Page 152 of Unravel Me

She smiles, pressing herself against me, sweeping her mouth over mine. “I’ll warm you up after.”

“That reminds me, Carter wants to do No-Nut November. No sex for the whole month.”

“But I start a new rotation on Monday. I’ll be up all night overthinking everything if you don’t put me to sleep. And also, just no.”

I chuckle, kissing her pouty red lips. “I may have let him talk me into this ridiculous fucking outfit, but I will not let him talk me out of you.” My eyes go to my reflection in the mirror, and I sigh at all the orange. I’d rather be in my crayon costume. “Do I look okay?”

Rosie presses her lips together and nods. “Mhmm.”

“That’s not convincing.”

“Well, I love you anyway.” Slender fingers lace through mine, and she tugs me out of the bathroom.

All eyes lift to mine, and Carter, who’s wearing a purple dress with a black lace overlay, spreads his arms wide. “Ehhh! There he is!”

The girls explode with laughter, and Rosie finally lets hers go beside me.

“Aw, c’mon!” Garrett throws his arms in the air. His blond hair is pulled into high pigtails, and he’s wearing a skintight pink dress and knee-high socks with his runners. The finishing touch is the gold choker around his neck that saysBABY.“Adam got to be Sporty Spice and I’m stuck as fucking Baby Spice?”

Emmett gestures at his gold spandex jumpsuit. “Fuck off. I’m fucking Scary Spice. I’m wearing fuckingspandex.” He aims a pointed look at his crotch and drops his voice to a whisper. “You can seeeverything.”

Cara rubs his chest. “And we love it, baby.”

Connor peeks up from the mat he’s playing on with Ireland, his eyes lighting. “Woooah-ho-ho! Dada! Orange Dada!” He leaps up, toddling over to me, strokes a hand over my orange cargo pants, and grins up at me. “I lub you, orange Dada.”

“I love you, too, Mittens.” Mittens because he’s dressed as a kitten, and he’s been walking around calling himself Mittens.

The basement door slides open, but nobody comes out. Then, after a minute, one running shoe appears, followed by a Union Jack sock, attached to a long, hairy leg. Slow as molasses, Jaxon steps into the hallway, clothed in red booty shorts and a matching tank top, showing off a sliver of his torso, and his brown hair now shines a vibrant red.

“Nobody say a word,” he mutters, walking into the silent kitchen with his head down. “Not a fuckingword.”

The slow clomp of his shoes sounds against the kitchen floor as all eyes follow him. When he pulls a beer from the fridge and starts to down it, the snicker-snorts start, choked and muffled.

Jaxon closes his eyes and drops his head back with a groan as laughter explodes around him. “Fuck it, I don’t care. I look fine as fuck, and everyone knows Ginger Spice was the hottest Spice Girl.”

“Okay, well—” I gesture at myself “—it was clearly Sporty Spice.”

“No way,” Garrett argues. He twines a tiny pigtail and pops a hip, pink lollipop in his hand. “Baby Spice, all the way.”

Emmett gestures aggressively at his outfit. “I’m in. Fucking.Spandex.”

“You’re all wrong,” Carter says. “It was Posh Spice. She was the hottest one. That’s why I’m dressed as her.” He points his foot in his runners, and my eyes go to the black string he has laced up his calves like some sort of decoration. When he flexes one calf, the string breaks. “Aw, damnit.Ollie! My muscular calves broke my string again!”

“Well, stop flexing them!”

“I can’t simply stop flexing my muscles.” He shakes his head and scoops up Ireland, who’s dressed as the world’s cutest puppy. “C’mon, puppy girl. Let’s get you into your Posh Spice costume.”

Olivia plants her fists on her hips. “She’s happy in her puppy costume.”

“She wants to twin with Daddy, though. Yes, you do, little princess, don’t you? Daddy even got you a leather jacket to keep you warm.” Despite Olivia’s protests, he heads down the hall with Ireland in his arms, singing “Spice Up Your Life” as he goes, and ten minutes later, he returns with his Posh Spice twin, except she’s still wearing her puppy ears.

He holds her out to Olivia. “Compromise.” Leaning into me, he hides his whisper behind his hand. “If I only have one night left, gotta make it count.”

He doesn’t only have one night left; he knows it as well as the rest of us do, including Olivia, who rolls her eyes and whispers something in his ear, something that has his eyes bulging as we all head toward the front door.

We stop on the front porch for a photo op—several, actually, until Carter’s satisfied—then head down the street, one terrifying group that definitely shouldn’t ever be seen in public.

But as I look around at my friends, the way everyone simply accepts their place in this unit, how permanent it is, I know this is everything I’ve ever wanted out of life. Family who chooses to stand next to you every day, even when you’re a six-foot-five man dressed as a Spice Girl and embarrassing the fuck out of yourself.

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