Page 54

Judson almost shot me the middle finger, but then ended up showing me his teeth instead. Very threatening. I snickered as I turned back.

I took a sip from my glass and sighed happily, then picked a few kernels from the bucket. It was the salty, buttered kind, which meant Bodhi had specifically gotten what I preferred. That was another thing in the family: every sibling’s popcorn preference. Only a couple of them were ambivalent and most were either purely salty or sweet.

Soon enough, the master of ceremonies, also known as Mike, shushed everyone.

“We ready to watch this thing?” he asked in a dad voice, which settled everyone.

There were smiles all around.

“Yep!” Payton called out happily, then reached for his popcorn and most definitely non-caffeinated drink Crew had held onto while he sat down.

Mike pressed play and sat next to Jenn on the couch. I turned around again, ignoring how goddamn coupley this all felt. Because everyone was paired up. Even the old guys who were now playing cards instead of watching the movie.

Gemma sat on the couch with her parents, and Keegan and Judson were sprawled on a blanket. The rest of the siblings were paired up with their person, and for some reason, as Bodhi pressed his shoulder against mine, I felt a pang of some weird discomfort.

I knew, logically, that it was because of the whole forehead kiss thing and how strongly Bodhi had reacted to my and Gemma’s jokes, but still.

As expected, the smallest kids all fell asleep before long. Payton and Shiloh were the only ones awake halfway into the movie.

I noticed Shiloh whispering something to Pay, and then Shiloh got off the beanbag chair and snuck back to go on the couch where he cuddled between Mike and Jenn. Either he was tired or the movie was too exciting. Maybe both.

Payton sprawled, but in a way where he could stretch his foot to poke Mal on the thigh. His dad immediately grabbed his ankle and squeezed, then held onto it for connection. The boy settled, watching the rest of the movie happily munching his popcorn.

By the time Kevin’s mother came through the door on Christmas morning, Payton let out a tired “yayyyy!” and I hid my snicker in Bodhi’s shoulder because he was there. That made me realize he’d put his arm around me at some point and I hadn’t really noticed.

Not that we hadn’t watched movies like this before. We’d cuddled a lot over the years. But why did tonight feel so different?

Once the movie was over, I rolled to my hands and knees, then pushed myself up because holy crap had it not been the greatest decision to sit on the beanbag chair throughout the movie. I held out my hand for Bodhi who let me pull him up.

While those with kids—including Mike and Jenn—left, the rest of us stayed to put everything back where it belonged in storage, gathered all the trash and recycling and did all the cleanup as a family. It was really nice, in a way, and not only because I was putting off making eye contact with Bodhi who was clearly trying to look me in the eye.

Eventually, he just came over and grabbed my hand. “Come on, we’re going.”

I swallowed back a yelp and let him tug me out of the barn. “Can Nyx come?” I asked, because I spied her in the shadows near the door.

“Of course.”

I snapped my fingers and we made our way to Bodhi’s truck. I didn’t need to ask where we were going, because whatever he wanted me for, he’d want to be at his place.

The drive was quiet, with Nyx resting her large head on my shoulder from the back seat.

“She really adopted you.” Bodhi smiled as he reached his hand to scratch her head while he drove.

I chuckled. “I was thinking about getting a dog, but a dog got me.”

Bodhi snorted softly, then put his hand down, except it landed on my thigh. I inhaled sharply. Goddamn this man. I loved him, but I also hated that he could discombobulate me so easily. One innocent touch and I was ready to leap out through the windshield to put distance between us. That, or climb into his lap whether he was driving or not.

Luckily the drive to Yellow Ribbon wasn’t long. He parked in his spot, and we got out.

We went upstairs while Nyx stayed in the yard to sniff around. She knew where we’d be, so I wasn’t worried.

I froze when I stepped inside Bodhi’s apartment. I really didn’t know what we were doing here.

Bodhi had moved deeper into the apartment and realized I hadn’t, so he turned around. He must’ve seen something on my face, because he grimaced.

“Bird….” But then he didn’t seem to know how to continue the sentence.

It was the childhood nickname he used very, very rarely that got to me. “Bode, what’s going on?” I blurted out, my heart beating so goddamn fast all of a sudden.