Page 151 of Hate Me Like You Mean It

“The URL literally has the word blog in it if you tap it to expand,” I said. “It’s a private blog page designed to look like a Gorilla article. It even says it’s redirecting you to a different website when you click the Home button. Who even sent this to you?”

You could hear his neck creak as it slowly turned in the direction of the food-sneaking culprit.

“Oh,Dad,” my mother whined, choosing to ignore the damning crumbs peppered across his moustache.

My dad huffed an exhausted chuckle and fell back onto the nearest couch. Ria hid the lower half of her face inside her sweatshirt.

“Why is everyone looking at me?” Gampy complained. “How was I supposed to know it wasn’t real? I’m a hundred years old, practically on my deathbed, or have you all forgotten?”

Mom lightly smacked his arm with a throw pillow while Adrien shoved both hands into his hair, cursing the sky as he twisted on his heel.

“How did you even manage to do this?” Dad asked, ignoring Gampy’s excuse.

We all knew him far too well to believe it.

Gampy didn’t even blink. “Ria and Jamie helped.”

My brother’s head snapped in his wife’s direction. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

There was no bite to his tone anymore, though. And I swear his mouth was starting to twitch at the edges.

“I told you I ship it,” she said innocently.

He bit his lip, nodding as he eyed her. “Later,” he promised.

“Gross,” I complained as Gampy pleaded with the ceiling, claiming that he was, and I quote, “ready now.”

“Dominic, honey. You were really going to let the article publish?” Mom asked, her eyes glimmering suspiciously as she regarded him.

Color spilled over his cheeks. He glanced away and scratched at the back of his ear like he was feeling shy. Fucking adorable.

Mom pouted, throwing a pleading look at her son.

Adrien sighed, hands resting loosely on his waist as he considered her. Then, finally, finally,finally, he caved and gave his blessing via a defeated nod.

It was mayhem.

Mom teared up as she pulled Dominic into a hug. Dad patted Adrien on the back before joining in. Gampy smuggled two more pastries while everyone else was distracted, and by the time my parents finally let Dominic go, his were the only dry eyes in the room.

Even Adrien got emotional.

To his credit, he tried to keep it in. Cleared his throat, wiped at his nose, looked at anything and everything but Dominic.Then he accidentally caught a glimpse of Ria, and because she’d turned him into the biggest fucking sap on the planet, he yanked Dominic into a giant bear hug and said, with so much love that it made my mother start to fully weep, “You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?”

And boy, oh boy, did the two bozos live happily ever after.

EPILOGUE

Alice

One year later

“Why do you do this to yourself? I don’t understand.”

Dominic responded with an incoherent grunt that sounded like it might have been an attempt at the word “endorphins” as he peeled off his sweat-soaked tee and trudged into the shower.

“Shorts,” I reminded him, smiling when the garment flew across the bathroom. That particular grunt I recognized as an appreciative “thank you.”

I stripped out of my own clothes and followed him in, just like I’d done yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. It was more efficient this way, given that he’d likely fall asleep before the shampoo could fully wash out of his hair.