Page 155 of Twisted Needs

Just because we’re fated doesn’t mean it had to start out as something romantic. I loved him because he was precious. And then I loved him because taking care of him felt like the only thing I’ve been put on this Earth to do. And now I love him because I’ve spent the last eighteen years loving him. I didn’t know it would come to this. How could I? I love him the way I do because it was the only kind of love that was missing.

And I don’t think love could ever be wrong. Not if it’s real.

CHAPTER 44

MY COLLEGE GRADUATE

ANDERS

“Okay…you have to smile more,” Emelie snaps, pointing her finger at my brother. “And Anders, mon lutin, you must stand closer to him or else it looks awkward.”

“Why are you sweating so much?” I mutter to Luca. My eyes track a bead of sweat that trickles down his forehead. His light brown hair is so sweaty it looks like he just got out of a pool.

He rolls his eyes and yanks me closer. “Just fucking smile or else she won’t leave us alone.”

After a million more photos, Emelie finally puts her phone back in her purse. She holds her hands out as she walks over to me with a proud look on her face. “My college graduate,” she gushes. “This is the happiest day of my life.”

“You know—our wedding was pretty nice, too,” Luca mutters. “And also maybe the birth of our three children.”

She wraps her arms around me. “This is my favorite child, too, mon cher. I loved him before I ever loved you.”

“Yeah, I know,” Luca says flatly. “That’s why I had him propose on my behalf.”

I was seven, I think, when Luca and Emelie got engaged. Luca gave me a ring and told me to ask Emelie if she would marry my big brother. Sometimes I think Luca might actually be worried she’d say no if I wasn’t involved.

“My handsome college graduate,” she gushes again, pressing her lips to my cheek before immediately wiping away her lipgloss. “Not your color,” she mutters beneath her breath.

My whole family flew in from Minnesota to watch me walk across the stage. A few feet off to the side, Parker’s mom, Yeva, is messing with her husband, Jeremy’s faculty gown. Little Manuela is squirming around in Jeremy’s arms while Laura and Ines are filming dancing TikTok videos on Healy Lawn. Luca’s dad was supposed to fly in, but his stepmother caught Covid at the last minute. Emelie’s parents are flying in from France in a few weeks to visit for the summer.

But none of that matters the moment I see Parker. It takes everything in me not to run up and climb my man like a fucking tree. He made it just in time from the airport. Unfortunately he wasn’t here to see me walk across the stage, but he left the team and flew home as early as he could to make it, which means so much more.

I can tell he hasn’t slept in days. There’s dark circles around his eyes and I can just tell by the way he stands that he’s exhausted from traveling and all the games.

But he shaved.

After months of complaining, the beard is gone. His mustache is neatly trimmed, dark hair slicked back, and he’s wearing a white polo that shows off the tattoos on his forearms. I might be hard right now…God, that man is fucking edible.

“I’m so sorry I missed it,” is the first thing he says when he’s at arms length.

But I can’t stop smiling like an absolute idiot. I wrap my arms around him and sigh against his chest—maybe not as subtle as I should be, but this is my day and he’s my boyfriend so I don’t really care right now. “Thank you for coming,” I murmur.

“Look at you!” Luca chirps, slapping his hand on Parker’s shoulder.

I reluctantly pull away, trying not to let it bother me…the fact that Luca can so easily just step in and remind me that Parker was his first. Luca got decades of him before I did.

“Finally shaved the thing,” he says to Parker. “Don’t you look pretty.”

“It’s good to see you,” Parker smiles at him. Then he pulls Emelie in for a hug and kisses her on the cheek. “You’re here too,” he mutters sarcastically.

“You can’t be mean to me at my son’s graduation,” she scoffs, following it up with a slur of French swears.

Parker eyes his parents and clears his throat. “Gonna go say hi to them,” he says to Luca and Emelie.

And maybe it’s stupid. For a minute, something bitter fills my mouth at the thought of him just walking off, but then Parker—just effortlessly cool about it—throws an arm around my shoulder and guides me over.

It sort of all just hits me at once. It’s casual and I doubt my brother is thinking anything of it, but it honestly feels better than it did when I was handed my diploma.

It’s such a stupidly small thing. An arm around my shoulder. That’s it. But for years every version of loving Parker existed behind closed doors, inside my own head, tucked into places nobody else could see. Now he’s standing beside me in the middle of Georgetown’s campus with his arm slung around me like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Our relationship has never felt more validated, just from the simple gesture.