Page 59 of Spreading Her Wings

“Fucking burn them. I’m not letting you go.” I touched my lips lightly to hers. “Katie, I love you. I’ll love you for the rest of my life.”

The sob that broke from her chest caused her to quiver, and she tightened her arms around me, closing her hands around my jacket like they had been during the service. If she let go, I wasn’t so sure she’d stay on her feet, and I hooked my arms around her waist, tugging her flush against me.

“I love you too,” she said, whimpering. “I’ve loved you for a long time. I shouldn’t have fought against it. I…”

I interrupted her words with my mouth on hers, brushing my tongue along her bottom lip. She sighed, her chest rising and falling against mine, the layers of fabric separating us rubbing against my chest. It was static, and I desperately wanted her closer to me.

Remembering where we were, I pulled my lips back, dropping my forehead against hers again until her eyelashes brushed mine. I breathed in her quick exhales, soaking up every aroma that had come to smell like home in the time since I’d fixed her dryer. She tightened her fingers on my jacket, and the sound of a throat clearing behind us made her jump in my arms. I could nearly feel the racing of her heart through her pulse.

“So, this is a fucking joke, right?” Andy’s voice was high-pitched, infuriated, and nearly the same level of shrill she got when she was going to yell at someone. “You two are fucking now? What isthis?”

Katie cringed, shrinking back from me even as I tightened my hold on her. I wasn’t letting her go that easily. “We’re not just fucking.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Auston, huh? You blow me off and run out of dinner,” she said, throwing her arm in my direction before turning to Katie. “Andyoumake me think it’s because your aunt is…” When Katie started to shiver, Andy’s voice trailed off.

“I love her.” I pulled Katie’s head against my chest, trying to still her shaking, and my sister glared at me.

“How long?”

I tilted my head. Where was she going with this? “What?”

She sighed, adding an airy groan to the exhale. “How long have you been hiding this from me?”

“Five months.” I didn’t bother to tell my sister Katie was everything to me. That I’d felt more alive burning brownies in her kitchen than I had at any other point in my life, and that I’d be willing to do any stupid thing if Katie told me she’d do it with me.

Andy looked between us, narrowing her darkened hazel eyes. “Because this is Aunt June’s funeral and I loved her, I’ll save this for later. But I’m fucking disgusted withboth of you.” The staccato click of her heels on the pavement as she stormed away was easily heard over the thinning conversations around us.

I didn’t bother to see who was watching, sure we’d already made enough of a scene. Katie’s tears soaked through the front of my shirt, and when she sniffled, she looked up at me. “You should go after her.”

My brow furrowed. “Not a chance in hell.”

She gasped, and it reminded me we stood in front of a church. I shrugged, pressing my lips to the top of her head and slowly sucking in a deep breath when Jules approached us, closely followed by Demetri and William.

“Why didn’t you just tell us? I thought we were done keeping secrets after we almost lost her.” Katie’s shoulders sankin defeat, surely remembering the way she’d cradled my sister through a major depressive episode the year before.

“It wasn’t ever supposed to be real.” The words she spoke were hoarse, like they scratched her throat. I tried to remember when it was fake. Even when it was fake, it felt so real. When did it stop being fake?

Jules nodded, rubbing her thumb over Katie’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. “I’ll talk to her,” she said before gesturing to Demetri. “We’lltalk to her.”

He nodded, giving me a small smile. It was a truce. He didn’t judge me. “I get it. I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with your sister, either. It just happens.” His small grin grew at the mention of Andy, and his eyes lit up.

It made me think of every time I’d thought about being with Katie; the way just her name made the inside of my chest swell and made it harder to breathe.If I had her, I didn’t need air.

I nodded a thank-you, and Katie let go of me to hug Jules. Her body was racked with sobs, and Katie rested her head on her shoulder. When Jules let go and followed the two men to the car parked in front of the church, Katie returned her weight to my arms, leaning against me.

She opened her mouth as if she was going to speak when there was a pat on my back, making me whip my head to the side and causing Katie to step back briefly. Behind me, her parents watched us with solemn but happy stares.

“Thank you for being here,” Randy said, sticking his hand out and gripping mine. Cheryl followed behind him, wrapping her arms around me and kissing my cheek.

When she let go, I looked between them. “There will never be another day I’m nothere.” My sister was just going to have to figure out how to forgive us.

My kitchen smelled like slightly burnt buttered bread and melted cheese, and I rested my head against my arms on the counter, watching Auston cook. He opened the cabinet to the left of the stove and closed the doors, moving to the other cabinet and scowling when he opened the door to the right.

“What are you looking for?” I cleared my throat when my voice was hoarse, and he let the cabinets shut behind him.

He rounded the counter, running his hand through my hair and leaning down to kiss my cheek. “Nothing, kitten. I got it.” He continued to the other counter, opening the cabinet that held the bowls. He gathered two, letting the doors shut behind him and spinning around.

Auston moved around my kitchen comfortably, and I gave him a small smile. Judging by the way he leaned against the counter, a grin lighting up his own face, he saw it. His posture relaxed slightly, and when he ladled a spoon full of soup into the bowl, my stomach growled.

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