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“Take a break,” I told her, going over and touching her back. She’d been standing next to the grill for a long time and her face was flushed. “Sit down and let me get you a drink.”
Theo handed the tongs to my dad and let me lead her to a chair. I pushed a glass of lemonade into her hand and pulled a chair next to her.
“Happy?” Theo asked after she’d drained half the glass. She’d been worried about me taking care of myself, and I should have been more concerned with her overdoing it.
“I am. Are you?” Theo reached out and took my hand, resting it on the arm rest between us.
“I’m happy if you’re happy,” she said.
I shook my head. “But are you happy? I want you to be happy.”
Theo leaned over and kissed the tip of my nose. “Yes, princess. I’m happy. I never thought I would enjoy a party like this, but I am. I’m happy here, with you.”
I couldn’t stop myself from kissing her lips that tasted of lemonade. I realized how thirsty I was and that I needed to drink something myself.
“So, when can I expect to hear wedding bells?” My mom’s voice cut through the haze of kissing Theo.
“Mom,” I said. “Pump the brakes.”
“I’m just asking,” she said, feigning innocence.
“Do Moms go to some sort of class to learn how to nag their children to get married?” Hollis asked, and Amanda hit her on the arm. “What? You did the same thing.
“Yes, and now you’re married, so I got what I wanted. Now I just need some grandchildren.”
Hollis rolled her eyes.
“Wait til you have your first baby. Then your mom will start asking for the second,” Linley said, shifting Georgia to her shoulder.
“I’m not asking for grandchildren,” Mom said, putting her hands up.
“Yet,” I said, and Mom laughed.
“I wouldn’t recommend eloping,” Sasha said. “Your parents might get a little mad about it.”
“They weren’t that mad,” Jax said.
“We’re doing a second ceremony,” Sasha said. “So everyone’s happy now.”
“Don’t you dare elope,” Mom said to me.
“We haven’t even talked about marriage yet!” I looked at Theo to find her trying to hide a smile.
“What?” I asked her. “Are you ready to get married?”
“We can talk about it later,” Theo said. I was shocked she wasn’t running screaming into the house and slamming the door in my face. We’d barely been a couple and I knew I wasn’t ready to get married. Sure, I thought about it. I pictured myself standing at the altar looking across at Theo, who wore a beautiful suit, and telling her how much I loved her.
If I was honest, I’d thought about it more and more in recent days, but that didn’t mean I was ready for it.
“Clint married Kim after a month of dating,” Theo said. “Sometimes when you know, you know.”
I looked over at Clint, who had his arm around his wife and his baby asleep on his lap as they watched Mia chase Preston around with a squirt gun.
That led everyone to start talking about how long they’d been together before they’d known their significant other was the one.
“It didn’t take me long,” Paige said.
“But you fought it,” Esme said.
“What a fool,” Paige said, kissing Esme.
“Fighting it is pointless,” Em said. “It will only make you miserable.”
“Agreed,” Charli said. “And pretending it’s ‘just casual’ doesn’t work, either.”
“Don’t go on a date with someone your family is setting you up with,” Hollis said.
“Hey, you’re talking about me,” Julia said, pretending to be offended.
“And I love you,” Hollis said. “Even if I’m still mad that I was tricked into going out with you.”
“Don’t agree to work for someone you’re attracted to,” McKenna said, wiping Preston’s face. He’d eaten an ice pop and gotten it everywhere.
“It all worked out in the end,” Piper said, handing McKenna another wipe.
“And sometimes the girl who was your best friend shows up after years and it turns out she’s gotten extremely hot during those years,” Hayden said.
“I could say the same for you,” Alessi said, and her Gram cackled.
“All good advice,” Theo said, gazing at me. “But I think we’ll blaze our own path.”
“Together,” I said.
“Together,” she agreed.
A few hours later I collapsed with Theo on the couch. “I’m too tired to go to bed,” I said.
“It’s not even seven p.m.,” Theo said. My parents were in their room decompressing from the party. I’d gotten a little bit too much sun and my skin was starting to crisp. Both Theo and my mom had hounded me about sunscreen, but I hadn’t been vigilant enough.
“I know, but my tank is empty,” I said through a yawn, putting my head on Theo’s shoulder. It was an extremely comfortable shoulder. She put her arm around me and pulled me in so I could snuggle against her chest.
“You can rest now, princess,” Theo said. My parents were leaving on Monday, and they’d said they could amuse themselves tomorrow, so Theo and I were going to have a day to ourselves after we took my parents to breakfast and to see the bookstore space.
