Page 66 of The Risks of Reuniting

I laugh over a suddenly thick throat. "Witnessing you try to shower with two cups of water was also an honor."

She squeezes once more as we both laugh, and then we let go, and Holt's hand comes to rest on my lower back when we do. It comforts me, and I lean into his side.

"You have to follow me on social media now that your sad little phone will actually work," Rachelle says, taking out her phone to open up her profile. "Here, tell me your handle and I'll follow you right now. We can message each other all the time. And when you post pictures of you and Holt – reunited – I will heart it a million times."

She taps at her phone and I exchange a look over my shoulder with Holt, not wanting to burst her bubble. "Uh . . ." I pull a face. "I don't do socialmedia," I say.

Her head snaps up. "Tell me that is a cruel joke." I shake my head and she waves her phone at me. "I lived with you for a full month, and took a thousand pictures, and talked about my followers, and you never said one word about your medieval ways?"

I laugh and nod. "It didn't seem important."

"I thought I knew you." She playfully rolls her eyes and pulls a face before turning to Holt. "And you? Are you part of mainstream America?"

He holds up a hand and chuckles. "Yes, but I almost never post anything."

"That's okay," she says, taking a breath, "I can respect people who use it for stalking. Who are you?" Holt gives her his social media handle and she adds him, then motions for us to gather in a cluster and take a picture together. We all smile, and she clicks the picture. "This will be your first post of many," she says to him, tagging him in it, before throwing together a perfectly fun caption and hitting the post button .

I look to Holt and raise an eyebrow, and he leans down to press a kiss to my temple. "Guess we're social media official," he whispers, his breath tickling at my hair.

Rachelle finishes and looks at me. "I will be messaging your boyfriend and commenting when he posts, but I need you to know that I'm not trying to make a play for him. We can both acknowledge his hotness, but I am loyal and would never mess with what you two have going. It's called star-crossed, and you two have it."

Holt squeezes my waist as we both laugh and then I move forward and hug her again. "I trust you Rachelle," I say, and then I whisper for her ears only, "And I think we can both acknowledge that you probably could steal him if you wantedto, you foxy little thing."

She throws her head back and laughs, and when I release her she does a few poses, tossing her hair and cocking her hips, and Holt watches it all with a big smile on his face.

Rachelle finishes her goodbye with a quick hug for Holt – patting him on the back in big exaggerated moves and saying "bye bro"in a way that makes us all crack up again. The two of us watch as she hauls her luggage up and makes her way to the train to take her away. She waves as she rounds a corner and Holt reaches down to pick up both of our heavy packs.

"You told her she could steal me if she wanted to, didn't you?" he asks as we make our way to the food court where we've decided to hang out for the next thirty minutes before taking the train to our next terminal. Holt wants egg rolls.

"I did," I confirm with a grin.

"Not in this universe," he states, throwing me a look that tells me he's all mine, and only mine, forever, even though he knew I was playing around.

We find a table and claim it, and while Holt goes after some egg rolls for him and tea for me, I pull out my phone and start texting people. It's lovely to have cell service again.

Allie-Pallie, we just landed in Atlanta. Holt is getting egg rolls and that feels so normal. We'll see you soon. Are you ready?

The next text goes to my parents. They aren't amazing text users, and I'd normally choose to call them, but I'll be back on a plane soon and they need proof that I didn't die over the ocean somewhere. At the last second I add my brother Gavin to the chat.

Hey family. Just landed in Atlanta and will be heading to Salt Lake soon. Brought you somesouvenirs. One is kind of big and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's a man. I think you'll like him if you give him a "second" chance.

It's a little tongue-in-cheek because other than their initial reactions to me telling them about Holt, they've been silent about it. And that's not how my family handles things. Which means they're going to be weird about it.

Gavin

Pics or it didn't happen.

I laugh down at my phone and then frown when I realize that I still haven't sent my family or cousins a picture of us together. Oops.

Why are you awake?

Gavin

Why else – toilets. Someone stole the one from the police station and the cops have nothing to go on.

I groan and send an eye roll emoji.

Gavin

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