I huff out a laugh, “Well, if I eat cake every day, I’ll gain way too much weight.”
“And there would just be more of you for me to love.”
“Okay, okay. Stop being cheesy,” I smirk.
His hand comes to my face, gripping my cheeks and pulling my mouth to his. Fuck the birthday cake. I push him back into a chair and climb onto his lap, kissing him with abandon. I pour all of my frustration, fear, and heartache into it, an outpouring of passion that knows no bounds.
It’s messy. It’s everything. It’sus.
For the first time in what feels like forever, I believe we’re going to make it. That this love, this impossible, beautiful thing between us, might actually survive the chaos.
The night air is warm on my skin, the faint hum of crickets and pool lights surrounding us like a cocoon. He smells like cedar and laundry detergent and something just... him. The candlelight still flickers on the table behind us, forgotten.
I think about Sal, about her ridiculous persistence and her loyalty. I silently thank her. Not just for this. For always seeing me when I feel invisible. For giving me this sliver of happiness.
And then, right there in his arms, I let myself imagine a future. A tiny apartment. Mismatched dishes. Sunday mornings in bed. No secrets or hiding. Just us.
But deep down, beneath the joy, an unsettled feeling still sits in my chest. A whisper I try to silence.
Perfect moments like this? They never last. Still, I kiss him harder, holding on like if I love him enough, maybe this one will.
40
SOPHIE
I’m so lost in Theo, wrapped up in his kiss, in the warmth of his arms, the quiet hush of the world around us fading into nothing, that I don’t hear the voices.
Or the footsteps.
Not until it’s too late.
A sudden force jerks me backward. I’m yanked from Theo’s lap like a rag-doll, the air punched from my lungs as I hit the floor hard, the backs of my thighs scraping against the cold tile. Pain shoots up my spine, but it doesn’t register. Not with the panic flooding through my body like ice water.
Theo’s eyes go wide. He’s out of his seat in an instant, reaching for me, but then she’s there.
My mother.
She shoves herself between us with such ferocity it knocks the breath from my lungs all over again.
“What the fuck—” Theo starts, voice low and sharp, but he doesn’t finish.
Because he’s cut off by my father’s voice, heavy with disgust.
“You must be Theo.”
I whip around. My hands scramble against the floor to pushmyself upright, heart pounding in my ears. Behind him, I spot Sal, frozen in the doorway. Her face is ghost-white. Terrified. I don’t know if she saw them coming, or if they caught her as off guard as they did me, but it doesn’t matter.
My world is cracking apart at the seams.
My parents.
Here.
Theo.
Me.
Kissing.
