Page 116 of The Summer of Everything

“But I want to.”

Wes tilts his head back. He stares at his boring white ceiling. Nico wants this to last more than a moment. He wants it to last as long as Wes will allow it. Everything Wes loves is taken from him before its time. No one’s ever offered him the chance to choose when or how something ends.

Blindly, his hand finds Nico’s, sticky and warm. “There’s no way I’m turning down that offer. No way.” He squeezes Nico’s hand twice.

“Hey. Skateboarding, orange soda or…” Wes’s chest inflates with that kind of good feeling he associates with summer and comic books and the rules of Once Upon a Page. “… me?”

“You’re asking me to go without orange soda?”

Heart dancing in his chest, Wes sighs. “Forget it.”

Nico pulls on his hand. His orange-soda breath tickles Wes’s cheek. The smile in his voice is Wes’s favorite song.

“You.”

Wes exhales happily. He considers turning his head to kiss Nico. Or just stare into his eyes. Or make a corny joke they’ll both laugh at. But he doesn’t need to.

This is enough. This is everything.

“It turns out life isn’t a pile of bad days and then you fall in love with someone who fixes it all. Life is a series of embarrassing, funny, and sometimes brutal moments. Romance might be in there, too. But if you’re lucky, you’ll fall in love with your own amazingness and stumble upon a few kickass people to go on life’s adventures with you.”

—Savannah Kirk,Laguna Love Blues

Epilogue

Wes’s brand-new tux shirt isruined.

It only took five hours before he managed to get a Rorschach-style wine stain on it. Forget his boutonnière—that’s a casualty of the dance floor and the DJ’s obsession with replaying that wobble song. He survived an entire best man speech too. The stain came from Grace getting hammered and bumping into him on the way to the bathroom.

But at least the wedding’s done.

Leeann Chen is officially a Hudson. Leo’s married. And Wes needs a nap.

Also, Wes’s phone is missing. Not missing.Taken. Heisted. It’s currently owned by Cooper Shaw, who leads their pack into Little Tony’s Big Slice, gossiping with Savannah Kirk on FaceTime.

“Is she really that bad?” Cooper asks, awed.

“The worst,” Savannah announces. “Keep the bourbon away from that one.”

Wes should never have introduced them.

Ella, in a green polka-dot dress, fedora, and large dark sunglasses, makes a beeline for their favorite booth in the back. She shuffles in, bookended by Zay and Wes. It took a lot of convincing, but Wes managed to talk Leeann into bumping a few guests off the reception list to make room for his friends. Ella even brought a gift.

The card read,“To Leeann and Lucifer—may your reign in the Underworld be forever long.”

“What was that menu?” moans Ella, tugging off her sunglasses. “Did they want us to starve at the reception?”

“I thought the chicken was good,” Zay says, passing out the plastic menus as if they’re going to order anything other than the usual. His hair’s cut short, a few waves at the top the only remains of his sick, curly Afro. Wes still hasn’t adjusted to it. But it’s also a reminder that more than Zay’s hair has changed in a year.

“I can’t believe you caught the bouquet,” Ella says accusingly to Kyra.

Kyra has one arm resting lazily on Anna’s bare shoulders, scanning the menu.

“That means you two are next,” Zay teases.

Anna blushes from her hairline to her collarbones. But Kyra smirks, then says, “Don’t jinx it,” before pressing a loud kiss to Anna’s cheek.

Wes is happy they’re still a thing. Next to him, Nico finds Wes’s hand under the table. Wes’s glad they’re still a thing too. A capitalized Thing.

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