Page 144 of Merry Me
Silent.
Breathing.
Healing, maybe.
The door creaked open again, letting out a burst of warm air and music…and Ellie.
She squinted into the dark like she wasn’t entirely sure what she was walking into.
“There you are,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself against the cold. “Everything okay out here?”
I nodded once. “Yeah. Just needed a minute.”
“Are you two coming back in, or what? Paige sent me to look for you. Whataburger just arrived, and MeMaw is officially gettingfreakyon the dance floor. Like, dangerously freaky. We might need to form a perimeter.”
Easton huffed a laugh beside me.
I blinked up at Ellie. The cold had numbed my face, but not enough to keep a smile from tugging at the corner of my mouth. “See, this is why we can’t have nice things. She was banned from body rolls after that Valentine’s dance at the community center where she dislocated her hip trying to drop it to Ginuwine and took down the entire punch table like a domino.”
“She swiveled into the garter toss like a backup dancer on tour. I’m scared,” Ellie said, deadpan. “And, if we’re talking about punch…I’m pretty sure someone spiked the one that wasspecificallylabeled nonalcoholic. Like, big bold letters. And bysomeone, I meanLevi.”
I snorted, the laugh catching me off guard, rising up in mychest like something lighter than what I’d been carrying. “We’ll be right in,” I said.
She nodded, then gave us both a weird little salute before disappearing back inside, her heels clicking and her hips already moving to whatever song was blasting through the speakers.
I stood slowly, Easton rising beside me. My fingers tightened in his for just a second. “You sure you’re up for it?” he asked, his voice low, just for me.
I nodded once, firm. “He doesn’t get another second of my life,” I said. “Not another sliver of space in my head. This day? This week? It belongs to Paige. And you. And me.”
His gaze held mine for a beat, steady and sure. “When are you going to tell her?”
I exhaled, the cold biting at my lungs. “I’ll tell her later,” I murmured. “But not today.”
Today didn’t belong to Terry.
And neither did I.
Easton led me inside.
Not reluctantly.
Not because I was pretending everything was fine.
But because itwasn’tfine—and I was walking in anyway.
The music hit me first…loud, joyful, chaotic. Then the smell of warm fries and too many candles, someone laughing too hard, the thrum of a beat I didn’t recognize but already loved.
I spotted Paige spinning in her dress, a half-eaten burger in one hand, a champagne flute in the other. MeMaw was doing the worm. Someone had given her sunglasses. It was unclear who was in charge anymore.
Easton leaned down. “Sure this isn’t too much?”
“It’s too much in all the right ways,” I muttered. “Let’s go party.”
We stepped into the whirlwind together—laughter, fries, and questionable dance moves waiting for us.
And I didn’t look back.
CHAPTER 28
