Page 93 of More For Me

“You don’t have to leave,” I tell them.

Everly scoffs. “They should totally leave,” she mutters. “I wasn’t ready to stop making out.”

“Lele,” River groans, covering his face. “Can you not talk like that?”

She huffs out a laugh. “Since when are you a prude?”

“Since I saw my little cousin mauling one of my best friends!”

“Oh, shut up,” Jasmine says, pushing past him to come into the living room. Her eyes are lit up, expression gleeful. “When did this happen?”

“Literally half an hour ago,” Everly says, sounding much grumpier than her usual chipper self. “So if you could all just leave now, that would be amazing.”

“She’s right,” Eva says at the same time Jasmine yells, “We’re not leaving!”

She glares at us. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for this? I need details.”

“You really don’t,” Everly says.

“I lived with them for months,” she argues, referring to the time before Poppy was born when she and River both shared this rental with us. “The sexual tension between the two of them was painful to witness.”

“Babe,” River groans. “Can you not talk about sexual anything in regards to my cousin?”

She ignores him. “So is this a thing?” she asks eagerly. “Because it should totally be a thing. I’ve always thought so. You’re perfect together.”

I look down at Everly to see her glaring at all her cousins. She’s pretty damn cute when she’s mad, but I really don’t want this night to end that way.

“Okay, nice talking to you all,” I say, grabbing her arm as I stand to pull her up with me. “We’re going to go chat somewhere else. You guys have a good night.”

“Weshould leave,” Eva insists, but I’m not in the mood to stand around and wait. So I gently tug Everly behind me and head for the hallway.

“No fair!” Jas yells after us.

“Uh, Bodhi, you forgot your shirt, man,” Will calls, laughter in his voice.

“How long before they start blowing up everyone’s phones?” I ask Everly as we make our way down the hallway.

She groans. “I hate my family.”

“No you don’t.”

She makes an annoyed little huffing noise. “They stopped me from kissing you when I really wanted to keep kissing you.”

I stop walking and grab her around the waist, pressing her back against the wall so I can cage her in. “Don’t worry. We have plenty of kissing in our future.”

“Aw, hell,” River groans from the living room. “I can totally still see you guys.”

“Stop looking, you creep,” Everly shouts and everyone laughs.

I press a kiss against her forehead and release her. “Come on.”

I lead her down the hall to the sunroom at the back of the house, the same room where everything started last weekend. I feel a momentary pang as I guide her over to the couch, remembering how sad I felt that night, how sad she had looked when I found her sitting on the floor in the middle of her dancing cousins.

As if she’s thinking about the same thing, Everly squeezes my hand, and some of the ache in my chest eases.

We sit on the couch, and I immediately pull her back into my lap. I have a sudden fear that if I allow us too much distance, she’s going to freak out and change her mind.

I brush some tangled curls out of her face. “So.”