Page 83 of After the Storm

All the differentsmells of dinner fill the house, and the excitement of seeing all of our people is setting in. Roman sets the table and finishes up on the grill.

Finally, I hear the first knock at the door. Immediately, I know it’s not Ravyn because she just lets herself in. I walk over and open the door to find Ares and Katrina. Ares failed to mention that he was bringing a guest. Not that I particularly mind; there’s enough food to go around, and it’s not like we would have said no. Still, it’s odd that he didn’t say something first.

“Oh, hi!” I exclaim, greeting her sweetly. She smiles ear to ear, and she might have one of the warmest smiles I’ve ever seen. As usual, she’s wildly overdressed, leaving me feeling far under dressed despite the fact I’m hosting. All of us are in some variation of jeans, t-shirts, shorts, or hoodies. Then there’s Katrina. She’s wearing a baby blue dress covered in glitter that sits just above mid-thigh. If that’s not enough, she has on strappy baby blue heels to match. Ares’ hand hovers behind her lower back, millimeters away from touching.

“You have such a beautiful home, Audra,” she gushes, walking past me and scanning her surroundings. I shoot Ares a confused look, and he doesn’t say anything. He just smirks and follows closely behind her. I walk in front of them, leading her to the dining room.

“Are burgers alright? You don’t have any restrictions, do you?” I ask nervously. If I fuck this up for Ares, he might never forgive me. Also, there are a lot more nerves in hosting the fanciest stranger you know rather than just your closest friends.

“I love burgers on the grill. No restrictions, just love to eat. Ares didn’t tell you I was coming, did he?” she asks. No sense trying to hide it, it’s obvious he didn’t.

“No, he didn’t. It’s perfectly fine though! Might have thrown on a skirt or something, though.” I laugh. She looks down at her own outfit, then back up at me and laughs with me.

“Please, don’t feel that way. I dress this way all the time. It’s just what I prefer, never expect anyone else to. You look beautiful,” she assures me, landing a hand on mine. This woman is pure fucking sunshine. Freckles litter the bridge of her nose and both cheeks. It’s not my first time seeing her, but it’s my first time being in her space enough to really look at her. She is every bit as beautiful as Ares and Ravyn said. She is the kind of perfect that doesn’t seem real.

“Oh. Thank you,” I say before turning my attention to Ares. “She is welcome anytime.” He gives me an acknowledging nod. I don’t dwell much on how odd it is that he brought her without mentioning it to anyone or that she even agreed to come, mostly because everything Ares does is odd.

I leave them to sit at the table and go out to the deck and see if Roman needs any help. When I walk out, he’s grilling in his apron, and I feel just as turned on by it as I did earlier, but we have an audience now, and I can’t do anything about it. When he sees me approaching, he puts down the spatula and meets me at the midpoint between us to plant a kiss on the top of my head.

“Your brother brought Katrina,” I say with a suggestive grin. His brows shoot up, and he gives me a suspicious nod.

“Dinner should be interesting then,” he says. I nod in agreement.

Over the next half hour or so, everyone shows up. First, Ares and Katrina, then Beck, and of course, the last to show is Ravyn. Everyone has an unassigned assigned seat at the table at this point. Roman and I always sit next to each other. Ares and Ravyn always sit next to each other. There are always empty chairs even when our parents make it. We purposely got a long table that we could grow into when we have kids and still be able to have all of our favorite people here. Roman thought it was excessive until the first time everyone was here for dinner, and there were only a couple of empty chairs.

“So we have an announcement to make,” Ares says, addressing the table. He looks at Katrina then back to the table.

“This should be good,” Ravyn says, leaning into me to whisper in my ear. I giggle because, yeah… This should be good.

“We,” Ares pauses, taking Katrina’s hand in his before speaking again. “Just wanted to let you all know that we’re dating now,” he says, placing a kiss on her hand. He’s smiling ear to ear, and she’s just looking at us for a reaction.This is fucking weird.

“How did that happen?” Roman questions. I expect Ares to pipe up, but instead, it’s actually Katrina who speaks.

“Well, after months and months of begging for a chance, I figured, why not? We gave it a try, and what can I say, we’re in love,” she admits with a shrug, and now I’m wondering if I somehow walked into the Twilight Zone. Certainly, Katrina didn’t just sit at my kitchen table and tell me she and Ares are in love.

“Wow. I had no idea! I’m so happy for you. Both of you,” I exclaim, and I wish it had come out more sincere. I’m more than happy for them, really I am. But more than anything, I’m confused.

“Yep. One night with me, and she was addicted. Dick is reallythatgood,” Ares boasts. I nearly choke on my drink as the words leave his mouth. Ravyn whacks his arm, and Katrina scoffs.

“Goddamn it, Ares. I knew we couldn’t pull this off. If you can’t convince them, you definitely can’t convince my family,” she says with an eye roll.

“Yeah, I wasn’t buying it,” Ravyn says.

“This makes a lot more sense than you two dating.” Roman chimes in.

“You guys are assholes; I could totally get a girl like Kat,” Ares says, crossing his arms across his chest. Katrina laughs, rubbing the top of his arm.

“Sure you could, big guy,” she says, lacing each word with sarcasm. We all erupt in laughter, and he puts on his best pouty face. Ravyn reaches over and gives him a supportive rub on the top of his shoulder. It might seem a bit more genuine if she weren’t laughing at him while she does it.

I can finally say I’ve fully accepted that things will never be the way that they were before. The pill is much easier to swallow now that I know things are a million times better. I wouldn’t trade what I have right now, in this moment, for my old life. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

After the storm, when everything settled, I realized that Roman hadn’t just helped me heal—he has shown me that love isn’t just survival, but the bliss in finding someone who brings you peace.

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