Chapter 27 #2
"That's not how the internet works."
"11:59."
I pushed off the doorframe and crossed to Sienna. I set my hand on top of her head. She leaned back, resting against my belt, and let out a breath.
“Whatever it says,” I said, quiet enough that only she’d catch it over the rain, “we did enough.”
She tilted her head back to look at me upside down. The laptop glow reflected in her eyes.
"Midnight!" Colt yelled. "Do it!"
Her gaze snapped back to the screen. Clicked.
A log cracked in the fireplace. The page loaded.
Sienna leaned forward, her eyes scanning the tiny text on the screen. She didn't say anything for a moment.
"Well?" Wren was half out of the chair. "Sienna, say something."
Sienna pushed the laptop back and turned to face me. A smile broke across her face.
"Number fourteen."
Colt threw both hands up and screamed, the sound tearing through the room. Wren vaulted out of the armchair and slammed into me, arms around my neck, laughing.
"I knew it! You impossible, stubborn—" She couldn't even finish. Just squeezed tighter.
I hugged my sister in return. Something cracked loose inside me. Vegas. I was going to Vegas.
Wren let go as Dad stood. He walked over, gripped my hand, and pulled me into a fierce hug.
"Proud of you, son. Your mom would be, too."
My throat locked up. I nodded against him. "Thanks, Dad."
Wyatt was on his feet, one hand landing hard on my good shoulder. Maisie jumped up and down beside him, clapping her hands. Colt grabbed a beer from the cooler by the fireplace and lifted it in the air, grinning.
Sienna was still on the floor by the coffee table. Everyone else was celebrating, but she stayed tucked away from it, like she wasn't sure she belonged in the middle of it.
To hell with that.
I walked to her. She looked up at me, brushing a strand of hair away from her cheek with the oversized sleeve of my hoodie.
"I told you. You’re going to Ve—"
I dropped into a crouch in front of her before she could finish, and crushed my mouth to hers.
She went rigid for half a second. Then her arms came around my neck and she kissed me back.
The room went dead quiet. Rain hammered the windows.
When I finally broke the kiss, I stood, bringing her to her feet with me. I kept my arm wrapped tight around her waist and turned to face my family.
Colt was frozen by the fireplace. The unopened beer can fell from his hand and thudded onto the rug. He looked at me. At Sienna. Back at me.
"You—You and—how long—"
Wren collapsed into the armchair, cackling.
Dad took a sip of coffee. A slow, smug grin spread across his face.
Wyatt bent down, picked up Colt's dropped beer, and shook his head.
"I knew it!" Maisie pointed in our general direction, pink yarn still tangled in her fingers. "Daddy told me it was a secret but I knew! Uncle Brock always smells like Sienna now!"
Sienna buried her face in my shoulder, shaking with laughter. I grinned and pressed a kiss to her hair.
Colt scanned the room—at Wren laughing, at Dad's smile, at Wyatt pressing his lips together—and his expression shifted from shock to outrage.
"Dad knew?"
Dad shrugged.
"Wyatt knew? And you told Maisie?"
"I didn't tell her. She figured it out on her own."
Wren shook her head. "She's wearing his hoodie. How did you not notice?"
"She wears your clothes too."
“That’s not the same and you know it.”
Colt stared at Sienna, taking in the gray hoodie swallowing her whole. He dragged both hands down his face.
"Why the hell didn't anyone tell me? Even Maisie knew before me!"
"Because you can't keep your mouth shut," I said. "You'd have told Donna at the diner, the mailman, and everyone in the bar after three beers."
"That’s not true, I can keep a secret!"
"Last year, you told me what Dad got me for Christmas in October," Wyatt said.
"That was different, it was a really cool chainsaw!" Colt turned his glare back on me. "How long? How long have you been sneaking around with Sienna?"
“Since Cheyenne," I said, gripping her waist tighter.
"Cheyenne. That was months ago. I sat across from you at breakfast. I made jokes about you two. You let me make jokes."
"You'll survive, Colton." Dad set his mug on the mantel. He studied me, then Sienna. "Congratulations, son. On Vegas. And on the rest of it."
"Thanks, Dad."
Sienna lifted her head from my shoulder. Her face was still flushed, but she stayed close, palm flat against my chest.
Colt dropped onto the sofa. "I'm deeply offended. But we're going to Vegas, so I guess I'll forgive you."
Wren headed for the kitchen to find real glasses while Wyatt launched into an explanation of the NFR for Maisie’s benefit. By then, Maisie was already back to braiding yarn into his hair.
I gazed down at Sienna. Firelight caught in her eyes.
"You okay with all this?" I asked. "Secret's out."
She reached up and traced her fingers along my jaw. "I'm with you, so I'm perfectly okay."
I kissed her once more, quick and soft. We eventually settled on the sofa, Sienna tucked against my side.
Outside, the storm kept rolling. Inside, my family filled the house with five conversations at once, loud and overlapping.
Vegas was happening. Sienna was staying. I didn’t know how I could ask for more.
The feeling lasted until her boss called the next morning.