Page 99 of An Unexpected Turn
I shared a silent laugh with Jake. My poor uncle couldn’t wrap his head around kids from Jake and me yet. I couldn’t blame him since I wasn’t quite there myself.
“Just try to call first before you come by.”
“Cute.” My mother scowled as she speared her fork into a piece of chicken.
“To family!” Aunt Maya raised her glass. “Both blood and found, together and permanent.”
I sipped from my glass, a stirring of excitement in my belly rather than the usual dread. Guilt over so many things had weighed me down for so long, the relief was palpable. Maybe true happiness didn’t have to come with a caveat after all, and unconditional love accounted for the unexpected.
“This is ... normal,” I whispered to Jake. “I mean, it’s wonderful, but I agree with Mom that it’s odd he’s this okay with it.”
Jake shrugged. “I may have stopped by a couple of days ago and asked him to put all the blame on me, so he’d let you off the hook. I told you, you’re too important to him.” Jake glanced at the end of the table, my uncle more into his plate than our side conversation. “Is he thrilled? No, but he’s getting used to it for both of us. All we can ask, right? Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”
Jake reached across my plate to grab a roll and kissed my cheek. We all turned to my uncle’s exaggerated cough. Jake shot me a crooked smile and shrugged. I fell in love all over again.
Maybe I’d come here to run away, but I’d ended up coming home.
EPILOGUE
PEYTON
Five Months Later
“Iam impressed,” Deirdre said as she scanned the gym. “This really looks amazing.”
I nodded in agreement. The wooden floor was draped with a white tarp, they’d removed the basketball hoops for hanging lights, and the chairs were wrapped in silver bunting that gave the entire room extra shimmer.
I’d finally made it to prom. At thirty-three.
“You look hot,” she said as we traipsed around the space, keeping an eye on the students without snooping.
“So do you. Not that anyone notices the chaperones.”
She wore a simple black cocktail dress with her hair up in a twist. I’d chosen a snug green dress that fell just below my knees and styled my hair in loose waves. I fiddled with the corsage on my wrist Jake had insisted on giving me and headed back to the table.
Most of the faculty came alone except for the few who brought a spouse along. I didn’t have to bring anyone, but he’d offered and Jake in a suit was a prospect I couldn’t refuse. As Claudia once said, the man was hot as sin. When he peeled off his jacket after we’d first arrived, popping open the buttons on his sleeves to roll them up past his corded forearms, I checked the corner of my mouth for drool.
“I picked up some punch for you,” Jake said when we sat down. “You both need to stay hydrated enough to pick out the couples that you need to pull apart.”
Deirdre’s head fell back on a laugh as she sat down. “I’m not getting involved in that. Let the senior faculty take that on. We only breezed through to make sure everyone is having fun and not setting anything on fire.”
“Exactly. We’re just pretty decorations.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” he rasped, stretching his arm across my shoulders. “You’re a gorgeous decoration,” he whispered, tucking a curl behind my ear. “When we get home, I can’t wait for that beautiful body to decorate my cock.”
I slapped his thigh, my cheeks flushing red-hot as I shot him a scowl.
“You cannot talk dirty to me in school.”
A wicked grin stretched his mouth. “It’s not school. It’s prom. And I do remember promising you I’d put out. All part of the package, sweetheart.”
I shoved his shoulder, my cheeks aching from my wide smile. I’d just put my condo on the market this week. I spent most nights at Jake’s house anyway, and when he’d asked me to move in and stop wasting a monthly mortgage payment, I had zero hesitation before I agreed. Thanks to all the work Jake had to do when the condo flooded, the real estate agent said I might be able to get a better price for it than what I’d originally paid due to the new floors.
Moving in together should have been a scary prospect, but it wasn’t. The few nights I did spend per week at my condo felt off, like an annoying in-between until I could get back to Jake.
I’d worried about Mike’s reaction when we’d told him that I was moving in, but he didn’t even flinch. He was a great kid, and I hoped he’d work things out with his mother someday for his own sake.
“Thank you for being here. I know it’s a little silly.” I rubbed the top of Jake’s hand.
