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My brows furrow, thinking she just called Taylor funny. “Funny looking, maybe,” I snicker, earning me a punch to the shoulder from my best friend.

“No,” she shakes her head before jerking her chin toward the backyard. “Es alto y guapo.”

Following her gaze, my jaw drops when I see Devon crouched near the side of the yard, sleeves shoved up and dirt covering his jeans. A loose circle of kids surrounds him, all yelling over each other in Spanish.

“¡No mires! ¡No mires!”

“I’m not looking,” Dev grins, hands clamped over his eyes. “I swear, I’m not cheating.”

“You’re cheating!” one of my little cousins accuses, pointing dramatically.

He lets out a genuine laugh that makes my chest feel funny. “I literally can’t see!”

Huck steps into my periphery, looking just as bewildered as I am. “Did your mom just call Devon pretty?” he mumbles.

Before I can answer, one of my cousins darts forward to smack Devon on the arm. “Tag!”

Dev freezes instantly, dropping into the most ridiculous pose I’ve ever seen—one knee bent, arms flailing, mouth open.

And the kids fucking lose their minds.

Taylor lets out a surprised snort. “What the hell is that?”

“Freeze tag,” says Carlos, approaching with my tío Ruben. “Or some made-up version of it. Poor guy's been ‘it’ for like twenty minutes.”

Ruben hums approvingly. “Very patient,” he says almost… fondly.

What the fuck is happening right now?

Dev doesn’t unfreeze until another kid taps him, and when he does, he springs to his feet and chases them off the grass. It's kind of like… cute, and shit. And weird. From the look on Huckslee's face when I glance at him, I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Devon spins around with a bright smile on his face, one I've never even seen before. It's only when his eyes meet mine across the yard that his face drops.

“Time out,” he tells the kids, throwing me a sideways glance. “I gotta check in with my jailer.”

They all groan in unison.

“Nooo!”

“¡Tramposo!”

“I'll be back,” he laughs, backing away. “I promise.”

That earns him a fresh round of boos as he jogs toward us, brushing dirt off his palms. Ruben chuckles, shooing the kids back to their field to be watched over.

The minute Dev gets close, Taylor claps him on the shoulder. “Hey man, it's been forever. Christian didn't tell me you'd be here.”

“He wasn't invited,” I answer quickly, my harsh words immediately stinging my chest. Everybody turns to me with wide eyes, Dev included. Fuck. “I just meant, like… I didn't know you'd stick around, is all. Thought you'd just drop off the cake and bounce.”

“I told him to stay.” My sister, Sofia, appears next to Carlos.

“Yeah,” my brother nods, “me too. He looked all lost and stuff.”

Dev scoffs. “I did not.”

“Did so,” Sofia fires back with all the attitude of the sixteen-year-old that she is. “And hungry. Like a stray puppy.”

“I'm not—” Dev cuts himself off with a glance toward the food table. “Okay, I am actually hungry.”