Page 57 of Stealing Sunshine

I focus on every point of contact we have, from our hands to our arms that are pressed together, and take a deep breath.

We head straight for the table around the bar, and every step settles me somehow. Despite what we’re doing here tonight, the people waiting for us are my family. They bring me a peace that isn’t possible to replace.

“Daisy, you’ve officially made the most punctual person I know late for somethin’,” Johnny says, the first one to notice us approaching the table.

Brody barks a laugh. “Fuck, you’re blind as hell.”

“What?” Johnny appears dumbfounded by the comment.

Garrison’s pressed to the wall beside Poppy on the other side of the table, but that doesn’t stop him from reaching across it to snap his fingers in front of Johnny. Daisy’s twin brother frowns at his friend.

Aurora, like everyone else at the table besides Johnny, is ping-ponging her eyes between Daisy and me and the hands we have interlocked. She smooths a hand down his arm.

“Hands, Johnny. Look at their hands.”

He whips his head in our direction and sucks in a breath at the sight pointed out to him. I avoid his attention and glance around for two available chairs to haul to the table.

“What the fuck, Bryce?”

Having only found one chair not already taken around us, I release Daisy’s hand and pull it from a nearby table before meeting Johnny’s stare.

“Surprise.”

“Surprise?” he echoes, voice climbing an octave. “This isn’t a surprise! This is a blindside!”

“Calm down, Johnny,” Daisy tells him.

I place the empty chair at the edge of the table and gesture for her to sit. She furrows her brows and shakes her head, waving me off.

Leaning toward her, I lower my voice. “Sit down.”

She cocks her head at me before spreading her lips in a smirk. “Fine.”

“Thank you.”

“After you,” she adds coyly.

My breathing shallows momentarily once I piece together what she means. There’s no time to deny her suggestion witheveryone staring at us with blunt curiosity. Panic flushes through me as I sit on the chair and wait for her next move.

I exhale tightly when she plants her ass on my lap and beams at everyone. Head swinging, I look to Poppy for help, but she’s too busy giggling into her hand to be of use.

Johnny shakes his head frantically. “I’m gonna ask again. What the fuck is happening?”

He’s pale, shell-shocked as he stares at us like he’s seen a fucking ghost. Dramatic as hell, that guy.

“I thought it was pretty obvious. Bryce and Daisy are together,” Anna says with outward approval.

The guilt I was dreading hits at her words and the tone with which she says them, but I keep my face blank.

“When did this happen?” Brody asks.

“You’ve only been staying there for what? Two weeks? I want to know how this happened and why I wasn’t told way sooner!” Johnny adds.

Garrison clears his throat. “One week.”

Johnny points across the table at him, the sharp lines of his jaw loose. “One!”

“Not helpful,” Poppy scolds her boyfriend. “Not everyone acts like a total ass when they meet someone they’re interested in like you did. I’d bet it’s a lot easier to fall for someone when there isn’t so much tension.”

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