Page 167 of That First Flight

“Was everyone behind this?” I say as I scan the room.

“No,” Avery snaps. “This was just as much a surprise to me as it was to you.”

“Only Uncle T and Mom knew,” Mackenzie says. “Aunt Peyton too.”

I press a kiss to her forehead before I stand and make my way to the absolute love of my life, the woman who changed everything for me. The woman who turned my world upside down for the better. Letting love I never knew existed come in and stay.

I bring Macey’s face to mine and kiss her with everything I have in me.

I don’t take a single kiss for granted with her.

Her kiss will always be the oxygen I need to survive.

“This is what you want?” I whisper against her lips.

“Only if you do,” she breathes back without pulling away from me.

“It’s the greatest gift anyone could ever give me.”

“And you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. To us.”

Phones chime in the distance but I don’t pull myself out of my bubble with Macey because it’s where I want to spend eternity living.

“Guys.” Peyton’s voice sounds pained.

Our heads snap in her direction. Peyton looks white as a ghost with her phone in her hand, looking at it as if she just got devastating news. Her lips are parted in shock and they move as if she’s trying to find the words for us.

“Baby?” Thomas says as he reaches for her. Leveling his gaze with hers. “What is it? Is everything okay?”

The tension in the room is palpable. No one moves.

We all stare at Peyton waiting for an answer.

“It’s… it’s…” She looks up at him, blinking several times before she finally speaks. “It’s Logan.”