Page 106 of Loathe Thy Neighbor

I snap my attention back to my pie, shoving a forkful of gooey deliciousness into my mouth in order to refrain from leaning over and kissing him.

“Okay, wow.” Maya wags her finger between the two of us. “I like you two together. This dynamic is…wow.”

“Dean is your boyfriend, Aunt River?”

I pause mid-bite. Maya’s eyes widen, her mouth dropping open as she realizes what she just did.

Sorry, she mouths.

I rack my brain, trying to figure out how to answer this.

“I—”

“Yep,” Dean says. “That cool?”

Sam grins, nodding. “Totally.”

They go on talking like nothing happened. Like my heart isn’t hammering in my chest. Like it’s not going to explode over one word.

Yep.

He said it so easily. So calmly.

So sure.

And it felt so…right.

Why did it feel so right?

Maya’s foot brushes against my shin. I look up at her, and she tips her head, silently asking if I’m okay.

I shrug.

Because I don’t know if I am okay.

And I don’t know how to handle that.

Maya’s cell starts vibrating in her purse and she digs around, trying to find it.

I take the opportunity to slip away.

“I’ll be right back,” I mutter, pushing up from the stool and rushing to the bathroom without looking back at the table.

I lean against the door and inhale several deep breaths.

I’m overwhelmed. Confused. Excited.

Disappointed.

Not in Dean’s answer, but because it wasn’t real.

Why am I disappointed it wasn’t real? What the hell is happening?

There’s a knock on the door.

“Occupied!” I call.

“No shit. Open up.”

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