Page 6 of Terms + Conditions
FINN’S VOICE BOOMS DOWN the hallway. “There you are! What are you doing up here?”
An internal groan resonates. I should’ve stayed in my room. The party was starting to wind down anyway, so I could’ve disappeared until tomorrow morning without any real repercussions. I made my appearance, mingled, and had a couple of drinks, I even laughed a little. Michaela had nothing to complain about.
“Everything okay down there?”
“Fine.” He waves it off. “Ophelia and her friends just had a little too much sugar. They went crashing into the BOO letters you moved.”
I’m sure Kai’s wife, Eileen, is ecstatic that her daughter is hyped up on pure sugar. Eileen had tried to manage some of the intake, but it didn’t help that Mic was secretly giving Ophelia and her friends candy behind everyone’s back. I’d walked into the kitchen earlier to find my sister shushing them as she handed them each another cookie. The girls stuffed their faces and ran past me in a chorus of giggles. Michaela’s eyes widened when she saw me standing there, but I rolled my eyes and walked away. It wasn’t my place to ruin the fun.
“Probably sounded worse than it was,” Finn says, trying to cover a yawn.
“Guess we should’ve left them where they were, huh?”
“Don’t say that too loud, your sister already started in on Nin about it.”
Of course she did. Any opportunity to tell her best friend she was wrong.
“Y’alright? You snuck off during that last game of beer pong and—”
“Fine,” I say with a tight-lipped smile. “Just needed some space.”
Finn smirks. “And that space included your soon-to-be ex-wife?”
Shit.
“Look, I get it.” His hands fly up in retreat. “One more for the road, but maybe not while we’re all downstairs?”
“We didn’t…I didn’t…It’s not like that!”
“Whatever you say, Joshy.” Finn winks and heads down the hall toward the master suite. He pulls the orange ascot from his shirt with a relieved sigh before the door closes behind him.
When I walk downstairs, it’s quiet, the quietest it’s been all night. The majority of the guests have gone, and all that remains is the rest of the family. Eileen holds a zonked-out Ophelia in her arms, the young girl clutches her mother’s neck as her mouth hangs open. Nick holds a car seat with a costume-free Elena inside, fast asleep. The two of them talk with Michaela at the front door, but the three Villa siblings are nowhere to be found.
“There you are,” my sister shouts in a whisper, trying not to wake the sleeping girls. Nick and Eileen turn to see who she’s talking to. “Where did you run off to?”
“Just needed a breather.”
“Old man.”
Nick starts to say something, probably about to add another insult to the pot, but is interrupted when Kai returns from the living room carrying Ophelia’s witch hat.
“Got everything?” Eileen asks.
“Finally. It took forever to find this damn thing.” Kai sighs, stuffing it in one of their open bags.
“We would’ve found it eventually, no biggie,” Michaela interrupts like I’m sure she has a million times already.
“Better I find it now than deal with a potential meltdown later.”
Eileen nods with a tired smile before trudging out the front door. She doesn’t wait around for goodbyes. I’m sure she has probably already done her rounds and is ready to go. Kai thanks Michaela again for a fun evening and follows his wife.
“Nick, let’s go. I want to get home before she wakes up to eat,” Nina says when she and Elizabeth walk out of the kitchen less than a second later.
“Everything okay?” Nick asks, motioning toward Elizabeth, who hugs Michaela goodbye.
“We’ll talk about itlater.” Nina turns to me and asks, “Are you still coming for breakfast tomorrow?”
“You sure that’s a good idea?”
