Page 174

Our eyes meet, and I point towards Jace. “Your brother.”

He shakes his head. “Not tonight.”

I laugh, but as I turn back towards the stage, I find myself wishing I could tell Damiano about all this madness.

I can already picture him, and there's no way in hell he'd be sitting at the table. He'd be up there with Jace, his shirt probably gone too, shaking his own ass and singing Taylor Swift at the top of his lungs while trying to convince everyone that he sounded amazing.

The thought hurts. Of course it does. I think some part of me will always wish he were here, especially on days like this, when I know how much he would have loved being part of the chaos.

But this time, I don't let the pain swallow the moment.

Have fun.

I smile.

Okay, vita mia. I will.

I grab Chiara's hand.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Taking his advice.”

She stares at me for half a second before a huge, beautiful smile spreads across her face.

“Fuck yes.”

I pull my sister onto the dance floor. Penny sees us and screams before grabbing Summer and Grace, with Lexy following close behind. Within seconds, we're all dancing together while Jace continues absolutely murdering Shake It Off from the stage.

And that's pretty much how the rest of the evening goes.

Taylor Swift, beer, bad karaoke and then even more Taylor Swift. Jace somehow finds his shirt again, only to lose it during another song, while Cas and Ethan are eventually forced onto the stage and prove beyond any reasonable doubt that neither of them can sing.

Lexy can, annoyingly well, while Penny absolutely cannot and doesn't care.

Chiara fits into the madness as though she's known these people her entire life, and I spend the evening dancing, singing and laughing so much that my stomach starts to hurt.

God, I laugh.

After two beers, I switch to soda. I don't want to forget any of this or stop feeling what I'm feeling. For once, I don't need the world to disappear.

Last year, I wanted my birthday to end before it even began.

Tonight, I don't want it to end at all.

Somewhere between my sister shaking her ass beside me, Jace screaming another Taylor song into a microphone and the Hawthornes laughing around me, I look up for just a second.

Are you seeing this?

I hope he is.

Because he'd fucking love it.

I look over at Jude, who's sitting at the table with a water bottle in his hands, watching everyone else make complete fools of themselves.

Absolutely not.

I walk over to him and hold out my hand.