Page 109 of Between the Boards
“Thatlook,” she says, drawing an invisible circle around my face.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She laughs again and shakes her head, while I grin despite myself as I pull her a little closer and kiss the top of her head.
My gaze drifts around the room, landing on Griffin and Eliana as they dance like they’re in their own little world. They look happy, and after everything they’ve been through, they deserve that. A strange warmth settles in my chest as I watch them, because there was a time when I thought I’d never be apart of moments like these again. A time when I would’ve been watching from the outside along with everyone else.
And now I can’t imagine my life without any of them, but especially Kairi. I glance down at her again, quietly appreciating her. She’s become tangled in every part of my life over the last few months, showing up for Sunday dinners with my family almost every single weekend without fail.
My brothers have started asking if she’s coming before they ask if I am, my mother texts her more than me, and my father practically adopted her after the second dinner. The last time we’d visited, he’d shoved an entire container of my moms homemade cinnamon buns into Kairi’s hands.
“Take these home, sweetheart,” he’d whispered to her. “And don’t let Colt have a single one.”
Kairi had laughed so hard she’d nearly fallen off her chair. Somewhere along the way, they stopped treating her like my girlfriend and started treating her like family, as if she’d always been there.
They made her feel like she belonged, and I’m sure that’s one of the many reasons she prioritizes Sundays with them.
Kairi glances up at me, catching me staring, and grins. And just like that, every thought fades away and I’m left only thinking of her.
When the music changes to a slower tempt, I grab her hand and pull her toward the dance floor, her eyes widening.
“Absolutely not,” she says, going stiff.
“Come on.”
“Colton.”
“Darlin’.”
“I’m not dancing while all our friends are watching.” I glance around but not a single one of them is looking at us.
“You’ll be fine,” I murmur as I pull her into my arms.
Kairi groans, but settles against me anyway, her head resting beneath my chin as her skirt swishes around her ankles. I close my eyes for a minute, trying to memorize the feel of her, and the life we’re slowly building together.
She chose me, and keeps choosing me, even when I feel like I didn't deserve it. Five months ago, I would've given anything just to hold her, and now I get to call her mine. I press a kiss into her hair and she squeezes my hand in return.
And as our friends laugh and dance around us, celebrating the upcoming wedding, world tours and everything still waiting for us in the future, I realize something. For the first time in a long time, I'm not wondering what comes after this.
Because this?—
her,
them,
all of it?—
is exactly where I want to stay.
