“He already threatened me.”
She laughed and gifted me withthatsmile—the one that was my sun. This was what I’d almost thrown away. I’d never been more grateful for second chances as I was right this minute.
“I love you too,” she whispered against my lips before she kissed me again.
And everything was right in the world once more.
FIFTY-TWO
It wasn’t a family dinner at the hockey house if someone wasn’t arguing over food.
The dining room was bursting at the seams—the table had never been designed for this many people, and at this point we’d crammed so many mismatched chairs around it that elbows were practically a hazard. But nobody complained.
Well, nobody complained seriously.
Drew reached over Liam’s plate before he’d even started speaking. “Pass the potatoes,” he said, already grabbing for them.
“Dude.” Liam shoved his arm away. “Use your words like a civilized human.”
“I did use words. I said, ‘Pass the potatoes.’”
“You said it while already grabbing—you know what, never mind.” Liam handed over the bowl with an exaggerated eye roll. “You’re lucky Rory’s adorable, or we’d have voted you off the island by now.”
Harper snorted from beside Drew, while Rory wassleeping nestled against her shoulder. “Don’t threaten him with a good time. He’d love the drama of a tribal council.”
“I would absolutely give an iconic exit speech,” Drew agreed, completely shameless.
I bit back a smile and reached for Liam’s hand under the table. He caught my fingers immediately, squeezing once, and the warmth of it still sent a quiet thrill through me. I knew he still felt bad about our breakup, but these past few weeks since we’d gotten back together had been absolute heaven. If I’d had any concern that he still had doubts, he’d squashed them by making it crystal clear that we were together. He refused to let go of my hand in public, and every room we walked into together, his fingers found mine like it was instinct. Like he was making up for all those months of stolen touches and secret looks by making sure everyone in a ten-mile radius knew I was his.
Family dinners had become our thing after Foster and Abby got together. What started as an excuse to get everyone in one room had evolved into something that had quickly turned into a tradition. And while I’d always loved being included, it felt even better to be here with Liam out in the open.
“Okay, but real talk,” Liam said, pointing his fork across the table at Sam. “Sam, you have to settle this. Who makes better mashed potatoes—me or Gordy?”
Sam made a show of taking a thoughtful bite, chewing slowly while Liam watched with the intensity of a man whose entire honor was on the line. Beside her, Gordy didn’t even look up from his plate—as if he already knew it was no competition at all. The man had the emotional temperature of a still lake. Nothing seemed to ruffle him.
Well. Almost nothing.
I suspected that a certain blonde who was currentlysampling his mashed potatoes managed to get under his skin.
“Harry,” Sam said finally. “And it’s not even close.”
And that was another reason I was convinced there was something going on with them. No way would Gordy allow anyone else to dare call him Harry, or his full first name, Harrison. He’d laid down that law freshman year. And yet, Sam could call him that and he allowed it. He almost seemed to get a little twinkle in his eye whenever she did.
Liam clutched his chest like she’d stabbed him. “Betrayal. After everything we’ve been through.”
“You asked for honesty, Li. I gave you honesty.” Sam grinned and reached for her wine. “Maybe if you stopped trying to sneak protein powder into everything, you’d have a shot.”
“That wasone timeand it was Drew’s fault.”
“What the hell, man. Don’t even lie. It was your idea!” Drew argued.
The table erupted into laughter, and I just shook my head. I suspected this was pretty much what every family dinner would look like for the rest of my life now. Liam’s thumb traced slow circles on the back of my hand, and I leaned into his side slightly, just because I could.
“So what’s everyone doing for break?” Abby asked.
“Harper and I are staying local,” Drew said. “We’re not ready for a Dumontier-Tinsley holiday circus yet, and if we go back to Meadowbrook, both sets of parents will demand we stay with them. We’ll spend Christmas Eve with her family and Christmas Day with mine, but otherwise, we’ll be here in Dunridge. We’d rather not add fuel to the fire that’s just finally started to settle down. We just barely survived Thanksgiving.”
Harper’s lips twitched. “That’s probably a generousway to describe it. Really our families are still looking for any reason to start the feud back up, and we want no part of it.”
