Page 164 of Brighter Together

Alex stares at the blackened potatoes.

“They’re fine.”

Tommy looks over his shoulder.

“They’re charcoal.”

“They’re crispy.”

“They have stopped being food,” Emma says.

Alex points at her.

“You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I’m with Tommy on this one.” She gives him a big grin.

“Unbelievable,” he mock-sighs.

Tommy brushes a hand lightly across my back.

“Ella, this is Ryan. He might be joining FMR.”

The newcomer gives me a friendly smile and holds out his hand.

“Ryan, we hug!” Christina shouts through a mouthful of cheese.

“Yeah, I’d rather not upset Tommy by getting my hands on his woman before he’s accepted me to FMR,” Ryan says, giving me a cheeky wink.

Tommy’s hand immediately settles at the small of my back, and I have to smile.

He might still be angry with me, but he has shown me more than once that this anger won’t break our relationship.

I am his.

No second-guessing.

No awkwardness.

Just us.

That is enough.

The night air is colder than I expected when Tommy and I step out onto the terrace behind Greenview Manor.

Dinner at Alex and Emma’s descended into complete chaos somewhere between the burnt potatoes, Max explaining the latest developments in Snail Bail’s life and Christina deciding Ryan needed interrogating about why anyone would voluntarily join FMR.

By the time we left, my cheeks hurt from laughing.

Now Greenview Manor is quiet.

Warm light spills from the tall windows behind us, stretching across the terrace and fading into the gardens. Somewhere inside, guests are still finishing dinner and staff are clearing tables, but out here there is only the crunch of gravel beneath our shoes and the faint movement of wind through the trees.

Tommy takes my hand.

Neither of us says anything for a while.

I like that.