“Oh, you are in for a real treat.” Rix does a hip shimmy.
We toss pillows on the floor while we explain the rules. The first person to make it to the churro cheesecake on the other side of the room gets to take home the leftovers. If there are any. I have my doubts.
Kellan tries to make a beeline for it.
“The floor is lava!” Hemi yells.
Kellan and Quinn fight over the same pillow, shoving each other around. “We gotta hug it out or we’ll lose, man!” Quinn wraps his armsaround Kellan.
“You’re standing on my feet!” Kellan gripes.
“The churro cheesecake, bro.”
“Right. Yeah.”
Rix finds her own pillow, and Tristan comes in behind her, lifting her off her feet so he doesn’t end up out.
Dallas does the flamingo on a doily, and Hemi hops into the occasional chair. Connor fireman-carries Dred so they both stay in.
I’m left with the tiniest throw pillow on earth, and Tally jumps on my back, nearly setting me off-balance.
The next round, Dallas hops onto the coffee table, causing it to groan angrily under his weight. Tally finds one of Dallas’s crocheted doilies and adopts a dancer’s pose. I get knocked out of the game because I’m too focused on staying close to Tally. I don’t mind. She’ll share the cheesecake if she wins, and even if she doesn’t, the number of great photos I snap are worth losing the game.
Rix is next.
She comes to stand beside me while Tristan tries to fit his giant feet on a small pillow.
“You and Tally seem good,” she observes.
“We are,” I agree.
“Do you think she’s it for you?” she asks softly.
Tally pirouettes to the next cushion, closing in on the cheesecake. “She’s everything my life has been missing.”
“I’m proud of the way you take care of her.” She hugs my arm. “It was the right time for you.”
“It feels like it.”
It’s terrifying. It’s amazing.
But fear scratches the back of my mind.
What if she loses faith in me?
What if one day I’m not enough and she doesn’t want to keep me the way I do her?
CHAPTER 38
TALLY
Flip
Just got home. Showering, then heading your way.
Tally
Can’t wait! See you soon!
