Page 54 of Stay With Me

Finally, we get to the final event of the evening—the costume contests.

Magnolia offered to judge earlier and now gets to make the announcements.

“Are y’all ready to hear the winners?” she asks, and they erupt in screams. “Okay, there’s gonna be three prizes for the most creative, most unique, and best-dressed costumes. Ready?”

Magnolia dramatically announces the first two winners withthe best expressions to get the kids really excited. She tells each one they have to do a fashion catwalk to show off their costume. They giggle and circle around the dance floor with Magnolia strutting next to them, holding their hands and twirling them around.

“And now for the final award for the best-dressed costume…” She unfolds a piece of paper as if she didn’t write them all down herself. “Oh my goodness, it’s a tie!”

Mallory kneels to the ground and smacks her palms against the floor, and soon all the kids follow suit as a drumroll beat echoes throughout the room.

“Carrie Lopez as Wednesday Addams and our very own Tripp Hollis as Pebbles the Dinosaur!”

Cheers erupt and I shake my head in her direction. That little sneak.

Magnolia takes Carrie on her victory walk and makes sure she gets the appropriate amount of attention, then leads her to the prize table. After that, she grabs my hand, and I reluctantly let her pull me into the center.

“I think this is cheatin’…” I whisper.

“How so?”

“I had aninwith the judge. They’re gonna call me a phony.”

She pats my arm with faux sincerity. “I wouldn’t worry much about that. They’re the ones who told me you needed to win something.”

“They did?”

“Yep. Now go strut your stuff,Pebbles.” Her teasing tone has me smiling as she encourages me to do my own victory walk. After a minute of being silly and getting laughs out of the kids, I go back to Magnolia and yank her toward me.

“You walked with the others. Don’t leave me feelin’ left out.”

Her heated gaze lowers to my lips as she smiles. “Can’t have that now, can we?”

She takes my dino paw in her palm and leads me around the dance floor as music fills the air. The kids jump up and down to anold remix, but my attention is on Magnolia. Her long dark hair is halfway pulled up, with curls spiraling down her back. That red garter on her thigh has me grinding my molars and wishing I could tear it off her body with my teeth.

Ever since I confessed I liked her a few days ago, we’ve been texting in between our work schedules and throughout most of the evenings. I still can’t wrap my head around this being a reality, but I’m done questioning it. I spent years giving excuses and getting into my own head about my feelings.

But now, I’m ready to go all in and see what happens. During one of our texting sessions, we agreed to explore things between us privately before announcing it to everyone. We both know how obnoxious my family can be, and I’d rather not have their unsolicited input until Magnolia and I decide we’re ready to go public. I never considered how Noah would react because I didn’t think Magnolia was an actual option for me. Whether or not we dated, our lives are forever intertwined by hers and my sister’s friendship. If I fuck this up, Noah would never forgive me, and I’d never be able to escape the heartache of losing her.

I push down the familiar overwhelming tightness in my chest as my dad thanks everyone for joining us tonight. It’s after nine and most of the kids are crashing from their sugar highs as their parents load up their things and slowly drag them outside. Overall, it was a successful event. I’m glad Landen talked me into this even if he knew all along Magnolia liked me, too.

“You two did wonderful!” Gramma Grace approaches me with a hug. She’s at least a foot shorter than me, so I envelop her in my arms.

“Thanks. It was fun.”

“Magnolia’s a natural. The kids love her.”

“That she is.”

Whereas I’m mostly introverted, Magnolia’s an extrovert when it comes to being social and spontaneous. Never afraid to blurt out what’s on her mind or threaten to sock you if you say something inappropriate. I’ve always liked that about her.

“You should bring her to family supper on Sunday.”

“Why’s that?” I ask cautiously.

“Well…if she’s gonna be a part of the family, she should be included.”

One could argue she’s already part of the family considering how long she’s been in Noah’s life, but by the suspicious twinkle in Gramma Grace’s eyes, I don’t think that’s what she’s referring to.