Page 61 of Never Dance with the Devils (Never Say Never #6)
KAYLA
“ O utside fork,” I quietly tell Riggs, answering his questioning look confirming which fork he should use for the salad course. He nods in appreciation, but I’m pretty sure he already knew and just wanted to check in on me.
But I’m fine. If anything, they’re the ones to worry about.
They’re going through a crash course, first-hand look at the not so pretty side of being part of the Harrington family, and in many ways, they are knocking it out of the park.
To their credit, they let me fight my own battle against Chance, albeit with a fair amount of tense grumbling from both of them, and they didn’t make a run for the door. Not that I thought they would.
I trust them to stick with me through the good and the bad days to come.
And I fully expect there to be a fair amount of each.
They can trust me too. I won’t give up on us, and fuck knows, I’ll fight for us.
I already faced down one of the people I love most, so the rest of the world will be easy pickings .
“Excuse me, everyone.” Conversation around the table stops, all eyes turning to Cameron. “I know tonight has already been a bit dramatic.” His eyes land on mine, a glint of amusement in their blue depths. “But I have an announcement to make.”
He reaches out to take Riley’s hand, his face softening.
“As you know, Riley said yes when I asked her to marry me last Christmas.” He pauses, and I swear we all lean forward in eager anticipation.
Mom especially. “And we’ve chosen a date—August 8 th .
We hope you’ll all come to witness us becoming a family, officially. ”
I understand the distinction because to Cameron, they are already a family and no ceremony or piece of paper will make him any more assured of that. But it matters to Riley. She has no family of her own, so being part of the Harringtons is a big deal to her, which makes it important to all of us.
Cameron presses a kiss to his bride-to-be’s cheek, but her eyes are on Grace. “You’re still okay with this?”
Knowing Riley, they’ve had multiple conversations about this already. The three of them, Riley and Grace alone, and Cameron and Grace alone, at Riley’s insistence.
“Absolutely,” Grace answers. “As long as I can go dress shopping with you.”
Riley nods emphatically, her smile bright. “Of course you can.”
Riley is truly the best stepmother Grace could ever have.
She understands that motherhood isn’t in titles but in actions, and while she does everything she can to make sure Grace is cared for and loved, Riley has no desire to replace Michelle, Grace’s mom.
If anything, with Riley becoming part of their family, Cameron has done some much needed and long overdue healing from the loss of his wife, and memories of Michelle are even more present.
“Maybe we can find a vintage dress?” Grace asks.
Riley’s eyes light up. “I know just the place, a consignment shop about half an hour out of town. We can hit it up tomorrow.”
“Starbucks first?” Grace negotiates. Frappuccinos are her near-constant companion and she aims to add a Starbucks stop to basically every outing.
Mom is sniffling happy tears as she watches their exchange but suddenly blurts, “That’s only a few weeks away! We need to start planning immediately.”
Cameron shakes his head, stopping Mom before she goes full steam ahead, because if there’s one thing Mom’s good at, it’s planning a party.
“We want to keep it small. Just us.” He looks around the table, though with all seventeen of us, we’re not exactly a small group.
I especially appreciate that he doesn’t skip Riggs or Maddox, but rather, includes them in his informal invitation.
“And casual. At our house in the back yard where we fell in love.”
Riley turns to Janey, who’s holding up a spoonful of mushy carrots in an attempt to get Emmett to eat them. “Will you be my matron of honor?”
Janey drops the spoon onto Emmett’s high chair with a clatter and spatter of orange.
Clutching her hands in front of her heart, she gushes, “Yes! I would be honored to! Does that mean I get to plan the bachelorette party? Oh! How about a Girls Gone Mild vibe, with face masks and wine and movies in our pajamas? We can make it a sleepover!”
Janey’s excitement is palpable as she plans the bachelorette party in real time with her rambles. But Riley’s nodding along, equally excited at Janey’s ideas.
Luna holds her hand up like she’s in school. “Could we make it sparkling juice, maybe?”
It takes a solid two seconds for the implication to sink in. In fact, I’m not sure we realize it because of Luna’s question or because of the cat-who-ate-the-canary look on Carter’s face.
“You’re pregnant!” Mom exclaims, catching on first. “Oh my gosh!” She’s up and rushing at Luna, gathering her in her arms to rock her back and forth in a hug. “Oh my gosh!” she repeats like she can’t find any other words.
Tears flow freely down both of their faces while the rest of us clap and shout our congratulations.
“It’s early, but Carter couldn’t wait to tell everyone,” Luna explains as she glances at her husband, who’s grinning ear to ear, looking relieved that the news is finally out. To be fair, Luna looks pretty pleased too.
“Well, if we’re sharing news…” Chance says, glancing at Samantha. “We’re expanding the club.”
“Did you buy more property?” Carter asks, instantly switching to business-minded matters. “I haven’t seen any listings near you. Private sale?”
Chance takes Samantha’s hand, giving her the floor. “Not that kind of expansion.”
Her eyes dancing with amusement, she says, “I couldn’t let my bestie go through pregnancy alone.”
“WHAT?! You’re pregnant too?” Luna screeches. She’s bawling even harder now, to the point that I’m not entirely sure she’s happy about the news until she’s hugging Samantha and they’re both boo-hooing loudly together. “We get to do this together? ”
Mom is near hysterical. “Oh, my goodness! Two babies? TWO babies!”
Somehow, in her excitement, her eyes inadvertently land on Cole, who has taken over feeding Emmett but pauses long enough to firmly say, “Don’t look at us.” He gestures to their son, who is only recently walking. “Busy.”
Mom laughs through her tears, hugging Samantha, then Luna again, then Riley. “This is the best dinner ever.”
“Yeah, if you ignore the appetizer course of a near-death match between Chance and Kayla,” Kyle interjects.
“Other than that, best dinner ever.” He spreads his hands through the air like that claim is on a marquee in lights before grinning, the devil in his eyes.
“Oh, I have an announcement too.” Mom gasps, hands clasped at her throat and eyes filled with hope.
“We picked the tile for the dog wash station. Taupe and white penny hex in a flower pattern for my bestest boy.”
Mom sags, her smile morphing into a frown directed at her youngest and most annoying of children. She wouldn’t say so, but we all know it.
“And also, I’d wife this woman up tonight if she’d let me. Knock her up too so we could get in on that baby action. Whatcha say, Daniela ?” The way he purrs her name feels purposefully intimate.
Dani hisses, “ Pendejo .” I think that’s her favorite term of affection for my brother. To the rest of us, my mother especially, she says, “We’re good as we are. Mostly .”
Mom smiles at Dani, instantly forgetting Kyle’s taunts in favor of the woman who holds his leash, which is no easy feat. But she holds it for sure and won’t ever let go .
“If we’re all bragging, I have not one, but two boyfriends, and I also got the company tied up in legal red tape for the foreseeable future. It’s been a great month,” I tease, deadpan.
“Kayla,” Mom scolds.
“Too soon?” I say innocently.
But really, it’s not. We’ve all grown, each of us individually and as a family, in the best possible ways and we each have things happening, some good and some bad. That’s how it goes. No matter how you plan or prepare for it, life happens.
Seemingly struck by the sudden changes coming at us from every direction, Mom whispers, “My babies are all growing up.”
“Yes, they are,” Dad replies, looking around the table proudly. “But I think they’re all going to be alright.” Dad’s eyes land on Mom, looking at her like she’s the one who got us all here, not to the finish line, but to the starting line of a new phase in the Harrington legacy.
On the way home, I joke, “So, that’s my family.”
“You warned us and yet, it was somehow still more overwhelming than you said it would be,” Maddox teases, “but you were amazing.”
The praise feels good, not because I need their validation but because I respect their opinions.
“I nearly killed your brother,” Riggs grunts.
“Which one?”
“All of them at one point or another,” he answers, a devious glint in his eyes.
“But mostly Chance. It wasn’t until he said he didn’t want you to get hurt that I understood where he was coming from.
I’d do stupid things to protect my sister too.
” The declaration is said with all seriousness and I don’t doubt that he means it.
Riggs doesn’t talk about his sister a lot, but everything he has said about her leads me to believe that he loves her deeply. Given I’ve felt the intensity of how he loves, I imagine he would do a lot more than ‘stupid things’ to protect her. He’d do literally anything.
Much like my own brother would do for me.
While our conversation tonight was difficult, I was confident Chance would eventually concede. He respects me enough to push back when he feels it’s warranted, but his intrinsic sense of right and wrong means that he would never truly abandon any of us. Me especially.
And it means a lot to me that Riggs understands why Chance reacted the way he did, because between Riggs and Maddox, Riggs is the one who will hold the grudge against my brother longer.
He’s like me in that way—wary after being hurt.
But Riggs doesn’t need to worry about Chance.
He and I will be okay now, and I hope that one day, Riggs is okay with him too.
“And now, we’ll do crazy things to you…” Maddox’s eyes drip over me, so heavy with intention I can feel the caress like a physical touch before he grins and corrects himself. “I mean, for you. Like family dinners, weddings, baby showers.”
He watches my face as he lists out all the upcoming events that were planned out tonight. I see how he moves now… poking here, prodding there, and all the while smiling and laughing like he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
But I know exactly what he’s doing, so I answer the question he’s really asking. “I’m happy for them all. I still would’ve been even if I were alone, but admittedly, feeling like I’m not being left behind helps.”
“You were never behind,” Maddox says. “There’s no race, no deadline, no pressure from anyone but yourself. You’re doing things in your own time and in your own way, the same as everything else in your life, which if you haven’t noticed, seems to be working out pretty fucking well.”
I laugh at the blunt assessment. He’s right, of course. I am doing well for myself. No disclaimers needed. Not well for a woman, or for a Harrington, or for my age, or compared to anyone else.
I’m doing my best.
I’m happy with Riggs and Maddox.
I’m excited to experience our next steps together, whether it’s an evening at home, a night out, a weekend in the woods, or… I can’t believe I’m saying this, a hockey game.
I give Maddox a pointed look. “Seems like that doesn’t only apply to me, Mr. Pro Hockey Player. You’re doing okay too.”
Riggs grumbles something that sounds like ‘most of the time’, and Maddox chuckles. “It’s okay, big guy. She likes you too.”
Riggs’s grumpiness starts to turn, his lips tilting up. “Yeah, she does. More than you.”
“Holy fuck, was that a joke?” Maddox moans fearfully. Looking at me in mock terror, he says, “He’s joking again. I don’t like it. Make it stop.”
I hope it never stops. I hope we spend the rest of our days talking and laughing and loving. And not caring whether other people understand our relationship.
We understand, and that’s all that matters.