Page 78 of You, with a View

“No.”I cut myself off, because, well, hopefully yes. “I’m—we’re—it’s complicated.”

“So, you’re exorcising your grief by getting railed by Gram’s ex’s grandson?” Thomas nods, impressed. “That’s one way to do it.”

“If that’s true, you deserve it,” Sadie says. “And I want details later.”

I nod my affirmation, then turn back to my brother. “I’m not exorcising my grief that way, you dickhead.”

“It’s a perk, though,” Thomas says with a smirk.

“If you hadn’t called, it would be,” I mutter.

Thomas blinks as Sadie hops excitedly in place. “Okay, well. TMI, but on that note, we’ll let you go. I just have one request.”

“What?”

“Sades and I made that bet about you and Theo, and her bet was day ten. Which is...” He trails off as he counts in his head. His eyes widen. “Fuck. Today. So you’re gonna have to delay, Beans.”

Sadie cheers. “Hell yes! I’m a genius. Noelle, go get your man.”

I cover my face with my hands. “Oh my—”

“I’ll buy you dinner if you wait a day,” Thomas pleads.

“That’ll cost more than what you owe me,” Sadie argues.

He turns to her, placing a smacking kiss on her mouth. “Yeah, but I have towin,honey. Glory beats cash.”

Sadie sighs and levels me with a look. “Fuck the bet. Don’t delay on our behalf.”

Everything inside me is craving a resolution to what Theo and I have been building. Now that I know everyone in my family is in one piece, I need them to go away. “Goodbye, you troublemakers. Take an Uber home, okay?”

“Duh,” Thomas says. “Can’t wait for your next TikTok, dude. Knock ’em dead.”

The screen goes black, and I stare at my reflection in the laptop screen. Mirror-me looks windblown and off-kilter. But despite allof the uncertainty in every other area of my life, there’s one thing I know for sure: I want Theo, for as long as I can have him, and he wants me.

The simplicity of it is calming. It frees my mind of all its other distracting thoughts, lets them drift away until only the honeyed ones remain. I stand, making my way to the bathroom.

When I open the door, Theo’s leaning against the sink, his head bowed, eyes fixed somewhere far away. But then he blinks up, straightening, and his gaze heats immediately.

I reach out my hand. “Come on. We have some unfinished business.”

Twenty-Two

Hold on a sec.”

Theo’s voice echoes around us. He takes my hand, towing me toward him, arms going around my waist. The feel of his body pressed against mine is complicated; I want to peel his clothes off and let him inside me. But I also want to lay my cheek against his chest, right over his heart, and sink into this quiet with him.

He tucks my hair behind my ear. “Is everything okay with your family?”

I groan. “They’re fine. It was a drunk dial disguised as a check-in, those menaces.”

“They seem great. From what little I ever saw of them.”

My heart sinks at the held-back sadness in his eyes, and I curse my clumsy mouth. Not everyone has a family who cares the way mine does. I have no doubt they’d care about Theo, if it was like that. “Theyaregreat. Overbearing sometimes, but in a... gentle, herding type of way.”

His mouth lifts in a sardonic grin. “Not in anI’m going to insert myself into every aspect of your life and fuck you upway?”

I run my fingers through his hair, following their path so he won’t see the held-back sadness inmyeyes. “No. They’re pretty good at letting me be who I am.”

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