Page 74 of Worth the Shot

Emma, however, is not laughing. She stands frozen in the middle of the kitchen, staring at the glass cupcake tower that now exists only as a glittering pile of shattered pieces across the floor. Frosting and vanilla cake are smeared everywhere like some kind of tragic dessert crime scene.

“Good thing you made five hundred more,” Shayne says from the counter, completely unfazed.

“You hush!” Emma snaps, whipping around to glare at him.

Luca’s crying slows to curious hiccups as he leans over my arm to inspect the disaster.

“Oh my God,” I say softly. “Please tell me that was not the expensive one.”

Emma presses both hands to her forehead. “It was the expensive one.”

Shayne shrugs. “Look on the bright side. At least it didn’t happen during the party.”

Emma slowly lowers her hands and looks at him with the kind of expression that suggests she is seriously considering murder. “Shayne Bennett,” she says very calmly, “if you say one more word right now, I swear to God I will bury your remains so deep in the ocean they’ll never find you.”

He lifts both hands in surrender. “Noted.”

I bounce Luca lightly on my hip as I step farther into the kitchen, scanning the floor for stray shards of glass. “Okay,” I say, shifting into nurse mode. “First rule. Nobody move until we make sure all the glass is cleaned up.”

Emma sighs. “This is a disaster.”

I glance at the mountain of cupcakes still covering every inch of counter space. “No,” I say. “A disaster would be if you dropped all of them.”

We both look at the mess again, then slowly back at each other. “Do not even joke about that,” she says.

I put Luca in his high chair as the three of us work on the mess. Well, Shayne works on the mess and Emma and I supervise, handing him supplies and pointing out all of the spots he’s missed. As soon as he’s finished and there’s no trace of the tragedy ever occurring, I help Emma set up the rest of the cupcakes and final touches.

Twenty minutes later, the door flies open and in sachets Jo. She’s holding a gift bag half her size in one hand, party hats and booze in the other. “MY BOOGER!” she yells, charging straight toward Luca like a linebacker. His head snaps up at the sound of her voice and his entire face lights up. His little arms start windmilling wildly as he kicks his feet against the high chair. “Jo Jo!” he babbles.

“That’s right, it’s me!” Johanna laughs, dropping the gift bag on the table with a dramatic thud before leaning over to scoop his cheeks between her hands. “Did you miss me, my favorite tiny human?”

He squeals so loudly Emma winces. “Okay, volume,” she says, pressing her fingers to her temples. “We are operating at a level ten and I need everyone at about a four.”

Jo ignores her completely and pulls a ridiculous cone-shaped party hat from the bundle she’s carrying, plopping it on her head. “Oh absolutely not,” Emma says immediately.

“Oh absolutely yes,” Jo replies, already reaching for Luca. “It’s his birthday and he needs a party hat.”

Before Emma can protest further, the hat is plopped onto Luca’s head too, the colors on it completely clashing with the theme Emma has worked so hard to perfect. It slides down crooked over one eyebrow, the elastic strap slightly too big so it hangs loosely under his chin. Luca blinks, unsure at first, but then he claps and giggles and Jo does a happy dance.

“Well,” Shayne says from the sink as he dries his hands, “that’s settled. Look at him, he loves it.”

Emma sighs the long, defeated sigh of someone who knows she has already lost control of this party. Jo finally straightens and grabs the bag she dropped earlier and Emma crosses her arms. “If that gift is another loud toy that sings the alphabet at three in the morning, I’m banning you from this house.”

Jo grins. “Well,” she says slowly, “I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out.”

I lean against the counter, watching Luca bounce excitedly in his chair as the door swings opens again. This time it’s Miles, followed by Wes and something that feels a lot like disappointment washes over me. But then, seconds later, Brennan appears in the doorway and my heart skips a beat.

I swear he’s moving in slow motion, and as he walks in, our eyes lock and the room goes silent. Or at least it does in my head.

He walks toward me, hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans, hat turned backward, and it still feels a little unfair how attractive he is—inside and out. It used to make me nervous. Every time he came around, I’d slip into a version of myself that needed armor, something to protect whatever I wasn’t ready to give away. But now I can see it for what it was. I wasn’t guarded because of him—I was guarded because I was afraid of what he could become to me.

Because this isn’t small. It isn’t casual. It’s something real, something that matters, and that makes it something I could lose. And that thought lands harder than I expect, settling somewhere deep before I can push it away.

He leans in to hug me, and my arms wrap around him instantly, like my body’s already made the decision for me. Despite everything running through my head, I still want all of him.

I breathe in his scent, lingering longer than I mean to, and when I finally pull back, he tips my chin up and kisses me. In front of everyone.

No hesitation.