Page 233 of Catch Me
It had a golden retriever carved into it alongside ‘McKinney.’ Underneath, it had Travis and Tessa’s names. The mahogany wood was beautiful, and I was surprised that it wasn’t lacquered.
“There’s space for another name,” she said conspiratorially. “In case you ever need it.”
Travis glanced at me. His amber eyes were bright, and it was obvious that he liked the idea. I understood why the sign seemed unfinished now.
“Moving on.” I got to my feet and grabbed a large, flat square that was leaning against the wall. “Mom and Ross. You have to do this one together.”
“It’s huge!” Alex shouted.
Til’s eyes widened. “What the fuck is that?”
“He stole the Declaration of Independence,” Brooks muttered.
When I brought one over to him, he just stared at it for a moment. Til jumped in to take it from me, looking a lot like his brother with the excitement in his eyes.
I sat and put an arm around Travis’ shoulders while I watched them open it. He turned and kissed my neck, then bit down on my earlobe with a playful laugh.
“Are you serious?” Brooks asked. Instead of his usual flippant attitude directed at me, he looked genuinely shocked.
Til covered his mouth with one hand while he stared at the image of them on their balcony. They were kissing like in the picture I’d seen on Instagram a year ago. It was five square feet and had taken me months to complete, along with my mom’s portrait. That one was from a picture I’d taken of her and Ross on their deck a couple of years ago. She’d looked so happy that, for a moment, I hadn’t felt angry or lost.
“Roman,” she crooned. “This is beautiful.”
“I would’ve done the whole family, but I didn’t have time for that.”
“This is perfect,” Ross said. “Thank you.”
I tensed when Til jumped to his feet. I stood and he hugged me, which was awkward, but I wrapped my arms around him in return.
“I never thought I’d say this, but you’re pretty amazing and anyone who doesn’t think so is a dumb bitch.”
“Tilian,” his dad scolded.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m not apologizing for that one.”
When I sat down, Brooks leaned across Travis and held out his fist, so I bumped it. “Thank you. Really. Maybe I don’t loathe your existence today.”
Travis elbowed him in the side, making him swear. I failed to hold back a smile as I relaxed into the couch and watched more presents get passed around.
Home was the thing I’d never found except in Travis’ eyes. Now, I felt it here too, and it hit me with an unexpected force that threatened to take my breath away.
*****
11 months later
“Can we fucking eat yet?” West asked. He put a hand over his stomach as if he was starving. I’d seen him grazing—more like Kirby inhaling—all afternoon and couldn’t understand how he was hungry at all.
Kai set the turkey on the island. His house was what I would call quaint, and it fit them so well that they looked perfect just being in it. They still hadn’t decided if they would stay in Seattle after he graduated, but they had a few years to figure it out.
“Happy Friendsgiving,” he announced.
“Finally,” Sen added. “We were supposed to do this the last two years.”
“Well, we were all too busy in 2025, and last year, Roman had dad trauma.”
“Hear, hear,” I said with a snarky smile. Things hadn’t improved much on the dad front, and we still only sent each other a single message on holidays, but I’d come to terms with our relationship at this point. I had so many others that filled my life with everything I needed.
“Who’s carving this?” Kai asked, looking around the room. He frowned when it was silent.
