Page 2 of Made For You

“Good save.” She laughs. “She was in the backyard discussing why we should get a dog with your brother.”

“Aw,” I say, putting my hand to my chest. “You’re getting a dog?”

“Immediately, no.” She shakes her head. “I said they were discussing it.”

“You know he’ll just say yes.” I laugh, grabbing a plate and walking over to get some food.

“He says yes, and I’m leaving him,” she huffs. “We already have a million kids. I don’t have time for a dog.”

“You think he’s going to allow you to leave him?” I throw my head back and laugh. “How far do you think you’ll get before he drags you back?”

“What are you two talking about?” my brother, Cooper, asks, coming beside Erika and pulling her to him. The two of them were best friends who then fell for each other when he got divorced.

“She said she’s leaving you if you tell Felicia that you can get a dog,” I fill him in, and he laughs.

“Never.” He shakes his head. “It’s not that bad. I asked Dylan.”

“Cooper Grant,” Erika warns. “I’m not kidding with this one.”

“I know,” he says. “I sent her to ask my dad.” We both gasp. “Let him say no to her.”

“That’s low, even for you,” I say, turning and walking outside, where round tables are set up everywhere. Most of them are filled with people eating, and I spot an empty place at my brother Chase’s table. “Hello, lovebirds.” I sit down and look over at my brother and his new fiancée, Julia.

“I didn’t think I’d see you today.” Julia smiles. “You hit the wine really hard last night.”

I laugh. “Just following your lead.”

“Next thing you know, you’ll be in love,” Julia teases, and I glare at her.

“Bite your tongue,” I retort, eating my food. Now, it’s not to say that I don’t want to be in love. I know that love exists because it’s all around me, all the time. I look at Chase putting his arm around Julia and kissing her lips. Cooper comes over and sits next to me, followed by Erika, who he pulls onto his lap. Michael, my other cousin, is the next to join us with his wife and Julia’s twin, Jillian. Franny, Wilson, Dylan, and Alex are the last ones to crowd the table.

“When are you coming back?” Jillian asks me, and I shrug.

“I’m not sure,” I say, taking a bottle of water on the table and opening it. “I sort of am making plans for the summer right now.”

“Really?” Franny says. “Like what?”

“Um.” I look around to make sure my father won’t hear this. “You can’t tell Dad yet,” I inform her.

Cooper already shakes his head while Chase looks up at the sky and mumbles, “Dear God.”

“I like where this is going already,” Alex says before she shouts out, “Oh my God, are you going to spend the summer in Europe?” She puts her hands together. “That was my dream.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Dylan says from beside her. “We did that ‘summer in Europe’ shit. You don’t remember all the fucking Instagram pictures we had to take. You only booked hotels you found on Instagram. A whole month of switching hotels because the other one had better views. Do you know how many freaking steps we went up in Italy?”

“You’re welcome.” Alex glares at him. “Besides, who invited you on that trip?” She rolls her eyes at him, and he leans in and kisses her. “Yeah, whatever, I can hate you and kiss you all at the same time.”

“Oh, trust me,” he huffs. “I know.”

“This is what happens when you marry your cousin,” I joke with them, and everyone laughs. They really aren’t cousins in that way. My uncle Justin adopted Dylan, who then became best friends with Alex. Only a couple of years ago, they finally declared what everyone already knew; they loved each other.

“Can we get back to what we aren’t supposed to tell Dad?” Cooper asks, and then my father pops up behind him with my uncle Max.

“Yes, please, let’s keep secrets from your father,” Max says, chuckling at him.

“Just like a Band-Aid.” Franny leans over, and I take a deep breath.

“Well”—I clear my throat—“I was thinking about what to do this summer.” I tap the table with my finger. “And I bought a boat.” I look around the table, seeing everyone just looking at me.

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