Page 97 of Pucking Tangled
Mia stopped walking.
He turned and looked her in the eyes. “But I think you’re the glue meant to hold us all together.”
She stepped into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He buried his face in her neck and breathed her in.
Salt.
Lake water.
Home.
They kissed. Slow. Sure. Familiar.
“None of this exists withoutyou,”she whispered against his lips. “You may not have known it then, but you’re the one who opened the door by inviting me to move in.”
“Best decision I ever made.” He smirked.
“No matter what, Casey. I’ll always love you. I just happen to love those other three goofballs, too.”
Hearing her say those words, somehow sat his entire world back on its axis. Heknewshe loved him. She showed it in so many ways over the years. But hearing her say it out loud and knowing she meant that she wasinlove with him now, freed him in a way he always dreamed of.
“I…I love you, too.”
The minute the words left his mouth, he felt like he could breathe deeper for the first timein a long time.
When they returned to the group, no one asked where they’d been. No one jumped up to try to steal her away.
Instead, Owen, Luca, and Waylon all just smiled. For Casey, it felt like an acknowledgement of what they were each trying to build, in their own way.
“Ugh. You know what we forgot?” Mia pouted.
“What?” Luca asked.
“The ingredients for s'mores!”
Waylon scurried to his feet and put the cooler in the back of his truck. “I might have a hidden stash of marshmallows in the pantry. And I know a certain roommate has Hershey bars hidden in her room.” He looked at Mia and winked.
“You jerk. Were you snooping again?”
“Nope. Just returning those earbuds I borrowed,” he said with a raised brow.
Mia blushed and shook her head.
Normally, Casey would feel some sort of envy but this time he didn’t. Instead he added, “If you all hurry, I’ll run in the store and buy some graham crackers. We can roast marshmallows over the fire pit out back.”
The drive home was quiet in a peaceful kind of way.
It was the kind of peace that came after a long day in the sun, filled with laughter and the memories they made together.
This time, Mia sat in the back, between Luca and Owen. She fell asleep with her head on Luca’s shoulder, while Skeeter snored, draped across Casey’s lap on the front seat.
Owen dozed off too, his head against the back window as Waylon drove.
Every time Casey looked over his shoulder, a lazy smile played on his lips.
“You finally look content, man,” Waylon glanced sideways at him.
“Because I am,” he admitted softly.
