Page 137 of Finn Rhodes Forever

For now, though, I was enjoying what I had. I wasn’t going to worry about the future. In Elizabeth and Sam’s foyer, I shook my head and put on a brave smile for Finn.

Elizabeth appeared around the corner, eyes bright with a big smile on her face. “There they are.”

After she gave us warm, lingering hugs, she pulled us into the kitchen, where Wyatt, Holden, and Avery were helping her prep the salad. The guys nodded hellos while Avery hugged us and poured me and Finn glasses of wine.

“Go outside,” Elizabeth said, shooing us out the patio door, and I laughed, feeling like we were ten years old again.

In the backyard, Emmett barbecued dinner while Sam, Hannah, and Sadie played with Cora on the grass.

“Hey, you two,” Sam called over in between tossing Cora in the air while she squealed and laughed.

Sadie stood and walked over. “Hello,doctor.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

I snorted and shook my head. “We’re not calling me that.”

“We’re definitely calling her that,” Finn added, taking Cora from Sam and covering her cheeks in kisses. My heart dipped.

Sadie’s arms came around my neck and she squeezed me so hard I couldn’t breathe. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” I smiled as she pulled back.

“So proud of you,” Hannah said quietly as she gave me a hug, and I flushed.

“When’s your defense?” Emmett called from the grill.

In the week since we’d gotten home, when Finn and I weren’t tangled up together, I’d been emailing back and forth with my advisor.

“I submitted my dissertation this morning,” I told them, taking a seat on one of the patio chairs, “so now they’re scheduling the defense with the other researchers. It’ll happen sometime in early September.”

For the hundredth time this week, relief eased through me. My advisor could move on.Icould move on.

Sam’s eyebrows lifted in curiosity. His eyes were the same color as his son’s, that sharp, clear gray. “Feeling okay about it?”

I chuckled. “Yes. My advisor is confident that I have this in the bag.” A snort escaped me. “And I’ve had enough time with the research.”

Sam shook his head in awe. “Super proud of you, Olivia.”

I smiled at my hands in my lap. “Thanks, Sam.”

The others joined us out in the yard, talking and laughing, and by the time we took our seats at the table, my worries had disappeared. Being with these people was easy. How many hours had I spent in this backyard over my childhood and teenager years? It felt like a second home.

“This is a good one,” Elizabeth said later, holding her iPad up.

It was a photo from Sadie’s baby shower. Finn was mid-hip-roll over me, staring down at me with an expression that would make a porn star blush. In the photo, I was practically drooling over him. In the background, Miri’s eyes were feral as she watched.

Everyone laughed.

Holden shook his head at Finn. “Wow.”

“What?” Finn asked him. “Liv dragged me to Mom’s book club. Do you know how many times Mom said the wordpenisin there?”

Elizabeth shrugged, acting innocent. “As many times as I could.” A smile crept up her face as she eyed Finn and me, and her eyes glittered. “And I had a feeling Finn would retaliate. You two are always swiping at each other like that.”

Finn’s hand drifted to my lap, wrapping around mine, and he gave me a squeeze. I smiled at him.

“Asshole,” I said, smiling.

His eyebrows bobbed, eyes gleaming. “You know it.”

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