Page 99 of Merry Mayhem
“I’m better than okay. In fact, I’ve decided that facing Sam as a happy, independent, confident single woman is even better than facing him with a new boyfriend.”
I squeeze her hands. “Youarea strong, independent, confident woman.”
She nods. “Yeah, it was just the happy part I wasn’t sure about. But I am that. My car accident really showed me that I have so much to be grateful for and happy about. And now I can be happy about my big sister falling in love with an amazing guy.”
The tears finally slip over my lower lashes, and I lean in, pulling Violet close. She wraps her arms around me, and I squeeze her tightly.
“Thank you,” I say.
“For what?” she asks. “I’d be a real asshole to stand in the way of you and Josh.”
“Just for being an awesome sister.”
“Yeah, well, I learned from the best.”
CHAPTER 20
JOSH
Theaand I climb onto the stage in the middle of Main Street for the final challenge of Merry Mayhem.
We head for the third long table, which is our station for the Great Gingerbread Dash. We will be racing the other teams to see who can use every single item on the table in front of us to build the best-looking gingerbread house in ten minutes or less. The first group to finish something that looks decent gets one hundred points, the second group gets fifty, and the third group gets ten. Everyone else gets nothing.
Even if we get a hundred points, Thea and I are not winning this thing.
And neither of us cares.
“I really want to grab that microphone and announce to this entire town that I’m madly in love with you,” I say conversationally.
Thea trips over her feet, and I grab her elbow with a grin.
“Tell me you’re not going to do that,” she says, as we move behind the table.
“No promises,” I say.
I want to do something. Not just because Ellie Landry is in the front row for the event and I kind of want the Landry familygrand gesture stamp of approval—though, I do—but because my feelings for Thea feel big and bright and like they might just explode out of me at any moment. Like a confetti canon.
And because I want everyone to know about us.
I came to Rebel, Louisiana, and signed up for Merry Mayhem to take my mind off being alone and wasting two years of my life chasing the idea of love instead of the real thing.
But I got swept up in the fun and joy and these people.
And this person beside me.
I don’t want this to end.
While I know Merry Mayhem is over today, I feel that everything that makes it so fun, joyful, and yes, a little bonkers, is really everyday life here in Rebel. I want more of these people, their love for one another, their love for life, the way they celebrate things, and support each other.
And Thea. God, I want more of her. All of her. Instead of letting that end today, I want this to be the start.
“Josh, we still have to let Violet figure out how she wants to handle the whole ‘my boyfriend is now with my sister’ thing,” Thea says quietly. “If you just make some big announcement, you still put a spotlight on her that she might not want.”
“That’s the only reason I’m not kissing you right now up on this stage in the middle of town,” I tell her, checking out the gingerbread house pieces and parts in front of us as if we’re discussing whether white or multi-colored lights are better on a tree.
Because it is like that. It’s going to be a normal daily occurrence for me to let Thea Chabert know that I love and want her. She’ll get used to it.
Or she’ll catch her breath and freeze for a second, and her eyes will go wide every single time for the next seventy-five years of her life, like she did just now.
