Page 61 of The Burdens We Share (Satan’s Angels #3)

I bring a bite of chicken to my mouth and make eye contact with Dallas who’s smiling at me warmly, with pride in his eyes.

It took me a long time and a lot of therapy to get over my issues with food, but I managed to do it with the help of my husband.

Don’t get me wrong, I still hear that little voice in my head sometimes, but it’s not loud enough to hurt me anymore.

I have too much to be happy about now. I have the best husband a girl could ask for, the cutest babies, the bestest of friends, a successful career as a Muse Award and Screen Award winner, and not to mention, I’m a model.

And how could I forget that I am eight years stalker free? What more could I possibly want?

The girls and I still make music. We actually just finished another collab album with Thunderstrike and I know without a doubt we’re going to win another Muse for it.

Our movie was such a success that we were offered a reality show, but we all declined because our life is ours.

It’s too precious to share the private moments with the world.

These moments with our kids are special.

They won’t be little forever and we want to revel in every minute, every second.

We finish our meal and it’s the guys’ turn to clean the table since the girls did it at Aria and Sly’s last Sunday.

The kids run back upstairs to play and Aria, Brody, Selene, and I find our way onto the patio where the moonlight glows down on us and reflects off the steady pool water.

We’re seated on the wicker furniture, the fire pit in front of us.

Aria roasts a marshmallow and we all watch her in silence as she chars it into oblivion.

I take a long look at my best friends. Selene looks just as she did eight years ago, just destined to always look perfect.

Brody still has her iconic black streaks in her hair and Aria still has her blues, while I still rock my pink ombre.

Our faces look the same, but we somehow look more mature.

We’re entering our thirties, and thank God we’re wrinkle-free for now, but we look…

grown up. It’s a bittersweet sight to see.

I reach for my glass of red wine and swirl it as Aria stuffs the marshmallow in her mouth, “Why does this feel like the end of something?” I ask them.

Selene, without missing a beat, pours herself another glass of wine. “Because for once, no one’s being stalked, drugged, and recorded without consent, or rescued from a building after a psycho stalker kidnapped them. That does feel like an ending.”

Brody laughs as she pops a grape in her mouth and takes a sip of her water, her feet kicked up on the edge of the fire pit. “Honestly? I kind of miss the drama. I mean just a little. We were hot messes, but we were fun as hell.”

Aria grins as she puts another marshmallow on her skewer, “Speak for yourself. I’ve had enough leaked footage and near death experiences to last three lifetimes. I’ll take boring and sticky toddler fingers any day.”

Selene raises a brow, “I said it feels like the end. I didn’t say I wanted a sequel.”

I smirk, “It’s not a sequel. It’s a spinoff. Just…a quieter one. Still starring us, just with less blood and chaos.”

Brody speaks in an overly dramatic voice, “Speak for yourself. My kid tried to stab me with a fork this morning over the last Eggo.”

Selene deadpans, “Sounds about right. Danica is literally a small version of you.”

Aria laughs, “You’ve turned so soft, Selene. Admit it. You love all of this.”

Selene sighs and stares off into nothing as if remembering all the chaos with a smile on her face, “I do. I love you, idiots. Even when you drive me fucking insane.”

My eyes water with emotion and I choke on my words a bit, “We survived so much. Sometimes I forget just how much.”

Brody speaks quietly, with weight in her voice, “Then look around. This peace– we fucking earned every second of it.”

Selene lifts her glass, “To scars that made us smarter. And to Sundays that no longer end in police reports.”

Aria raises her beer bottle, “To the chaos we conquered. And the calm we get to keep.”

I raise my wine glass, “Still standing. Still here.”

And in the most amazing moment, we all say at the same time, “Always.”

We all clink our drinks together and our laughter echoes as the moon smiles down at us.

The back door opens and our husbands wander out, each one setting into the rhythm of our chaos like it’s their second nature.

Dallas seats himself beside me and slings his arm on the back of the couch.

I tuck myself into his arms and revel in the way his solid presence grounds me.

His voice is low and teasing in my ear, “Were you getting all sentimental, Little Devil?”

I lean into him further, “I earned it. We all did.”

He presses a kiss to my temple, “You did. But don’t go getting all soft on me now. I fell in love with a little devil after all, not a little angel.” The irony of that statement goes unmentioned.

My eyes shine as I look up at my husband, “You fell in love with the chaos.”

Sly is off chasing Danica and Cole around the yard, the kids screaming with laughter as Sly reaches for them.

Harvey drops down beside Brody and pulls a juice pouch out of his pocket, tossing it onto the side table as he heaves an exhausted sigh.

Dylan refills Selene’s wineglass like he was trained for it.

He smiles down at me, quiet so only I can hear him, “I used to be terrified I’d lose you to all of that darkness. The stalker. The chaos. The noise. But you never let it win.”

“We didn’t let it win. You held me up when I couldn’t stand.”

He grins softly, “That’s what love is, Little Devil. You carry me, I carry you.”

He kisses me gently, soft enough not to draw too much of our friends’ attention. The kiss is so full of everything we’ve been through together.

We break apart and I give him a sad smile, “It feels like an ending, doesn’t it?”

Dallas tilts his head at me, smiling, “It’s not the end. It’s the reward.”

Dallas and I each carried our own burdens– grief, shame, fear, and pain, but it was never meant to be held alone. We stumbled, I bled, we fought, but we did it all together because some burdens don’t break you when they’re shared.

The same can be said for my friends. We’ve shared all of our burdens throughout the years. That makes us family, that makes us whole, that makes us Satan’s fucking Angels.

The End