerged, who went easy on me as I stepped in to care for him, who became the best man despite the horrible one who’d spawned him.
If anything was missing from tonight, it was him — and now that he was here, my heart felt whole.
“Nathan,” Georgie said next, still beaming as he went in for a hug.
I didn’t miss how stiff Nathan was when he returned the gesture. His eyes were hard on mine, an unspoken promise that we weren’t done talking yet.
“Great to see you, kid,” Nathan said when he pulled back, framing Georgie’s arms and smiling with pride. “Or should I say Doctor?”
“Not yet,” Georgie said, smiling, but I swore he looked uncomfortable.
He shoved his hands in his pockets, his smile becoming a closed-lip one as he looked from Nathan to me and back.
“What do you say, sis? Forty years old… does that mean you can’t hang and take a shot with your little brother at the bar? ”
“Oh, she definitely won’t be taking any shots tonight,” Nathan answered for me. “There are a lot of important—”
“Please,” I cut in, looping my arm through Georgie’s without acknowledging Nathan. “I’ll take two shots, and I won’t grimace like a little baby the way you always do.”
“It was a pickle back!” he defended.
I laughed, and then we were floating away, and Georgie waved at Nathan over his shoulder, promising to bring me back.
When we were far enough away, he covered my hand where it was holding his arm, arching a brow at me. “Trouble in paradise?”
“You and I both know damned well it’s far from paradise.”
That made Georgie stop. He pulled me to face him, concern etched between his brows. “I don’t know, actually. I’ve always suspected, but you made it seem like…”
“I know,” I said, unable to look at him. “I know. I pretended things were fine. I downplayed it.”
“Is it bad?”
My stomach knotted. “It’s not good.” I finally looked up at him again, a small smile on my lips. “But it’s ending. Tonight.”
“Tonight?” He looked at where Nathan was locked in conversation across the room now before his gaze found me again. “I don’t think he is quite on the same page as you are.”
“He will be,” I promised, and then I tapped his hand and pulled him toward the bar. “But enough for now. My little brother is in town and we’re doing a shot.”
“My choice.”
“As if! It’s my birthday.”
“Fine, but only because I’m always considerate of my seniors.”
I pinched his ribcage, leading him to the bar, where I didn’t actually take a shot because I wanted to keep my wits about me. I did, however, slide the bartender a twenty and ask him to pour me a water shot so I could still show up my little brother.
And when we slammed the glasses down, Georgie wincing and shaking his head as he called me an animal, I laughed.
Right as my eyes collided with Shane’s.
He was at the other end of the long bar, wrapped in a semi-circle with some of the other coaches.
His full attention was on me.