Page 2 of All I Feel

Last weekend, at twenty-four years old, I’d finally done it. I lost my virginity to Ryan.

It was nice. I thought he made it special. And I lovedhow attentive he’d been afterward. I was looking forward to exploring that part of our relationship more this weekend.

About ten minutes after I’d finished getting ready, Lark showed up, and we took off. As was not uncommon, we walked in fifteen minutes late to celebrate with my sister.

After offering her birthday greetings, hugs, and presents, Phoenix said, “Finally! Now that these two have decided to join us, we can order. I’m starving.”

I glared at my brother. “I’m sure you’re going to be just fine, Phoenix.”

“Yeah. Besides,” Lark cut in, “it’s not like you didn’t already know this would happen. You should’ve planned better.”

As Phoenix pinned his eyes on her, something washed over his expression, and he let out a sigh of defeat.

Our server walked up and took our orders, and after she marched away, Savanna said, “This feels so strange.”

“What does?” Olivia asked.

The moment Savanna’s expression turned melancholy, I knew what was going through her mind. “Chloe.”

My heart was aching as Kingston said, “She was bummed about it, but the important thing is that my sister’s on the mend. And we’ll just celebrate with Harper again when Chloe is healed.”

No doubt in my mind that we’d do that. Chloe and her boyfriend Hawk didn’t come tonight because she’d recently been shot and was recovering. Savanna was right—it felt strange being here without her.

Mia added, “Well, as important as it is that she’s healing, it’s also a relief that everything seems to be settled between her and Hawk now.”

“I can see Mia’s focused on what’s most important,” Kingston muttered.

I bit my lip to stifle the laughter. It was only just over a month ago that he’d learned about Chloe dating. It had taken him a moment to come to grips with that knowledge. Although Mia was her twin, she was the meeker of the two, and I got the suspicion that Kingston wasn’t ready for his only other sister to be caught up in a relationship.

“Itiswhat’s most important,” Savanna insisted. “Chloe’s happy. Taj and Olivia are happy. And Tessa and Ryan are well on their way. I think it’s wonderful.”

“Speaking of which,” Ace interjected, bringing his eyes to me. “Where is Ryan?”

“He’s meeting us at Lou’s later. He’s been working late all week on a case between depositions and whatnot,” I explained.

As Ace lifted his chin in understanding, Taj said, “Well, let’s just hope that the way everything went down with Olivia and me or Chloe and Hawk isn’t any indication of what might happen with Tessa and Ryan or anyone else in this group.”

I couldn’t have agreed more. It hadn’t even been a full year, and we’d already dealt with Olivia being run off the road and kidnapped, as well as Chloe being shot. We’d experienced our fair share of drama already, and I wasn’t interested in seeing anyone else I cared for winding up in a precarious situation.

“I’ll add that,” Harper declared.

“Add what?”

A bright smile spread across my sister’s face. “I’m certainly grateful for all the gifts everyone showered me with tonight, but I’ve been thinking about my birthdaywish. And tonight, when I blow out my candles, I’ll wish for no drama along with the chance to fall in love this year.”

Our brother, Archer, groaned. “Why is this the only concern? Can’t everyone just be happy with things the way they are?”

“There’s more to life than just snowboarding, big bro,” Harper informed him.

“I’m aware. Why do you think I’m here?”

“Because it’s the middle of summer, and you have no other choice,” Lark countered, a hint of amusement in her tone.

Everyone laughed, our server returned, and all of us spent the rest of dinner catching up. It was nice, especially considering the last time we were all together like this had been in a hospital while we waited for news on Chloe.

Following a wonderful dinner and delicious dessert—though not nearly as good as one of Chloe’s cakes—all of us moved to leave. As soon as I was back in Lark’s car, I sent a text to Ryan to let him know we’d finished dinner and were heading to Lou’s.

I hadn’t heard from him by the time we’d arrived there, and I’d just assumed he was already on his way. Not giving it a second thought, I was immediately out on the dance floor with my girlfriends. Harper might’ve been the only one of us that did it in a professional capacity, taking over the studio our mom had opened years ago, but we’d grown up taking dance lessons together and loved to do it anytime the opportunity arose.