Squeezing him back, I felt something inside me settle for good.
“For the record,” he mumbled, still buried inside my jacket. “In case you didn’t know, I love you too.”
“Good.”
“Uh-huh.”
We stood there for a minute or so more, then Rey stepped back.
“Did you put the lasagnas in the oven?”
“Yeah, the first two.”
“Okay.” He produced his phone from his pocket and frowned.
“What?”
“Five new likes on my Instagram post,” he explained, showing his screen to me.
It was clear the second to newest photo was from New York City. “When did you post that?”
“Two days before I ran.”
“And now this?”
He gnawed on his lower lip. “Yeah.”
I took his free hand. “Will you tell me what happened that day?”
Sighing, he nodded. “Later. When we go to bed.”
“Okay.”
He nodded more decisively then. “Let’s go inside.”
“Yeah.”I’d follow you anywhere and you don’t even know it yet.
* * * *
On the surface, everything was back to normal with the family by the time we sat down to eat the frankly delicious lasagna. There were cracks, though.
Lake and River were giving me these looks ofyou hurt him again and we’ll make you paywhile Madden glared at me more than anyone. I understood; I had hurt both his sister and his friend. I’d be glaring at me too.
“This is so good!” Mona exclaimed when she shoveled more lasagna in her mouth.
“Thank you,” Rey told her. “Jack helped, but I didn’t let him put chili into the sauce.”
She nodded firmly. “Good.”
“We froze so much of it, that there’s plenty in the freezer for whenever anyone needs it,” I added.
“Oh, I see so many awesome lunches in my future,” River commented with a dreamy tone.
Everyone laughed. Normally River took the previous day’s leftovers for his lunches. It was always good food, but I could see how a lasagna would be even nicer.
We talked about random things during dinner, like we always would. Mona was done first, so she went to clean her face and then said she’d go read in their room upstairs.
“So, Jack, you look better,” River commented suddenly.
