Page 42 of Never Stop

“I’ll tell you a really scary one soon. I promise.”

She hugged both Avery and Nicole as she muttered, “Fine.”

After they had left, the girls all looked at Cheyenne’s presents while Brooke and I cleaned up.

“How did you do this with Bailee?”

Brooke laughed as she washed the cake knife. “I’m used to drama. I’m a girl, remember?”

I smirked. “Yeah, I remember.”

She threw the dish towel at me, and I caught it. “Knock it off.”

“What?” I questioned playfully.

“I’m going to have the girls set up their sleeping bags and change into their PJs. That should buy us some time before the roasting marshmallows.”

I nodded. “All right. And I will go get the fire pit ready.” Brooke turned to leave, and I caught her wrist, twirling her until our mouths were inches apart. “Thank you.”

She smiled. “For what?”

“Everything. There’s no way I would have been able to do this party alone.”

“In all fairness, these girls’ mothers wouldn’t have allowed it anyway.”

“Always a smart ass.” I kissed her lips.

“You two are seriouslynotkissing during my party!”

We turned to see Cheyenne in the entryway of the kitchen, her fists closed at her sides. “We can do whatever we want,” I stated. “It’sourhouse.” Hearing myself say “our house” sent a shiver of delight through my body.God, I loved my fiancée.

“Whatever. Can we start the fire pit now?”

Brooke broke free from my grasp. “That’s exactly what we were talking about. Your dad is going to do that while everyone is setting everything up and changing.”

They left the room, and I followed suit, passing them in the semi-bare living room. This morning, Phil, Courtney’s dad and I had moved a couch and the coffee table and the end tables to the garage to make room for all the girls to sleep on the floor. White Christmas lights hung around the room to provide enough light for when it got completely dark outside.

Not long now…

Next year, we were going out for a pizza party or some shit.

The girls sat around the orange fire as they once again gossiped.

“Can I drink now?” I asked, sitting in a chair on the lawn several feet away.

Brooke looked at me. “Not sure that’s a good idea.”

I groaned. “I can’t handle all this… cattiness.”

“You deal with gossipy women all the time at the bar.” She chuckled.

“Not like this,” I whined.Yeah, I whined.“At least they’re there talking about sex… Shit,” I whispered. “I can’t even. One day Chey is going to…” I trailed off.

“Okay, calm down. What’s really going on? Why are you freaking out over this entire day?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Last year it was just her and me. I took her to the movies and made her favorite meal. This year she has all these friends, and I have you and…”

She smiled at me in the darkness, the glow from the fire lacing her features. “And it’s normal. She was finally able to find herself when softball started, and she enjoyed doing something other than going to her grandparents. Plus, you’ve stepped up in the father department. I think she was a homebody because it was hard for her to spend time with her friends since you worked all weekend. Now she has a steady home life.”