Page 119 of Unraveled

I beamed. There was no doubt in my mind that Izzy had this audition in the bag, and I was so fucking proud.

JET

“Don’t you dare shut down on me while you’re gone.” Izzy gave her best stern face as she stood in front of Nic in the airport lobby a week later.

“I’ll do my best.” He opened his arms, and Izzy didn’t even hesitate to throw herself against him, wrapping him in a powerful hug that nearly made him stagger back.

Tucker grinned and rolled his eyes behind her while Annie and I smiled and shook our heads. I looked around at my family and best friends that had come with us to the airport to tell my uncle and cousin goodbye. Mom and Dad were talking with Uncle Dimitris while Colton and Harper just looked bored and ready to leave.

“It was good getting to know you more, Jet.” Uncle Dimitris came up after my mom had snatched him up in a hug nearly as big as Izzy’s.

“It was. I’m glad you got to come.”

“Me, too. I also wanted to thank you for being so patient with Nic. And for giving him a second chance.”

“Everyone deserves one.”Mostly. Usually.

We looked over where Izzy was still fussing at him to take care of himself, and my uncle grinned. “I’m even more thankful he mether.”

“They were both in a dark place when they met. I think it helped them bond.”

“She’s good for him. She reminds me of my Sophia. She had a way of knowing when and how to push people.”

“Sophia sounds like Jet.” Tucker walked up with a grin, and he fell into conversation with my uncle, giving me the chance to approach Nic before we were out of time.

“Mind if I get a second to tell my cousin goodbye?”

Izzy looked surprised for a second before she smiled. “Of course. I still need to say goodbye to your uncle.” She gave Nic one more quick hug before walking away, and I was left there with both awkward silence and my cousin.

Talking to him on graduation night had been harder to do than I’d first wanted to admit, but once I’d given Nic the chance to explain like the others had pushed, it had been easier to see his side. He finally filled me in about everything with Anna and Enzo, and I could see how it would be hard if someone kept reminding you about your ex. I’d have preferred if he’d just pushed Annie away when she’d kissed him, but I knew how shock from being on that receiving end could make your response delayed. He’d sworn up and down and sideways that the kiss wasjust about Anna for him, and now that I finally understood everything he was going through, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Well, you’re getting your room back,” Nic started, breaking the lingering tension we hadn’t quite worked all the way through yet. “I’ll bet Annie will love that.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

Silence fell between us again, and after a few seconds, Nic’s brow furrowed. “We’re good right? Or we will be?”

“Yeah. We will be.” Wanting to extend an olive branch to prove it, I said, “Still game for getting that place with Tucker and me?”

Surprise hit his expression. “Absolutely.”

“Good. It’s gonna be good.” I clapped his back.

The next few minutes were filled with the last of everyone’s goodbyes, and when Nic and Uncle Dimitris disappeared from our view down the corridor, we left for the parking lot. My parents and younger siblings went past us to my dad’s car, but the rest of us had come in Tucker’s truck.

I leaned against it as I waited for Tucker to unlock the door, and Annie took my hand.

“You okay?”

“Perfect, sweetheart. I’ve gotyou.” I leaned in, wrapping her up in a kiss that had my heart speeding in my chest.

“Hey, save that shit for later.” Tucker whacked his palm on the window beside my head, and I scowled at my best friend.

“Didn’t see you eager to stop sucking Izzy’s face before we left this morning.”

Tucker shrugged, opening the front passenger side for Izzy, his hand at the small of her back as she climbed up.

“Y’all get in. I’ve got a surprise.”

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