Page 224 of On the Breakaway

And I’m not letting it go.

Avery’s Epilogue

Four Months Later

The smell of charcoal and fresh-cut grass hangs thick in the summer air as Grayson laces his fingers through mine. This is the first time he’s sat down all day, and despite my initial nerves over meeting his family, I haven’t minded watching him in his element.

The backyard is overflowing with people. Kids dart between lawn chairs with dripping popsicles in their sticky hands, and quiet music is playing in the background. A group of adults is playing cornhole across the yard, arguing about the point system.

Every few seconds, another burst of yelling rolls across the property, blending with the sizzle of burgers on the grill. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this many smiling faces gathered in one place.

I still can’t believe that everyone here is Grayson’s family. Growing up, it was only my parents and me. Despite every instinct screaming that I should feel completely out of place, not a single person has looked at me like I don’t belong here.

“Avery,” Grayson’s mom, Amy, calls out to me from across the yard. “Come over here and meet my sister.”

I unlatch my hand from Grayson’s, and he pouts.

“Want me to come with you?” He asks, moving to stand.

“No, I’ve got it.” I’m not lying either.

When we got here, Amy threw her arms around me as if we were long-lost friends. After telling Grayson that I was prettier than he described, she’d swept me away to meet his dad, David. Now, after a couple of hours, I was already more at ease with his parents than I sometimes felt with my own.

I make my way over to her, and she beams at me with Grayson’s exact smile.

“And this is Avery, Grayson’s girlfriend,” she announces to the table of new arrivals.

Girlfriend.

Three months later, and that word still sends a ridiculous little flutter through my stomach.

“Nice to meet you all,” I say, practically yelling over the chorus of greetings that surrounds me.

“How’d he manage to steal you away?”

“Isn’t she just lovely?”

“Grayson finally found someone he liked enough to bring home.”

I feel my cheeks flush, and Amy must notice because she locks her arm around mine and pulls me away from the table.

“They can be a bit much, but they’re good people.”

“Everyone is really nice, honestly.”

A chorus of laughter breaks out around us, and I smile.

“You’ll get used to this,” she says as she notices me watching everyone. “Every family gathering sounds like an argument to anyone standing outside of it.”

“I was just thinking everyone seems happy.”

She pauses for a second before looking across the yard at her family. “We are.”

It's such a simple answer without an ounce of hesitancy. My mind jumps back to my childhood, and I realize that I don’t have a single memory that feels like this one. I can’t think of a single instance that was filled with warmth and happiness without the undertones of toxicity that usually surrounded me. Even when things were good, they were never this.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?”

I almost lie, but don’t bother. “I just didn’t really think this kind of family was real. This kind of happiness or love, I guess.”