Page 130 of The Casualty of Us
He means it. I can tell it’s not an empty threat.
And fuck if part of me isn’t a little curious about that too.
“Perfect.” His dimples flash before he brushes his lips against mine with a quick kiss, surprising me again with his audacity. “You know what they say—”
“Don’t you dare start—”
“There’s a thin line between—”
“I will never let you—”
“Pleasure and pain.” His eyes spark with mischief as he lifts his brows at me tauntingly. “What were you thinking about?”
I pull a face at him. “Cute.”
“I know.” He nips at my bottom lip before rising up to smirk. “Thanks for finally noticing, though.”
“Oh my god.” I snort a laugh, shaking my head with another giggle bubbling past my lips. “You literally have the rebound rate of a golden retriever.”
The kitchen door cracks then, and Hayes drops his hand from my hip, stepping back right before Ollie and Talan come inside. Ollie still looks a little tense but much happier than earlier, and Talan stares at me dramatically.
“Itdoes laugh.”
“Ha. Ha,” I snark back at him, tracking the way his gaze strays curiously to Hayes just like it kept doing our entire plane ride here before guilt has me asking in spite of myself. “How’s Jack?”
“Fine.” His eyes come back to mine. “Minor concussion and a few bruised ribs, but he’ll live.”
I frown, not really sure whether to pass on my regards to the guy I spent the entire summer battling against before my manners eventually win out. “Well, tell him I hope he, uh, heals quickly and all that.”
Talan’s face fills with an odd look while Ollie’s crooked grin starts to grow next to him for the first time all summer, prompting me to spit out at both of them. “What?”
“Nothing,” Ollie interjects quickly, throwing Talan a glare and making my brows fall. “Just wondering where the birthday cake—.”
My mother slides in behind them then, cutting him off at the sight of her overloaded with takeout bags, and Ollie immediately starts to take them from her, with Hayes jumping to follow his lead a second later.
“Okay.” She smiles happily as they both take the bags to the counter. “I have Italian for Oliver, Chinese for Ophelia, and—” An indulgent expression fills her face as it turns toward her latest target. “Sushi for Hayes.”
Hayes’s head snaps toward her with surprise filling his face. “You didn’t have to do that, I didn’t realize when you asked what my—”
“Well, I wasn’t going to very well show up with their favorites and not yours.” Something of Ollie’s dramatics and my scowl fills her face. “That would have been rude, darling, and I’m not rude to people I plan on liking.”
He stares at her with wide eyes for a moment before nodding. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Very good.” She turns her head toward Talan, and I try to hide my grin. “Now go get Mia before their father comes in with the cakes.”
Talan balks. “What?”
“Or do you plan on making me dislike you too?”
A giggle bubbles past my lips, and Talan’s eyes come back to mine, looking like he’s asking for my help, but I just shake my head. “It’s my birthday, asshole, you’re going to have some cake.”
He glares at me, turning around and heading back out of the kitchen while mumbling under his breath about unprofessionalism.
Because he’s one to talk there.
“Language,” my mother chastises automatically before ordering everyone. “Now let’s set everything up outside.”
We all jump at her order, helping her carry all the bags to where our veranda sits just behind the kitchen and setting them up on the glass table there. The twinkle lights and greenery hang above it along with the summer warmth still in the air, making it feel cozy. Full of life, I guess, which it is. As my father steps out with a cake in each hand, and Talan and Mia trickle out to join us a little hesitantly. My mom ducks back in to grab some wine as everyone settles themselves around the table. Ollie and Hayes planting themselves on either side of me so fast it has me rolling my eyes as Mia and Talan grab the seats across from us. My dad rounds us out as he sets the cakes in the middle of the table and takes a seat at one end of it while my mother comes back out to sit at the other.
