Into the Tide (Cottonwood Cove #1)(101)

“Bite me, you arrogant prick,” Finn hissed.

“You’re an actor. Can’t you do better than that?” Cage taunted him, and I turned to see Travis walk over.

He clapped me on the shoulder. “Well, remind me to keep my mouth shut until Shay gives birth.”

“What happened?” I asked, and I looked up to see Lila with her hand on Shay’s belly, smiling like something magical was happening.

“Hmmm… let’s see. Shay said she was starving, so I made myself a plate of appetizers, which, by the way, your mother makes the best deviled eggs. Anyway, I made her a plate, too, because she says I’m not thoughtful. But when I hand her the plate, she glares at me and says I should know that she doesn’t eat deviled eggs. How the fuck would I know that when she’s never told me?”

Everyone laughed, and I shook my head. “She’s really pregnant, dude. It’ll pass. Did you get her something else?”

“Funny you should ask. I went back and got her some chips and dip.” He paused and glanced at each one of us. “She proceeds to tell me that she hasn’t been able to eat sour cream dip since her second trimester, and she’s appalled that I don’t know that. I can’t fucking win.”

“What’s so funny over here?” Brinkley asked, as she sidled up beside me and leaned in where we were huddled together.

“Finn’s date is a train wreck, and Travis has pissed off his pregnant wife.” Cage shrugged.

“Well, here’s some scoop for you,” Brinkley whispered. “Georgie said she broke things off with that jerk of a boyfriend.”

“Dikson?” Finn asked.

“Diktok,” I corrected.

“It’s Dikota, you wienerschnitzels,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s old news. Done. Donezo.”

“Yeah, we get it. They’re done. Thank freaking God she kicked his ass to the curb. That guy was the worst. Well, Karen was the worst. Dikmunch was a close second.” Cage smirked.

“You need a woman. You’re far too cynical for a man your age.” Brinkley raised a brow at our oldest brother, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I do just fine. Don’t you worry about me.”

“Uh, Finn. Your date just vomited on Dad,” I said, as Lila and Del ran toward him with towels.

“You sure can pick ‘em, Finny.” Brinkley laughed.

“Yeah. I’ll be taking her home now.”

Everyone was hurrying around my father, who, of course, was telling Cami that it was fine and not to worry because she was in complete hysterics now.

Cage got called away by Gracie, and Travis moved to Shay’s side. She smiled up at him, and he shot me a crazy look over his shoulder, which meant that he had no idea why she was smiling at him. Brinkley slapped me on the shoulder and said she was going to get another cocktail.

My mother moved beside me. “Hey. Another eventful night, huh?”

“Something like that. You did a good job, Mama. It was perfect.”

“Perfect is overrated. It was good food and a crazy group, with a side of vomit. Sounds like a good Thanksgiving to me.” She chuckled. “But do you know what has made this holiday extra special?”

“What?” I asked, placing an arm around her shoulder.

She glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was around. “You taking me with you yesterday to pick out the ring… It meant the world to me to get to be part of that with you. To see the thought that you put behind it, and the fact that you know you’ve found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with.”

“There’s no one else I would have wanted beside me when I chose it.”

“You did really well, sweetie. And don’t even get me started about the way you look at one another; it’s really something.”

Normally, I would roll my eyes at a comment like that, but not this time.

Because she was right.

I guess our parents knew better than we did because they said we’d know when it was right, and they weren’t fucking kidding around.

Because everything about Lila James was right.

And I’d wanted my mom with me when I picked out the ring that I would give her when I asked her to marry me.

“Thank you. I think she’s going to love it.”

She kissed my cheek, and my father called out to her to ask if we had any ginger ale. “Time to go put out Finn’s latest fire.”

I chuckled as she walked toward the kitchen, and Lila came over to me and stepped right into my arms, and I wrapped her up.

“Never a dull moment,” I said, as I kissed the top of her head.

“That’s what I love most about this.” She tipped her head back to look up at me. “Look around, Bear. My dad’s here, and he’s actually dating for the first time in two decades. My brother and Shay are having a baby. Cage is teaching Gracie how to play Go Fish over there. Brinkley is giving Georgie dating advice, which is basically that all men suck, and she should stay away. Finn is cleaning up vomit because he didn’t know his date was a bit of a lush.” Her head fell back in laughter.

“Is there a point to this madness?”

“Everyone is living, and there’s nothing better than that.” She shrugged.

“And what about us?”