Page 121 of Pick Me This Time

“You need to come to your parents’ place with us,” I said firmly, keeping hold of Daphne’s hand but putting my other on his shoulder. “Seriously, Eric. I think you may be in shock or something. Let’s go.”

Guiding them through the crowd to my truck back in the high school parking lot, we piled in with Daphne in the middle. Eric did not say a word all the way to their parents’ house. When I parked in front of the garage, both Marty and Janet came running out, racing over to the car.

There were tears in Janet’s eyes when she saw her children were both here. Both safe. Marty stood behind her, pale as a ghost as they waited for their kids to get out. Eric opened the door, still without another word to me, almost collapsing into their arms. Janet started sobbing.

Daphne hung back, waiting for me to join her. She deliberately took my hand again as we approached. “Are you guys okay? I know you were way back at the start of the parade, but I was worried anyway.”

Marty looked up from his wife and son, nodding at her. He smiled as he glanced at our joined hands. “We’re fine, baby. We tried to get to you, but it was just too crazy and we weren’t even sure where to start looking, so we decided to come wait here. None of you have any injuries, right?”

“No, we’re all good,” she replied, releasing me only to give each of her parents a quick hug once they broke away from her brother.

Janet beamed at us, the relief written all over her features as she waved us into the house. “Alright, come on, children. I’m going to get dinner started. You’re going to be starving after all that excitement once the shock wears off.”

I chuckled, but I was still in a little bit of shock myself. Not about the accident or the fire, though. That float had been a death trap and it hadn’t come as a surprise to either Eric or me when the engine had caught fire.

We’d kept everyone clear of that area from the moment we’d stepped onto the thing, and we’d already started evacuating them before we’d even crashed into the football float ahead of us. It’d been a jarring impact, but that was it.

My shock was more about the fact that I was here with the LaSalles now, holding Daphne’s hand in front of her family, and none of them had even skipped a beat. As soon as we were inside, she even turned to me, smiling, and stood up on her toes to press a sweet, chaste kiss to my lips.

“I’m going to help my mom. I’ll be back soon. Make yourself comfortable, and if Eric takes a swing at you, call my mom.”

I’d barely even had time to process that she’d just kissed me when Eric groaned, apparently having seen the whole thing from their living room. Marty had been standing right behind him, but he winked at me when I caught his gaze.

“I don’t need to tell you what I’ll do to you if you hurt her, right?” he asked lightly, making one hand into a fist and smacking it into the open palm of his other hand.

I shook my head. “No, sir. I think I’m pretty clear on that.”

“Excellent.” He grinned. His gaze drifted to his son and he jerked a thumb in the direction of the dining room. “I think I’ll go set the table. Give you boys a minute to talk. Like Daph said though, if he takes a swing at you, call Janet.”

Eric scoffed down a bark of laughter, but when his blue eyes met mine as his father walked away, he sighed and motioned for me to join him. We walked into their living room, sinking down on the couches clustered in front of the TV in the spacious room.

“So this is really happening, huh?” He sat down across from me, his legs spread wide and his elbows resting on them, his eyes not leaving mine. “You and my sister are officially together?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know that it’s official, but yeah. It’s happening.”

“You’re still leaving tomorrow?” he asked.

“I am,” I said. “I’m not just leaving her behind, though. New York is only a plane ride away. I’ll figure it out.”

Eric just stared at me for another long beat. “I still don’t like it, but I won’t stand in your way. That wasn’t really making much of a difference anyway.”

“Does that mean we have your blessing?” I asked, my brow furrowing in disbelief.

He scoffed and shook his head. “Absolutely not, but it does mean you might get it eventually,” he said. “You’re like a brother to me, North. Always have been. I suppose I’m just going to have to learn how to trust you with this.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but it was like everything suddenly felt just a little lighter. A little more colorful. Like there might actually be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel after all.