Crazy (The Gibson Boys #4)(85)

“Get him,” she mouths, making me laugh.

“If anyone is curious, even if you’re not …” I look at the man beside me. “I’m sorry.”

“You wanted to tell us that?” Lance yells. “Come on. Give us something good.”

“Lance, you be quiet,” Nana says.

The bar laughs, teasing Lance, as Peck reaches for my hand. We step closer as I put my palm in his. Just like that, the world shifts. The ball of pain in my stomach and the crack in my heart begin to heal.

“I’m sorry,” I say again. “I got scared.”

“I’m sorry,” he says, repeating my words. “I should’ve come to get you, but I just … panicked.”

“You shouldn’t have had to come. I should’ve stayed.”

We exchange a soft smile.

“I have this … fear,” I say, “that I won’t be able to handle things as good as you do.”

He laughs. “It’s cute that you think I know what I’m doing.”

“We’re a pair, huh?”

“Let’s just … agree that neither of us leave. That we talk things out,” I say.

“Oh, like I wanted to do yesterday?”

I take our hands and shove him. He uses the motion to tug me even closer.

I look up in his eyes, the pools of blue that have captured my attention from the first time I saw them. When I thought he was Logan and a pots and pans thief.

“The past few hours have been a revelation to me,” I say.

Something catches my eye. I glance down and see Molly standing there. She stares at me, and I’m not certain that she’s not going to grab my leg and jerk me on my ass.

But she doesn’t.

Instead, she gives me a smile that’s kind of sad but maybe resolved. I smile back. She tucks her chin with a little nod and disappears into the crowd.

I turn back to Peck. “You were right about a lot of things.”

“I’m always right.” He winks. “Especially this.” He removes his hand from mine.

Sucking in a lungful of air, I watch as he brings his hands to my face. Cupping my cheeks, he plants a kiss against my lips.

The crowd cheers, and I think someone tries to spray us with beer, but I’m not sure. I’m too absorbed by this man and this kiss.

His forehead rests on mine as a shy smile touches his lips. “I love you,” he says.

My chest swells as tears prickle my eyes. Because he means it. It’s the one thing in life I’m absolutely sure of.

I pull away so I can look into his eyes again. “I love you,” I whisper.

The grin he gives me could fix the world.

“That’s enough,” Machlan shouts. “Get off the bar. Drinks half price for the next ten minutes!”

The crowd goes wild. We don’t move. We just stand on the bar as chaos ensues around us. The music starts, and it's the same song that has nothing to do with a pony that we danced to before.

Peck laughs. I think he’s going to start dirty dancing with me again, but he doesn’t. Instead, he takes one of my hands in his and puts the other on the small of my back. And we dance, just differently this time.

Because this time, it is different.

But it’s us. And it’ll always be a little crazy.





Epilogue





Peck



“Why are you all so loud?” I ask.

I wince as Dylan and I step into Nana’s. It’s loud as hell, my family going balls to the wall for some weird reason.

And then I see that weird reason.

Old Man Dave is here.

Nana has a date to Sunday dinner.

“Your reaction looks about the same as mine,” Vincent says as he walks past me.

Dylan elbows me in the side. “Breathe.” Then she snickers. “How’s it feel to have your words delivered to you?”

“Baby, as long as it’s you bringing it, I’ll take it.”

She smacks my stomach.

Mariah and Sienna come over and whisk Dylan away. She’s never met them before, but you wouldn’t know it. They just envelop her like she’s family.

Because she is.

I don’t care that I haven’t really known her that long or that we’ve already kind of broken up once. Or that I still don’t know her mom’s name or what she wanted to be when she was a kid. I know what matters.

I know the sound of her feet when she’s coming to bed and how off-key she is when she’s making dinner. I can tell you how fast it will take her to reach out when she thinks I’m having a shit day and the tenderness in her eyes when she’s helping me sort Nana’s medicines on Monday evenings.

It’s been a great couple of weeks since our little performance at Crave. The me before would’ve thought I was jinxing it. I would’ve been waiting for her to get sick of things and pack up and go. But she’s already done that. She won’t do it again.

I won’t let her.

“Look who I found out front,” Vincent says, coming through the back door. Behind him is Blaire.

“We saw her last night,” Walker says. “Not impressed.”

She points a manicured finger her way. “You. Shut it.”