“Dramatic, aren’t we?”
She gapes at me. “Doesn’t it bother you that the puzzle is unfinished?”
I just shrug, walking over to the door as Birdie meows at my feet. When I bend down to pick up the piece, I turn to face her.
“I found it,” I say. “Want to do the honors?”
“Oh my god.” Her hand flies to her hip. “We finished it.”
“We did.” I smile, placing the piece in its spot before taking her hand.
Her phone rings and she pulls it from her purse. I catch Greg’s name on the caller ID.
“Oh god.” She swallows. “I figured it was a no since I didn’t hear anything.”
“Answer it,” I urge, silently praying for her dreams to come true.
Demi puts the phone to her ear, and I want to give her space so I back away slightly, but she reaches for my hand, holding it as she nods on the phone. She says very few words, most of them are “uh-huh,” “okay,” and “thank you”—really giving me nothing to go on.
When she hangs up and drops the phone back in her bag, her dark eyes connect with my patiently waiting stare.
“I got it,” she whispers. “I got the promotion.” Her eyes water and mine do too. I pull her into my arms, wrapping her body against mine.
“I knew it, Dem!” I celebrate. “God, I knew it. I’m so proud of you. Congratulations!”
She deserves every bit of this. Every good fucking thing that happens in her life, everything she works for and is passionate about. Even if things between the two of us never came to fruition, I’d still be shouting how proud I am of her.
“I can’t believe it.”
My lips land on the top of her head, pressing a hard kiss and inhaling the candy-like scent. “I can. Come on, let’s go celebrate.”
“Happy Friendsgiving!” Mia shouts as Demi and I walk through the front door.
CeCe runs up and latches onto my leg for a brief moment, and I bend down, kissing her head. Nate and Mia’s boys are nowhere in sight, but I definitely hear them running around somewhere.
“Hey, Clarky,” I say, kissing Mia’s cheek. “It smells good in here. Let’s see what you’ve got going on.”
“Uh-uh, you stay out of the kitchen.” Summer comes up on my right, jabbing my bicep before giving Demi a hug.
“What? It’s part of the tradition!” I yell as all three of them are already in another room of the house.
I notice Ford, Chase, and Nate out on the back patio, and I say a quick hello to Abby while she’s on FaceTime with her mom, before heading out the sliding glass doors.
“Look who it is,” Ford says, tipping his beer up at me.
“He’s settled down now, so no more third-wheeling with Chase and Summer,” Nate jokes as I take the seat between him and Ford.
“Ha-ha, very funny.” I shake my head as Chase hands me a beer.
We cheers over the table, and I take in the scenery around me. Trying to commit every detail of this evening and these people to memory.
The girls come outside a few moments later, bringing appetizers, and I nudge Demi, knowing this is the perfectopportunity to share her news and the potential news of me playing elsewhere next year.
“Hey, while we’re all out here, we need to make a toast. Demi worked her ass off for years—she put up with me for five of them,” I say, earning a laugh. “And I thought you all should know you’re looking at the new broadcast reporter for prime-time game coverage starting next season.”
“No shit!” Ford shouts.
“Hell yeah,” Summer says, nodding her head at Demi and raising her champagne glass.
