Page 35 of The Secrets We Built Together

We'd lured everyone here with the idea of an impromptu cookout. The weather was lovely, everyone seemed to have a rare day off at the same time. And it was the perfect time to break some weirdly awkward news to your friends and family and loop them in on what I was still convinced was our criminal activity.

Would you like some co-conspiracy charges to go with your burger, Delaney?

My stomach twisted itself into knots as I imagined the looks on everyone's faces. We'd considered not telling them the truth. Giving them the same story we planned to tell everyone else in town. But Delaney would see right through me. She always did. And Booker? That man could read people better than the smutty books of Reece's he pretended not to read. It would never work, and I didn't really want it to. These people were family to me, and lying to them would have made this situation even worse than it was.

The sound of tires on gravel snapped me back to attention. Xander's truck pulled up in front of the house, and I rushed down the steps before he'd even turned off the engine.

"Are we doing the right thing?" I blurted out as he climbed out of the truck. "This is crazy, right? Oh my god, we're going to prison. I can't go to prison. I don't have any prison skills."

Xander's eyebrows shot up. "What's a prison skill?"

I could see the smirk he was trying to suppress and knew he was laughing at me, but I was too busy freaking out to care.

"I never learned how to make soap!" I said, throwing my hands in the air.

Xander just looked confused now, but I was already hyperventilating too much to be able to explain the intricacies of prison life to him. He'd have to learn the hard way.

Xander put his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to stop pacing. I looked up into his eyes, finding them steady and calm despite my meltdown.

"Blake," he said, his voice low and serious. "Did I ask you to marry me?"

"You're right, maybe you could get off with a temporary insanity plea."

"Blake," he said more sternly, and I sighed.

"Yes."

"Then you haven't done anything wrong, and you haven't told anyone anything that isn't true."

I guess technically he was right.

He pulled me into a hug, and I felt a sense of calm settle around me. His arms were solid and warm, his heartbeat steady against my cheek.

"It's going to be alright, Blake. I won't let anything happen to you or Amelia. I've got you. I've got you both."

And the craziest part was, I believed him. Standing there, wrapped in his arms, I actually felt like everything might be okay.

"We should probably practice this," I murmured against his chest.

"Practice what?" His voice rumbled through me.

I pulled back slightly, my hands finding his. "This. The whole engaged couple thing." I laced our fingers together, surprised by how naturally they fit. "If we're going to convince the whole town, we need to look like we're comfortable with each other."

His thumb brushed over my knuckles, sending an unexpected tingle up my arm. "Good thinking."

We stood there for a moment, hands linked, eyes locked. Something shifted in his expression, a softening around the edges I hadn't seen before. I tucked my hair behind my ear with my free hand, suddenly self-conscious under his gaze.

The lingering touch of our interlocked hands felt electric, charged with something I wasn't ready to name. I reluctantly pulled my hand away, immediately missing the warmth. "That should work."

A commotion from the house made us both turn. The entire family was lined up at the window, watching us like we were the season finale of their favorite show. As soon as they saw us looking, they all started cheering and jumping up and down. Cade had broken out into a full-on dance, spinning and flailingwith all the uncoordinated enthusiasm that I usually expected from Delaney. The only one not actively bouncing was Booker, but even he was grinning and shaking his head, which I knew was about as much silly emotion as he'd ever be willing to show in public.

"Idiots," Xander muttered, but there was affection in his voice.

With an arm still around my shoulders, we walked toward the house. As soon as we went through the door, he pulled his arm away and took a step back from me, and I almost mourned the loss.

Delaney was so excited she was practically vibrating. "Tell us everything," she demanded, her eyes gleaming. "When did this happen?Howdid it happen? Why didn't you tell me you were even dating?" There was a bit of sadness in that last question and I could see why she'd feel that way. Delaney and I had no secrets, or at least we never used to. I seemed to be racking them up recently and I wasn't feeling great about that.

Everyone was talking at once, firing out questions faster than we could possibly answer them. It was overwhelming, and I could feel myself starting to panic again.

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