Page 35 of No Sweet Goodbyes

She has a point, so I don’t correct her.

But as we pull up Dom’s drive, with the sun going down, my heart starts to race. He’s already made it perfectly clear that he won’t do anything. I know I’m playing with fire, risking being embarrassed in front of everyone just by showing up. So when we park and the others get out of my car, I reach into my duffel bag in the back seat and grab a different shirt, changing quickly before I follow them.

“Chicken.” Kennedy snorts.

I force a smile. “And proud of it.” But when she links her arm through my trembling one, I know she is being as supportive as she can.

When we step around the house, there is a massive fire that takes up a huge cement pit about a hundred yards away. “Holy shit.”

I’ve been to bonfires before. I’ve been to parties in the middle of the night that we didn’t want our parents to find out about. I’ve done a lot of crazy and fun things in my life, but I’ve never seen something quite as amazing as what is currently happening. There are ice chests everywhere and a grill smoking closer to the house. A dozen or more chairs surround the fire at a safe distance, with a group of men hanging around, just talking. A few are throwing a football between them.

But when we arrive, they all sort of pause and then go with the flow.

My brother spots Kennedy and swoops her into his arms, planting a firm kiss on her forehead. “Hey, Kennedy. I didn’t think you were gonna come.”

Kennedy bites him on the neck and then swats him when he won’t put her down. “Lemme go. Alta decided that she wanted to have everyone together. And she made sure there’s more food.”

“Shit,” Linc mutters. “She’s gonna beat me with her flip-flop if she sees me.” He drops Kennedy and walks away, leaving us to wonder what in the hell is going on.

“She hasn’t forgiven him for violating her son with his balls,” Kennedy informs me. “I think.”

While Nox and Bee take off to run around and play, Alta and her daughters get all the food set up on a folding table that just appears out of nowhere like she conjures it. After grabbing some tacos since that’s what I wanted in the first place, we wander around and find a few empty chairs next to Ian and Bria Keller.

“Hey, Bria!” I greet with a smile.

Bria waves but doesn’t say anything because she has almost a whole piece of pizza shoved in her mouth.

“Excuse my sister,” Ian says with a laugh. “She’s afraid that she’s gonna get another call out and have to go before she finishes her food. I think she said something about how being a social worker sucks.” He takes a drink from his beer, burping loudly when it is gone. “And then she said she wants to quit.”

“Liar,” Bria snarls when her food is gone. “You take that back right now. I never said that.”

Ian shakes his head and gets up. “I’m gonna leave before you three team up on me like you used to. Peace.”

Tall and blond-haired, Ian is still just as in shape as he had been when he was on the football team before joining the military with my brothers.

“Did you guys ever wonder what we did to have such hot guys in our town?” Kennedy’s head is tilted to the side while she watches Ian walk away. “Don’t get me wrong. Linc’s got it all on lock.” I gag. “But seriously. They’re all hot.”

“Logically,” Bria agrees. “It doesn’t make sense. But I mean, just because they’re fit doesn’t mean that they’re hot. Take Eddie for example. Stryke Out is a jackass, and yeah, he looks decent. But he’s not hot.”

I laugh at that because she’s telling the truth.

“Vagina butterflies,” Kennedy says loudly. “I get it. Not all of them cause vagina butterflies.” She smiles at me in the orange glow of the fire.

“Oh, shit.” Bria laughs. “Emma got you with the butterflies, too? She’s been on that since high school. It’s on point, though, so I use it when I’m thinking about relationships too.”

“They’re a real thing,” I tell them both. “You should never settle for less than vagina butterflies.”

“Hey, I’m not arguing about it,” Bria says seriously.

Speaking of vagina butterflies, I space out on their conversation when I catch sight of Dom in his element.

Wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a black shirt, he has a scowl on his face. The same one he has when he is trying to figure out what is missing in one of his cases. He steps out the back door of his house, closing the sliding glass door behind him, and sees all of the people that have appeared with us, and his expression changes.

He scans every single face in the crowd, and then his eyes lock on mine.

Kennedy doesn’t give a shit that my entire world seems to be tilting on its side when she decides to lean over me and whisper loudly, “She’s got vagina butterflies right now.”

Bria nods. “Yeah, she does.”

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