Page 124 of A Hard Fit

“How are family things going?” Luka asked Rory as he helped himself to a piece of garlic bread. “Has your mom settled down yet?”

Rory and Finn shared a look. Lainey had not taken the City Hall wedding news well.

“She’s still not…thrilled?” Rory said. “We’ve agreed to have a reception at the Cerulean next summer, but we’re holding strong on not doing another ceremony.”

Finn snorted. “‘Not thrilled’ is putting it mildly. There was a bit of a scene at Easter.”

Luka raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Let’s just say that this time, it was Griffin talking my mom out of the bathroom.”

Thomas tapped his chin. “I wonder whose mom was more pissed—Rory’s, when you told her you secretly got married, or Luka’s, when she found out Luka had lied about when we got together?”

Rory gaped at Luka. “You lied to your mom about that?”

“I merely…assumedthat we were going to—” Luka gestured with his wine glass. “That is, I knew that we’d end up…” He took a sip and nodded. “Yeah, I lied.”

Thomas snickered. “We fake-dated for his parents at Easter.”

“You did not!” Finn cackled. “That’s amazing. How did she find out it was a sham?”

“Well, once it was official”—Luka smiled at Thomas—“I didn’t want to have to lie to my family about how or when we got together for the rest of our lives.”

Finn could practically hear Thomas’ heart skip a beat in the silence that followed.

“Luka…” Thomas said, emotion thick in his voice.

Luka looked at him shyly. “Sorry if that’s too much. But that’s how I feel.”

Thomas leaned over to kiss him. “I feel the same.”

Finn’s heart swelled with happiness for his friends. Seeing two people exactly right for each other end up together… He squeezed Rory’s knee under the table.

Luka cleared his throat and went back to his pasta, cheeks pink. “And are things getting any better with Jackson?”

Finn shrugged. “He didn’t say a word to me at Easter but…I guess that’s better than him being an outright asshole.”

“Speaking of assholes!” Luka cried, nearly choking on his food. “We forgot to tell you! We watched the final episode of season three!”

Rory smacked the table. “Can you believe it?”

“I swear to God…” Luka pressed a hand to his chest. “The whole time I thought the snake was acting up because of Ophy’s evil twin, but then…” He shook his head, lips pursed.

Finn chuckled. They had managed to get Luka and Thomas hooked onGodstrike. “Come on, the snake was just—”

“Do not defend that creature!” Luka howled. “He—” His phone buzzed. “Ooh!” Luka held it up, beaming. “Nam loves the painting! He says he’ll definitely display it, and he asked if you have a couple others, too.”

After the initial shock, the feeling in Finn’s chest was a strange one, like the fear that had been sitting there for so long was cracking, falling away piece by piece. “Yeah, I could do that.” He swallowed hard. “I’ve got a few in the garage…”

* * * *

One month later

“Here we are.” Finn’s truck rolled to a stop at the top of the long, winding dirt drive.

They stared out through the windshield for a beat, then another.

“It’s perfect,” Rory said, a little choked up.

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