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I clap my hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. “Thank you.”
Henry nods, shoving his hands in his pants pockets as he glances about the jam-packed party. “Your mum always knew how to throw a party, didn’t she!”
I snort a laugh. “She’s really something.” When I gesture towards the woman in question, Henry spins about, laughing when he spots her singing softly to his sleeping son as Liv watches on with a dimpled smile on her face.
“She’s always had a knack with kids. When I basically moved into your house, she never once made me feel like I wasn’t part of the family…” Henry trails off, his eyes glossing over as he remembers something from that dark time of his life.
He physically shakes himself out of his reverie, widening his eyes and pasting a smile on his tanned face. “Your parents were the only example of real, unrestricted,truelove that I witnessed growing up. Nate, too.” His smile reaches his eyes when it grows. “I always wanted that kind of love, and it fucking amazes me every damn day that I found my Peach. That I get to experience the love I’d thought I’d never deserve.”
My face mirrors his. “I know what you mean, brother.”
Henry’s smile becomes a self-satisfied smirk, and he raises a knowing brow. “I see taking that leap of faith and trusting in the universe did you the world of good!”
I throw my head back and laugh. It feels good.
Life is good.
“What are you two whispering about, like a pair of grumpy old men?”
Nate appears at Henry’s side, passing both of us a beer before sipping from his own.
Henry side-eyes our friend with a down-turned bottom lip. “Doesn’t Metropolis need saving, Mr Kent?”
“Are youstillharping on about that, Batman?” Nate rolls his eyes, blowing out a breath. “It’s a damn costume!”
“That’s not the point, Hawthorne.”
I press my lips together, glancing around the party in search of Summer, only for my eyes to once again find Noah watching me intently. As I narrow my eyes, Jesse bounds up beside me, brimming with his signature exuberance.
“Ford said he’ll take me horse-riding tomorrow if Mom agrees…” he trails off, smiling up into my eyes with beseeching eyes. “Might you talk her round, Dad?”
My mouth turns up in a smile, and I throw my right arm over his shoulders as I steer him in the direction of his mother, who’s currently hosting a tea party at the edge of the patio with his little sister.
“Come on. Let’s ask her. Together.”
A grin splits his face, and he chews on his bottom lip with wide, excited eyes. “She’ll definitely say yes if you ask. In the stories she used to tell about you, she always said you talked her into doing things she’d never have done for anyone else.”
I ruffle his messy blonde hair as I snort, nodding my head in acknowledgement as we approach our quarry. I lift a brow devilishly, allowing my biggest smile to spread across my face.
Time to dial the charm up to ten!
“Let’s see if I can meet with your expectations, kid.”
* * *
SUMMER
My afternoon passed in a blur of faces and names I would surely never remember, yet happiness surged through me with every single genuine interaction I had.
“I see you’re still trending on TikTok.”
Beau Maxwell, drummer extraordinaire, sidles up alongside me, a huge smirk on his round face. I narrow my eyes, ready to hit him with a retort, when I hear a voice at my back.
“I see you’ve finally grown your whiskers.”
I choke on my sip of prosecco when Caden appears almost out of nowhere, encircling his corded forearm around my waist to tug me back against his chest.
My entire body relaxes into him, forgetting where we are and who we’re with, only caring that it’s joined to its other half.
