Page 51 of Shatter

His smile turns indulgent, and maybe a little proud.

The door opens again, breaking our little moment, as Cass comes in, arguing with a young boy; maybe nine or ten. Followed by Declan, who is carrying a little girl on his hip, followed by an adorable woman with mousey brown hair and a wide smile. She must be Serenity.

They're chatting animatedly with the people behind them, and I watch as Daniel and a gorgeous redhead pour in behind them. Daniel's got a little girl on his shoulders, so he pauses in the doorway to swing her down by an arm and a leg, depositing her onto the floor in a puddle of giggles. In the redhead's arms is a tiny sleeping baby, swaddled in a gorgeous green cloth.

I'm stunned by the sudden change in the condo - from tense and silent to boisterous and loud. Harrison seems to act on autopilot, pulling the bassinet and toy basket out and sliding his coffee table against the wall. He kisses Cass on the cheek as she passes him in the living room, and does the same to Nell, who deposits the sleeping baby in the bassinet.

My heart squeezes in on itself as tears spring to my eyes. This is what the toys and bassinet were for. This man loves his found family so much he keeps children's toys and a freaking bassinet in his condo for the rare moments they come to visit him. Apparently, I've gotten Harrison wrong this entire time. He's not grumpy and cold. He's warm. He's so warm he makes sure every member of his friend group has whatever they need whenever they're around. I turn my back on the scene for a moment while I regroup and push any tears that want to fall down. I can think about how sweet this man is later; right now I have to impress his friends, because their opinion of me matters the most.

If they don't like me, any chance at a future with Harrison is a pipedream. He's so involved with his Envelope family. This has to work.

I roll my shoulders back, psych myself up, and prepare to impress.

"Can I help with anything?" I ask Harrison as he joins me in the kitchen.

"Sure. Grab some plates from the cabinet."

Giddiness bubbles in my chest. We're like a real couple, hosting a dinner party together. He's letting me be as involved in this as I want to be. Like, I'm really hosting. It's a ridiculously stupid emotion, but I feel it nonetheless.

Grabbing the plates, I set them on the island next to the food. Taking the initiative, I pull out the correct number of forks and knives and place them next to them too.

"Water?" I ask.

"Sure."

I busy myself by filling seven glasses before second-guessing myself. I lean into Harrison's space and whisper, "What about the kids? Do they get glasses?"

He rotates us so that my hips are pinned to the counter and he presses his front to my back. I suck in a surprised gasp, feeling him everywhere. His warmth seeps through his clothing and his cologne makes me dizzy. Having him this close and in an intimate position in front of his friends feels scandalous.

Thwack.

Startled, I open my eyes to see two kids' cups - both pink - that he'd pulled from an upper cabinet and slammed onto the counter in front of me. God, this man.

With my hands shaking, I unscrew the lids and fill them with water, too.

"Food's ready!" Harrison says, and I catch his knowing grin out of the corner of my eye.

Dinner is a loud affair. I'd expected a formal, stuffy event like the dinner parties Athena and Chris would host in their stuffy mansion. My attention bounces between several conversations, all happening at once.

Nell's talking to Elijah about his little league team and if they've chosen a name yet; Serenity and Daniel are arguing about sleep training and weaning babies off of pacifiers, and Danny is chatting with Cammy about how much she loves kindergarten, and how Cammy's going to love it, too. How they have rules and different stations and what she's learning.

It's overwhelming in the best way. But I sink a little when I realize I have nothing to contribute to the conversations.

I don't know anything about kids, or little league, or school. I was homeschooled by Natalia, my tutor.

"Oh!" Cass interrupts. All eyes turn to her, and the wicked grin she's sending my way instantly has the hairs on the back of my neck rising. "Have you seen the comments on your statement video?"

I shove a spoonful of green beans in my mouth to stall. But shake my head 'no'.

"She shut off her phone after posting it," Harrison supplies, since I can't. "Why?"

Cass stands, pulling her phone out of the purse strapped to the back of her hair, walking behind Harrison and me and tapping on her phone to bring it up.

"I swear I wasn't looking for this. It's going viral and was all over my FYP," she starts. She pauses the video of me because we already know what it says and scrolls through the comments. She hands her phone to me so I can inspect them.

A lot of them are the same: "we love you girl!" or "love is love!" "Mel is an ally!" But then she points to one, and the comments start to change. "Who got our girl smiling like that?" "Clearly she's already moved on; that final look could burn down a building." "Clearly our queen wasn't too upset if she's moved on this soon."

I fold my lips together to hide my smile and give Cass her phone back.