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My father was still moving, spitting out curses while he tried protecting his head and face with his arms. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t come out of the ordeal unscathed.

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VAUGHN - ELECTION NIGHT

“I told you already,” Arden said with a shy smile. “I’m fine. Please stop hovering.”

If you’d told me three or four months ago that her smile would be aimed at my uncle instead of Bett, I would’ve laughed my ass off.

But it was. And Dalton was loving every minute of it.

I leaned over and brushed my lips against Bett’s ear. “What is happening right now?”

“Lil somethin’-somethin’, I think,” he whispered back.

“Ew,” I coughed as Bett pushed up from his spot next to me on Wanda’s large L-shaped sectional and asked if anyone else wanted another drink.

“I’ll take a beer,” Dalton said, offering Bett his empty bottle. “Arden? Another fizzy water? Shit, sorry. Forget I asked. You get nothing. Thirst to death for all I care.”

He shot her a wink and a grin, which made her laugh.

Wanda met my eye with a little affectionate eye roll. I could tell from her grin she thought my uncle’s new crush was adorable. Though I’d never tell Dalton, I kind of agreed. Watching him try to entertain and distract her was like seeing a younger, happier version of him I hadn’t seen since before my mom died.

My uncle and I had talked a lot in the past few weeks and sorted most of our shit. It turned out, his plans to earn bigger profits and to keep the Pit running after graduation hadn’t been motivated by personal greed but by a desire to keep helping me and Grace—me with my dream of opening a shop, Grace with law school. Though, of course, the idiot hadn’t freaking said so, which was kind of on-brand for Dalton.

But as Bett had pointed out to me, I also hadn’t bothered to ask before getting pissed about it, which was kind of on-brand for me.

At least it used to be.

And now, seeing Dalton’s heart eyes every time he looked at Arden, and his genuine desire to make sure she was okay, it would’ve been impossible to hold a grudge even if I’d wanted to.

Dalton was only fifteen years older than I was, so it wouldn’t be unheard of for him and Arden to make it work. But I knew he’d never make a move like that on her while she was in a vulnerable place. He was a patient man when it came to the things he wanted most, and I got the feeling he’d be content staying friends with her even if she was never interested in something more.

And Arden… Well, I had to admit, she was a pretty cool person, now that I’d gotten to know her a little. Bett claimed the pregnancy had brought out the best in her, giving her a chance to shed her popular-girl mask and be a little more true to herself.

Tonight, though, the poor woman was a nervous wreck.

Even though Bett’s father had pulled out of the race, citing private medical reasons, it seemed like Arden needed to see the results come in tonight before she’d believe he was finally out of power.

It had been three and a half weeks since the scene at the clubhouse. Immediately following the senator’s “accident,” he’d tried to bully Bett with a team of attorneys and a tearful “family meeting for the good of the country.”

Bett had texted Rowan, and she’d immediately sent her friend at CNN a short audio clip of soon-to-be-former Senator McNeely saying, “We have an election in less than four weeks. And nothing, I mean nothing, is going to get in the way of that. Do you hear me?” And Bett asking, “Are you threatening me?” with him responding, “I don’t need to. Plenty of other people will.”

His voice was perfectly recognizable, but the CNN contact had wanted more before running with it. So we’d posted it on ten dummy social media accounts, all with various usernames like @SenatorMcNeelyThreat, @McNeelyTruth, @McNeelyParenting, and @SenatorsSayWhat.

Needless to say, they’d gone viral. And his opponent’s team had latched onto them like they were god’s fucking gift.

When we played my father’s “team” a video clip of him admitting to having sex with a twenty-one-year-old campaign staffer, the choice had been clear: pull out of the race or risk being ruined on a national scale and potentially faced with criminal coercion and campaign finance charges.

Thankfully, for Arden and my family’s sake, he’d finally capitulated, putting an obscene amount of money in trust for Arden and her child, regardless of what happened to her pregnancy, and going away relatively quietly.

But because his name had already been on the ballot in Georgia, it was plastered all over the news. There was still a chance of him winning, in which case he’d already agreed to decline the seat. Now that the clip had gone viral, however, his opponent was polling much higher.

I reached over and squeezed Arden’s shoulder. “Gonna be okay,” I said softly. “You’re not alone.”

She turned to face me with shiny eyes. “Bett’s really lucky to have you, you know.”

Arden had gone to great lengths to thank me for helping her. For loving Bett well. For introducing her to Wanda and Dalton. And for not being weird around her. It had taken a solid week of visits up to Wanda’s with Bett before she’d finally pulled me aside and given me a shovel talk.