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“Aunt Lily loved her home movies. Mum was filming on the video camera while Uncle Sam was trying to take the photos. It was hilarious.”
“Well, let’s not recreate that particular memory,” I say, poking Tom in the ribs. “Something tells me Harley would not appreciate having his head pushed into the cake this year.”
Tom pretends to pout. “Party pooper.”
I untangle myself from him and playfully swat him over the back of the head. “Go find your brother while I go organise the cake.” He gives me a two-finger salute, and I offer a smile to Elijah and Kai. “It was nice to meet you both.”
“You too, sugar,” Elijah grins.
I let out a deep breath as I turn and walk away from them. That was too close for comfort, and I make a note to myself to try and avoid Kai for the rest of the night.
I spot Lachy and Ivy by the entryway and enlist their help with getting everyone into the living room while I go and get the cake from the fridge in the garage. I place it on the end of a table while I place the sparklers around the edge. Apparently, it was another family tradition to have sparklers on their cakes instead of candles.
The music cuts out, and I hear Lachy’s voice over the speakers as he calls Harley up to the front of the room. The garage door that leads into the house swings open to reveal Tom.
“Need a hand?”
“Just need to light these, and we’re good to go,” I tell him.
He heads over to an old workbench and shuffles through the drawers. He pulls out two lighters and passes one to me. We light the five sparklers, then Tom carefully picks up the cake, and I follow him back into the house.
Someone has killed the lights, so the only light we have is from the karaoke machine and the sparklers. When we step into the room, everyone starts singing happy birthday, and my eyes meet Harley’s across the dim lighting in the room. He grins, and all the tension I didn’t realise I was carrying after he walked off before seeps out of my body. When we’re close enough, he reaches out and pulls me into his body, pressing his lips to my temple.
When the sparklers burn down, someone hits the lights, and I blink away the bright spots in my vision. Harley clears his throat. “I just want to thank everyone for coming tonight. I honestly wasn’t expecting this, and to be honest, with everything going on at the moment, I didn’t really feel like celebrating. But thankfully Tom and Lily didn’t listen, and I’m really grateful to get to spend my birthday with you all. Cheers.”
Everyone raises their drinks, and then Lachy grabs themic again. Harley’s groan rumbles through my body.
“I had planned this big speech about what a fine, upstanding young man Harley has grown up to be,” he says, putting on an elderly man’s voice. Everyone laughs. “But since that isn’t true, I thought I’d sing you a little song instead.” He nods at Robbo, who presses play on the karaoke machine. The opening bars ofFlowersby Miley Cyrus plays, but instead of her lyrics, Lachy has prepared his own.
“We were young, living free. Been best friends, since we were three. We rode bikes, surfed the waves. Grew up and got drunk at Summerdaze.”
The crowd cheers, and Harley shakes his head with a laugh.
“Mmm, we didn’t wanna go home, I’m not gonna lie. Started to sneak drinks, but then Tom said with a wink… I can buy you guys’ liquor; we got drunk down on the sand. Talked to girls for hours, but still, you never got laid.”
“Neither did you,” Ivy calls out, and there’s more laughter.
“You tried taking up dancing, to impress Libby Moran. Yeah, she laughed before hooking up with the guy in the band.”
Harley flips Lachy the bird as he does a little dance through the bridge of the song.
“Broken bones, hangovers. Our mums always shook their heads. No remorse, no regret. I’d do it all over again. Ooh, we didn’t wanna go home, I’m not gonna lie. Started to date girls, but then remembered why… we’d rather hang out atPatty’s, shooting pool with the guys. Talk to our mates for hours; bros over hoes kept us sane.”
“You’re clutching at straws now,” Jordan shouts with a grin, twirling his finger and giving him the signal to wrap it up. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“I had a few more verses planned out,” Lachy says into the mic as the song continues to play in the background. “But the point of this song is to let you know, I love you, man.”
“Love you, too,” Harley calls back, and the crowd cheers again. Lachy passes the mic to Robbo and comes over to us. I duck out of the way as the boys embrace.
“We’ve got some good memories,” Lachy says.
“Yeah, we do.”
My neck tingles, and I feel the weight of someone watching me. I glance around the room and spot Elijah and Kai still standing by the fireplace. Elijah is deep in conversation with Wren, but Kai’s eyes are narrowed on us. Turning back to Lachy and Harley, I feign a yawn.
“You okay, Kitten?”
I nod. “I’m fine. Just beat. I’m going to go have a shower and head to bed, leave you to hang out with your friends.”
