Page 135 of Fumbled Into Love

I lift a brow at Henry, whose pockets have to hurt as his wife continues to throw up her paddle. Henry shrugs.

“The look on her face when she doesn’t win anything all night is worth whatever I end up paying.”

“I agree,” Jack chimes in. “It’s all for charity anyway.”

My chest warms and I glance around the table at my friends, the people who have become my family. Declan is quiet but he nods his head when our eyes connect. Without them—without my teammates—I don’t think I would have ended up here with another chance at love.

Emotion clogs my throat, but I manage to croak out a “thank you” before the auctioneer continues and Nathalie’s movie premiere is up. Her hand flies into the air as her eyes alight with joy. Her head darts to mine every time she raises the paddle and I nod, urging her on.

I can tell that she’s afraid to spend my money, but I want her to spend it. I want to spend it on her.

Hands at other tables begin to fall and Nathalie begins to realize she’s the last paddle in the air, biting back a giddy smile.

“Going once, twice…sold to the pretty little lady in the back!”

“I won!” Nathalie screams, wrapping her arms around my neck and smashing her lips against mine. Her lip gloss is tacky against my lips but I feel her smile as she pulls away. “Thank you, Deon.”

“Anything for you.”

The words reverberate in my soul.

CHAPTER 30

“You’re the risk, I’m gonna take it”

Risk – Gracie Abrams

Deon

“This place has fuckingeverything,” Henry says, speed pushing one of the three carts we have down the aisle of the craft store. Jack and Declan push the other two that I need to hold everything I plan on buying. Henry skids to a stop in the Christmas clearance section.

“I get what Nathalie was saying about the adrenaline rush of getting a deal,” Henry says, stopping to look at the ornaments.

“Focus,” I hiss as he and Declan begin to riffle through ornaments. “We’re on a time crunch.”

My nerves are eating me alive. We have twenty-four hours to put everything together before Nathalie comes back from her sleepover with plans to move out.

Twenty-four hours to prepare for the scariest yet most anticipated moment of my life thus far.

I know Sawyer and Maren hinted that I wouldn’t face brutal, soul-crushing rejection, but there’s still a small sliver of uncertainty.

They could be wrong.

“This one’s seventy percent off!” he yells, lifting a cookie ornament in the air.

“Get it,” Jack says, snagging a jellyfish ornament and dropping it into the cart. “That’s a good deal.”

“We need stockings,” I declare, trying to corral my friends, but as they toss more ornaments and tinsel into the cart, I realize it’s a lost cause and head off on my own to find two large and one small stocking.

I quickly find what I need and as I round the corner, I hear Declan squeal. “They have gnomes!”

Fucking hell.

“Focus!” I yell in exacerbation, “Declan, drop the fucking gnome.” He pouts and I feel like an asshole. “Fine, you can get it, but we need to get out of here, or else we will never get it all done.”

“I think he’s nervous,” Declan whispers to Jack.

“Shitting himself,” Jack responds, swearing uncharacteristically.

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