Page 99 of Shelter from the Storm

Sweetest words ever.

Remi trudged up the stairs. “I need to wash this.” She rubbed her injured palm. “Can’t decide which hurts worse. My head or my fucking palm.”

“That’s quite the mouth you have on you,” Shaw commented.

Remi shot Gretchen’s brother a look Theo couldn’t quite interpret. “You,” she said, pointing to Shaw. “You owe me one for holding me back last night. I’m on table-setting duty. It’s the only thing Aunt Claire trusts me to do. You can set the table, and I’ll oversee your work, since I’m injured and all.”

Theo was surprised when Shaw snorted—maybe a laugh? A scoff?—then followed her inside.

He started to follow them, but Gretchen grasped his arm. The moment he turned to face her, she pushed up on tiptoe and kissed the hell out of him.

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Theo gripped her waist, pulling her closer and expanding on her tongue work.

When they parted, Gretchen smiled at him. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“You’re not mad?”

She shook her head, looking at him like he was crazy. “Oh my God, no. Calling my brother, inviting him here, giving him back to me… That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me. I’d like to think I would have called him eventually, but I couldn’t get out of my own way. Too afraid and ashamed and drowning in guilt. I would have lost even more time with him if it hadn’t been for you, so thank you for having my back, for helping me do what I couldn’t do on my own.”

“Always,” Theo said. “I will always be here to help you.”

They shared another kiss.

“Come on,” Theo said as they parted. “We should probably go inside and rescue your brother from Remi. By the way, what’s up with the hellraiser and hotshot nicknames?”

Gretchen’s eyes widened as they entered the house. “Oh my God. You missed so much last night.”

Nora overheard her comment as they walked inside. “From lemon drop shots to brawls to long-lost brothers. It was a big night by Gracemont standards.”

Theo and Gretchen followed Nora into the living room, where most of his family had gathered, football playing on the big-screen. Levi was sitting on the couch, Kasi nestled on his lap, probably because nearly every other seat in the room was filled. Theo reached for Gretchen’s hand, tugging her to the last remaining chair and taking a page from Levi’s book, drawing her onto his lap. She flushed slightly, though Theo didn’t think the color was based on embarrassment as much as delight.

“The shots and brother comment are self-explanatory, but who got in a brawl?” Theo asked Nora.

“Somebody got into a fight?” Everett sat up straighter. His younger brother was a huge fan of gossip.

“It was ladies’ night at Whiskey Abbey,” Kasi chimed in. “Me, Gretchen, Mila, Nora, and Remi went together. Wanna take a stab at who almost got into a fight?”

Ten people all replied in unison. “Remi.”

They cracked up when Remi appeared at the living room entrance with Shaw, whose eyes narrowed when he spotted Gretchen sitting on Theo’s lap.

“Were you calling for me?” Remi asked.

Nora giggled, shaking her head. “Nope. We were filling the guys in on last night, and the fight you got into.”

Remi scowled, jerking her thumb in Shaw’s direction. “Almost-fight. Hotshot here got in my way.”

“Who were you trying to fight?” Grayson asked.

Gretchen sighed, then looked at Theo. “Destiny. A girl I knew in Harrisburg.”

Theo frowned. “What the hell was she doing here?”

Gretchen grimaced. “Pleading Briggs’s case.”

“I regret holding you back, Hellraiser,” Shaw muttered to Remi.

“Destiny has always been Team Briggs,” Gretchen replied with a shrug. “She got pissed when I told her that I was never going back to him, and apparently after I went to the bathroom, she said some unkind things about me to Remi.”

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