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“You may have caught me, but I think I win.”

“No way, baby,” I say, kissing her long and hard. I break away long enough to reach my hand down between us, touching her in just the right spot. “I win. I got the most incredible woman in the world to marry me.”

I increase the pressure with my thumb and my hips. As she tumbles over the edge, I say, “Twice.”

* * *

Gloria’s the first to arrive that night, an hour before everyone else.

We’ve shoved all the boxes to the side and set up enough beer and wine in the kitchen for an army. Glo’s brought pizza. So long as I can disappear outside every so often, I think I’m going to be okay.

“You look amazing,” Sasha says, holding her friend at arm’s length. She’s wearing a dress—she looks pretty for sure, but all I can see is Sasha. I head to the kitchen, punching out a text to Ford.

“Guess who’s here?”

It’s fun to tease him about his little crush, especially since he hasn’t made a move yet—and maybe never will.

“I’ll be there in ten” is his quick reply.

I chuckle to myself, cracking open a beer. I might just hide in here for a bit to give the two women time to gush about wedding stuff, but I can’t help overhearing Gloria as she crosses the floor and says, “Wow, that’s so weird.”

Something about the way she says that—like something’s not just weird but veering into eerie.

I shift to the doorway where I can see them.

Gloria’s standing with her back to us in front of the mantel, looking at something.

Sasha frowns, throwing a glance at me.

“That night at the Rolling Hills,” Gloria said. “When I came late and you guys just told Griff’s family you were moving here,” she pauses. “I ran into someone.”

I cross over to Sasha, on some kind of instinct, a chill threatening to rise up my back.

“He was moving fast to leave, had a suitcase and everything, and he nearly crashed into me. Scared the shit out of me, actually.”

Sasha’s hand slips into mine, squeezing me tight enough that I know she’s scared.

“He was handsome. Like really handsome. Older than me, though. But the reason he didn’t see me was because he was staring at you two. I was sure you knew him.”

She turns around, and my mouth goes dry. “He looked at me so intensely—I can still feel it.” The last part of her words is almost breathless. “It was like he was…touching me with a look, if that makes sense.”

Gloria’s cheeks suddenly flush pink. “Sorry. It doesn’t make sense at all. It was strange. But the funniest thing was—he was holding one of these.”

In her hand is a spot of bright yellow. A little bird I fixed in a workshop turned to ash.

A little bird Sasha told me she’d given back to her brother.

A little bird someone placed in our new home, right here for us to find.

* * *