The room erupts. Blair squeals, and Lily throws her hands upin the air with excitement. Griffin mumbles something under his breath, and Dallas shoots Tucker a wink.
My face heats while a smile tugs at my mouth.
Tucker steps toward me, close enough that I feel the warmth of his presence envelope me without his hands even on me. He reaches up, brushing the hair away from my face. “You okay?”
I nod. “You?”
He exhales. “Ask me after.”
I tilt my head. “Are you nervous, Hollywood?”
“No.” I raise an eyebrow, and he sighs. “Okay, yes.”
I smile, reaching to place a hand on his chest. “It’s going to be fine. It’s just a house reveal.”
“I know,” he says before leaning down and kissing me. “I just hope they say you nailed it.”
Even now, two months later, we don’t know how they will paint the finale of the show.
When we recorded the final walk through, that was all it was—a showcase of every room we did and every project accomplished. Not even Andrea or Jade could tell us if we nailed it. That was something they would have to piece together based on the film.
He’s right to be nervous, because a part of me is, too.
It’s the moment everything becomes official and permanent. The thing people will replay and clip together on the internet.
“Ready?” Lily asks, standing in the middle of the room with the remote in her hand. All eyes are on us. We smile at each other and then make our way to one of the couches and take a seat.
“Let’s see it.”
Tucker wraps an arm around the back of the couch, fingertips caressing my shoulder as the introduction plays from the host. The voice is dramatic and bright, recapping the season like it’s a romance novel disguised as a renovation.
“So dramatic,” Griffin grumbles, and Blair playfully smacks his arm with the back of her hand.
“Shh,” she says.
We watch the reveal sequence roll out—the shot of the front porch into the entryway, then into the living room, the kitchen, and the master bedroom. The before-and-after videos transitioned together, and even I’m shocked to see it all. I’m sitting in the house we’re watching on TV, but seeing them cut from the before to the after just makes me feel a sense of pride.
I did that.
Wedid that.
Lily gasps like she hasn’t seen things herself, and Blair points to the screen when they show the pink restored tub on the screen. There’s a brief clip of Nan taking her sledgehammer to the bathroom sink and then another of her dragging a bush across the yard with dirt smeared across her cheeks like battle paint. The entire living room explodes with laughter.
Dallas catches his breath first. “Nan, you look like you fought the shrubs and lost.”
“The comments on the internet were right,” Poppy adds. “Youareunhinged.”
Nan beams, bowing her head. “Thank you. Thank you.”
Then the episode shifts as the music changes and tension builds. The last scene appears on screen, and there we are. Tucker and I are laughing together, our hands linked, and paint splattered on our faces. He looks at me the same way he’s looking at me now. Like I’m the only thing in the room that matters.
It’s a replay clip of my parents showing up.
Tucker’s hands are on my back on screen.
I realize here and now how many times he’s held me up before I even knew I was falling during this entire process. I blink hard, trying to keep the emotions of it down.
Tucker picks up on it, the way he always does. “Are you okay?”
