The Hot Mess and the Heartthrob(88)

But it’s Levi.

He’s grounded. He’s smart. He knows me. He knows my kids. He knows what he’s getting into.

And he’s a leap worth taking. “I’m sorry I pushed you away.”

“Don’t be. You had good reasons.” He presses a kiss to my hair. “Come to my family’s New Year’s party with me. Bring the kids.”

“You’re in New York on New Year’s.” The ads to watch his New Year’s Eve show have been all over lately. You could say the universe has been taunting me.

“That’s why we do it three days before Christmas. It’s when we can all get together.”

It’s so absurd, but also so understandable, that a surprised laugh bubbles out of my chest. “On one condition.”

“Anything.”

“You let me—Yasmin.”

“I let you Yasmin?”

“She’s with my kids. She needs to go home. I need—”

“Help?”

I look up at those kind blue eyes, his brow quirked like he’s well aware of how much help I need, but he likes me anyway, and I sigh.

It’s a mostly happy sigh. “If the kids see you, they’ll get wound up, and then—”

“And tomorrow’s Saturday, and they’ll sleep in.”

“No, they’ll be up early. It’s the universal law of children. Let them stay up late, they get up early. Something about their sleep rhythms being off.” I suck in a deep breath. Time to prove I can do this. “But it’s okay. It’s almost Christmas break, and they will catch up some. If the squirrel behaves.”

The smile spreading across his face lights me up from the inside brighter than anything since watching Piper’s face when she had her hearing aids put in.

“You are everything I never knew I was missing,” he whispers, and then he’s kissing me with his perfect lips, his fingers tangling in my hair, his body pressed to mine, and I know what we’re about to attempt to do won’t be easy, and I know I’ll have my moments of doubt, but I know one other thing that’s more important than any of my fears and worries and objections.

I know I’m home.





Thirty-Two





Levi



It’s three days before Christmas, and Ingrid and her kids are with me in the elevator on the way to Beck’s penthouse.

Zoe’s bouncing on her toes. “Are you sure Waverly won’t be here?”

“Positive, glitter-bug. She’s not family.”

Piper’s giving me dirty looks because I already answered the same about Ares Berger.

Only Hudson is currently happy with me, mostly because I slipped him a fidget device at my mom’s recommendation, and he’s trying to figure out how many different buttons and knobs he can push on the heavy dice-like object. His tongue’s sticking out of the corner of his mouth, and he’s concentrating so hard I wonder if I might’ve broken him.

The squirrel is back at Ingrid’s place. All the bedroom doors are shut and the window is open, but I swear Skippy gave me the Are you nuts? Pun intended. I know where my dinner comes from look when I whispered to him that he should run off and be free.

And Ingrid is playing with her fingers beside me. “Are there name tags? I feel like there should be name tags. And will it really just be your closest friends and family, or does your closest friends and family include like, the mayor and a bunch of important business people and half the Fireballs?”

“If anyone’s rude about you not knowing their name, remember what they look like and I’ll take care of it later. Besides, you already know Davis and the mom squad, you met Wyatt when Ellie brought him into the store yesterday, and that pretty much just leaves Cash’s siblings and the dads for you to figure out.” I pause as the elevator doors ding open. “And possibly a handful of baseball players. Sarah probably invited Mackenzie, and she’ll come with Brooks, so…”

“Brooks Elliott?” Piper asks. “I don’t like the way he wore his underwear outside his uniform for warm-ups, but I guess his cape is okay.”

I squeeze Ingrid’s hand while she reaches for Hudson and the five of us step out of the elevator. “I’m on root beer all night, there are almost a dozen other parents here, and you met Beck and Cash’s security teams downstairs too. The elevator’s direct to where they’re hanging out with Giselle and Chuck. No one’s escaping. Have all the fun you want. You’re covered.”

“Do I look like I need a drink that badly?”

“You look gorgeous.”

Stressed but gorgeous. Her shop is still open for a couple more hours, with Yasmin in charge and two extra last-minute holiday helpers on hand. Piper apparently sometimes slips her hearing aids out when things get too noisy, and Hudson’s always a wild card.

I get it. New situations like this with lots of people she doesn’t know and who her kids can disappear behind aren’t easy.

And since we’ve been on the phone every free minute we’ve had while I was finishing up my travel schedule, and then I’ve been at her place more or less every evening since, I’ve seen how much she does firsthand.

She presses a kiss to my cheek. “Thank you.”

“Frosted Tips! Or should I say Glitter Tips? You made it!” Beck leans into the foyer from his kitchen, plate in hand. “Whoa, little people. Awesome. You guys like pool? Ping pong? Frogger? Pac-Man? Donkey Kong? Poker?”