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He kisses me again, and within minutes, he’s reaching into the nightstand for another condom, proving, once again, that this was totally worth the long road getting here.
FORTY-THREE
Ansel
Today is Uncle Roy’s birthday, and my sister has decided to host a birthday get-together at his house since she’s living there, despite the fact that our uncle has always preferred to let his birthday pass by without much fuss. But this is Sutton, and usually, what she wants, she gets. She’s bullheaded and will push and push, so a lot of times it’s easiest to go along with whatever it is.
I park my truck in the driveway and look at Collins. She looks hot as fuck today, dressed in a thin pale-yellow sweater with jeans that mold perfectly to her ass. Her blue eyes sparkle and her cheeks are pink. She looks alive in a way that she didn’t six months ago, and all I feel is pride because of how far she’s come.
“Ready for this?”
“Yup.” She gets out of the truck, wasting no time.
I get out too and grab the present from the back seat. We walk up the driveway, and I take her hand and pull her to a stop when we’re standing in front of the door.
“Last chance. If you want to keep this just between us for a while longer, we can.”
She smiles softly, appearing at ease. “It’s not lost on me that I’ll be the one painted with a scarlet letter when our relationship comes out, even though Caleb was the unfaithful one.” She squeezes my hand. “Like I said, I know who I am, and you do too. That’s enough for me.”
I kiss her as the door swings open in front of us. I turn my head to find Elliott with less of a shocked look on his face than I expected.
“Okay, so this is a thing now. Cool.” He points behind us at the driveway. “Forgot our present in the truck, so I’m just gonna go get it. Be right back.”
He makes his way around us, and when I look at Collins, she’s smiling at the ground.
I appreciate Elliott keeping it casual even if he is surprised.
“All right, let’s do this.” I hold the door open with my free hand and lead us inside.
Based on the sounds of things, everyone is in the living room, so I close the door and lead Collins in that direction with my hand in hers.
We enter the room, and we’re the last to arrive. It takes a beat for anyone to notice us, and when they do, it takes a beat for their eyes to notice our adjoined hands. Everyone stops talking.
I hold my breath, waiting for their reaction. An arm is slung around my shoulder, and when I look to my right, Elliott has returned and positioned himself between us, an arm slung over each of our shoulders.
“Did you guys hear the good news?” He nods down at our hands.
Everyone breaks into cheers—even the Thermos Crew.
Emelia even gets up off the couch and walks over to us with a grin. She gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, then gives Collins a hug. The two of them share a look.
Baylor rushes over and wraps her arms around my legs, looking over at Collins. “Is Uncle Ansel your boyfriend?”
She chuckles. “He is.”
“Yay!” Baylor lets go of my legs and wraps her arms around Collins’s legs, pinning her to the spot.
Collins gently touches Baylor’s hair since it’s pulled back in an intricate braid I know is all Emelia’s doing. Then Collins looks at me. Even though she didn’t seem nervous, I can see the relief in her face that my family is so accepting.
No one is asking questions about if anything was going on with us prior to Caleb’s death because they know us well enough to know that would never be the case. I’m not naive enough to think that this will be the reception we receive everywhere we go, but it’s good to know that my inner circle has our backs.
There’s a couple sitting on the couch that I don’t recognize. Well, the man looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t place him.
Emelia must notice my gaze snag in that direction, and she waves them over. They get up off the couch, and the first thing I notice is the sheer size of this man. He’s probably around Roy’s age, maybe a little younger, but he’s fit. I can tell that in his younger days, he would’ve been built like a brick house.
“Ansel, Collins, this is my Uncle Xavier and my Aunt Clara. They were down in the lower forty-eight, so they came to visit for a few days. They’re staying in the bunkie.”
“Nice to meet you,” her aunt says and gives us both a hug.
