She lowered her camera slightly. “Your . . . other . . . boyfriend?”
I grinned and jogged across the room, looping my arm through Dirks’s and tugging him toward us.
“Uhhh—” The poor girl’s face was a mix of polite confusion and panic. “Sorry, what do I... um... say in the caption?”
I laughed, unable to help it. “That I’m Luna Pierson and these are my two boyfriends—Dirks and Jeremy.”
“Two?”
“Yup.”
Dirks slid his arm around my waist, pulling me snug against him, while I tugged Jer close on the other side.
“Well... are you going to take the photo?”
The girl blinked, nodded quickly, and snapped it before practically fleeing to the next group.
I turned to Jer, still holding his hand. “You’ll let me be your girlfriend?”
Dirks barked out a laugh.
Jer rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath, “Of course... like you were ever anything else.” But the corner of his mouth tugged upward, and I caught the way his fingers tightened just slightly around mine.
Austin stepped into the party, and Dirks’s gaze followed mine. “Hey, you wanna go get a bite from the buffet?”
Jer shook his head. “Nah... if it’s okay with you, can I try to talk to him?”
I looked up at him, a little stunned. There was so much change in his face—resolve layered over fear. The kind I understood, because we were never permanent. Not as foster kids.
I was lucky. I’d found Nova and her mom, who had practically adopted me, wrapped me into a family I could trust. Jer never had that. He only had Arthur, and Arthur was... well, not the kind of man anyone should look up to.
So seeing him want to try—want to bridge something with Austin—hit me hard.
“W-will you come?”
“Of course.”
We moved together, still hand in hand, crossing the room toward where Austin stood with Ledger and Charlie. Nova and Ollie spotted us halfway there and drifted over to join us.
“Sorry,” Jer and Austin blurted out at the exact same time.
They both stopped, a ghost of an awkward smile passing between them before Jer cleared his throat. “I-I’m sorry for coming. I shouldn’t have just shown up.”
I stepped in before Austin could answer. “I invited him. I thought it would be okay, but I can see now I probably put you both in an awkward position.”
Austin’s eyes softened just a fraction, his hands in his pockets. “Yeah... maybe a little. But... thanks for saying that.”
Jer shifted his weight, his eyes never leaving Austin’s. “I’ve been sober for a while now... been going to meetings. Getting help.”
“Me too. It’s . . . not easy.”
“No, it’s not, but I’m sorry. For everything I did back then.”
“Yeah... me, too.” Austin glanced toward the woman beside him. “This is my wife, Charlie.”
She stepped forward with a small smile. “Hi... and I’m sorry, too. For the way things went down.”
Jer gave her a small nod. “Thanks.”
