Page 84 of Kiss Me Forever

“Beginning of December.” Swallowing hard, I added, “Want to be my date? I don’t want to steal my brother’s thunder, but it would be an honor to have the most beautiful woman in the world on my arm.”

Her face opened up in a huge smile. “When you ask me like that, how can I say no? I’ll still be in Chicago in December.”

Still. Fuck. I hated the sound of that, but this wasn’t the time or place to address it.

We reached Kimberly and Reese at the same time as Sam.

"Hello again, Megan," he said.

"Hey, Sam, good to see you. And nice to meet both of you," she said to my cousins.

"We’re so excited you could make it, Megan. We’ve wanted to meet you for a while. And it’s great you’re here too, Sam. This is shaping up to be the best celebration in a while," Kimberly said. "Parties always bring us together, so it was good of you to take a leave of absence."

Sam smiled back. I was trying to fight a smile of my own but wasn't very successful. My cousins picked up on it immediately.

"What's that?" Reese said, pointing at me.

I looked apologetically at Sam, who shook his head and laughed. "Strictly speaking, I'm not here just for the party. I started seeing someone who lives in Chicago.”

"Oh my God!" Kimberly exclaimed. She was so loud that my ears were ringing.

Megan blinked, clearly shocked at the reaction. I should have warned her that we could be a handful.

"Cousin, this is great news," Kimberly continued. "When can we meet her?"

"Not anytime soon," Sam said. "I only told you because this stuff usually gets out in our family." He looked pointedly at me, and I took no offense to that.

"Anyway,Iam here for Travis’s party," Kimberly said, then added, "Oh, it's good to be home.”

“Should we make the rounds to the rest of the group?” I asked Megan. “I think my brother is preparing to give a speech of some sort. He looks full of himself." He was walking around from one side of the terrace to the other like some overpompous presence.

"Isn't he going to wait for your parents?" Kimberly asked.

"They just arrived," Reese said.

I looked toward the door and saw them walking out on the terrace.

Travis went up to them, walking fast.

“I know that stance,” Declan said, joining us. Liz was on his arm.

“He’s going to make a speech,” I surmised.

"I can't wait." Declan’s tone was firm.

I stared at him. "Dude, chill. Let the man speak."

"I am chill," Declan replied.

"Of course you are," I said sarcastically.

Next to him, Liz burst out laughing. "Yeah, Declan. That would not be a word I would use to describe you."

"By the way, Liz, this is Megan," I said, gesturing between them.

"Great to meet you, Megan. We've heard a lot about you," Liz said.

"I'll introduce you to everyone else after his speech, okay?" I told her.

---