Page 175 of The Incredible Ordinary

“Our next topic of conversation is my hotness?”

He nods. “Let’s go into detail.”

I laugh out loud and kiss him.

By the time we’ve gone through the rest of the house, I’ve come to terms with the fact that there’s nothing here for me.

“What’s this?” Jordan says.

“Hmm?” I turn to look at him. He pulls something out from behind Gerard’s desk and holds it up. It’s a framed tennis racket. Not just any tennis racket. It’s mine. The first one Gerard ever bought me.

I stare at it.

There’s nothing else in this whole damn house that gives even the slightest of hint that I exist.

But there’s this.

It’s not an overwhelming feeling. No great joy or relief.

It’s a kind of calm acceptance, though. A feeling of being okay. Of not screaming for closure, because maybe this is it? And if so, I’m fine with it.

In the end,Dallas is charged with criminal possession of a firearm and reckless endangerment, among a few other minor charges. He’s looking at a few years in prison even when the kidnapping charges didn’t stick.

I can’t say I’m happy with the sentence, but in the grand scheme of things, Dallas takes up very little space in my brain, so in the end, I let it go.

Lately, I have a lot of life to live and less time to keep grudges.

I let it go.

He kissesme in the kitchen one afternoon when we’re both sure the boys are occupied with homework upstairs.

It’s a regular Sunday. The kind I’ve started to love, where nothing much happens. We have no plans, so we just hang out, halfheartedly puttering around in the backyard because Jordan has decided to fix it up, but neither of us has any idea how to go about it, and we’re also in no rush at all because we have all the time in the world.

So I kiss him. My palm on his cheek. His back against the counter. His arms around my neck. My front pressed against his.

I can’t get enough of him. Can’t keep my hands off. We sneak kisses and moments together.

We both jump apart when somebody clears their throat behind us.

Jordan’s eyes widen when he sees both Theo and Rory in the doorway.

“We were just…” He looks at me, then at Theo. “Kissing,” he finishes, surprising a laugh out of me. I didn’t expect that to be the end of that sentence.

“I’m sorry,” Jordan says. “I was planning to talk to you.Wewere planning to talk to you. It’s just that a lot was happening, and it was difficult to find the right time and?—”

“Dad,” Theo says, “it’s fine. We already suspected, so it’s not exactly a surprise.”

Jordan blinks. “You did?”

“You were being kind of obvious that something was going on,” Rory says.

Jordan slumps against the counter and glances at me. “And here I thought we were being discreet.”

“No,” Rory says.

The urge to laugh at the deadpan delivery of that one word is overwhelming.

Jordan, for once, is lost for words. “Well. This is…” He drags his hand through his hair. Looks at me. Looks at the boys. “Are you both okay with this?”