I turned my hand, lacing them together. She didn’t pull away. Instead, she squeezed once, as if saying,yeah, I’m here.
My aunt yelled, “One minute, everyone outside!” Fireworks were already being dragged out, cousins running around like sugar-fueled rockets. Olivia and I followed, blending back into the noise of it all.
Olivia got swept up instantly, my mom tugging her toward a platter of lumpia while Archer shouted something about me helping with the sparklers. I caught her eye across the crowd, though, and she gave me that little half-smile that said she wasn’t lost, she was right where she wanted to be.
Soon enough, everyone gathered in the street, phones out, neighbors joining in. Someone started the countdown, voices rising with the hum of firecrackers already popping in the distance.
“Ten!”
Olivia was suddenly beside me again, sliding into the gap at my side.
“Nine!”
I wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close.
“Eight!”
“Tell me you’re not going to chicken out of our relationship,” she teased, leaning close so only I could hear.
“Seven!”
I smirked, heart hammering. “Cadiz doesn’t chicken out.”
“Six!”
Her hand found mine again, fingers slipping between mine with practiced ease.
“Five!”
The crowd roared louder, fireworks already primed in every hand.
“Four!”
I leaned in, close enough to catch the faint citrus of her perfume, close enough to feel the tremor of her laugh against me.
“Three!”
“Liv,” I whispered, everything I wanted to say wrapped into her name.
“Two!”
Her eyes met mine, wide and unguarded, catching the streetlight like they were holding it just for me.
“One!”
And then we kissed.
The whole street exploded, fireworks ripping across the sky, neighbors shouting, horns blaring. Not stolen this time. Not hidden. Just us, in the middle of the noise, like the world had finally caught up to where we already were.
CHAPTER 28
ALEXANDRA
Olivia was back in full-on preparation mode for the Australian Open, and I was right there with her, technically trying to stay invisible, and definitely not holding her hand in public like the absolute fool I was.
We’d agreed to let her focus. So for the first two weeks of January, I’d hover, mostly unseen, mostly pretending to be invisible, but absolutely watching everything.
I stuck by her side through the entire Australian Open run. It wasn’t easy, hiding in plain sight, but worth every second just to be there. And God, she delivered blazing through match after match until she reached the final. Three sets, a brutal showdown with the tour’s most ruthless hardcourt specialist, and in the end, it slipped away from her.
