Page 216 of Knot What I Expected

Matteo overhears us.

“See! I told you!”

Everyone laughs. Rowan mutters something under his breath.

“What was that?” I ask sweetly.

“Nothing, Honey Girl.”

“That’s what I thought.”

His hand disappears beneath the table and lands high on my thigh. It’s hotter than I expect, and I changed into shorts a little while ago, so when I say his hand is on my thigh—I mean on my bare thigh.

And his fingers are slowly drawing circles on my skin, moving higher and higher. Closer to where I want him, if I’m being honest.

Which I’m not.

I suck in a breath so fast I nearly inhale a mouthful of chocolate cake.

Asshole.

I glare at him.

He takes a completely innocent sip of his beer.

Yeah. Right.

After everything we ate, nobody seems capable of moving far, so we stay gathered around the big outdoor table beneath the strings of lights.

Wreck has a beer. Rowan does too. Justin switched to coffee after dinner.

I've got tea because I need something to cut through the sugar overload.

Gia is sipping sparkling apple cider from a champagne flute because she says if she has to spend her birthday pregnant and sober, she's at least drinking out of fancy glassware.

Matteo has cider too—in a plastic cup. Because I'm not an idiot.

The fire crackles nearby. Cool mountain air brushes against my cheeks, carrying woodsmoke and pine. And for a little while, I just sit there.

Watching.

Listening.

Gia is laughing.

Wreck is pretending he isn't watching every single move his pregnant mate makes.

Justin is fake-arguing with Matteo about whether a Dragon could beat a T-Rex.

Rowan's thumb is still tracing lazy circles against my thigh beneath the table.

This feels good. Regular.

Blissfully normal.

And that might be the strangest part.

I can't remember the last time I sat around a table like this without some part of me watching the door.