“Q gave you that D!”

I feel the blush rise from my neck as my mouth sputters like a dying fish, but nothing comes out. How could she know?

“What?” I finally manage to spit out, but it’s not the denial I was going for.

“She has a gift.” Brynn pats me on the shoulder. “Don’t fight it. She did it to me too.”

I turn to Brynn, horrified by the idea of all this.

“I-I mean . . .” I start, not knowing where the hell I’m going with this, when the cutest boy with long golden curls barges into the room.

“Grandpa Sterling says it’s time to eat!” He turns to Poppy. “Dad said he’ll make your plate when you come down.”

Ace sprints back out of the room without waiting for Poppy’s answer.

“Ooooh, TK. Makin’ plates and everything now.” Vonnie stands up, pulling Poppy up after her. “You better be glad you found him before I left Justin because I’m telling you, all these years later and that man is still fine.”

“Vonnie!” Greer sounds scandalized. “You can’t say that about her husband.”

“You want me to say it about yours?” Vonnie snaps back as she files out of the room. Brynn and I trail her, doing a terrible job disguising our laughter as coughs. “Hey Q,” Vonnie says, and I’m not sure if she’s serious or getting back at me for laughing until I turn the corner and see Q’s long body leaning against the hallway wall.

“There you are.” His eyes go soft when he sees me. He pushes off the wall and walks over to me. “You look beautiful . . . again.” He drops his chin and touches his mouth to mine.

“You guys can go in my room, but no sexing on my childhood bed.” Brynn motions two fingers from her eyes toward us. “Got it?”

“No sex in your room or the champagne room, got it.”

We go into her room and close the door as she heads downstairs, warning people not to step on her PUMAs.

“I missed you.” Quinton covers my mouth with his, but even though Brynn’s bed is bumping into the back of my legs, he makes sure we stay on our feet.

“I missed you too,” I admit, feeling silly saying it. I’ve never been the sappy type, but I guess that’s changing like everything else in my life.

“I’m not sure I let you know just how much this morning meant to me,” he whispers, the bristles of his beard tickling the shell of my ear. “You know how you said you were dreading the holidays?”

“Yeah.” God. The amount of whining and complaining I did. I can’t believe he doesn’t just find me completely insufferable.

“That’s how it’s been for me. For years.” He keeps his arms wrapped tight around me, like looking me in my eyes during this would be too much. A feeling I understand all too well. “I had to go put on a happy face and pretend I was fine, that everything was fine. Then I’d leave and bury it all because I couldn’t put it on my mom. But today, for the first time, I wasn’t alone. I don’t have to carry that weight anymore. And that’s because of you.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I say. “You make it so easy for everyone in your life to depend on you. It’s about time you start leaning on someone else. Nobody deserves that more.”

“Donny had to convince me to come to Denver. I was dreading it.” His gruff voice washes over me and he nuzzles his face into my hair. “Thank fuck I did, because I can’t even imagine my life without you anymore.”

Those words almost break me and the need to tell him about Glenn Chandler is overwhelming. But a lump forms at the base of my throat and when I go to confess, I feel like acid is dripping down the back of my throat. The fear of losing him and my job chokes me.

I’ll figure out a way to tell him, to make him understand why I had to do it.

I have to.

“Lovebirds!” Brynn pushes open the door to her room with her foot, covering her eyes with both hands. “Mrs. Rafter is wondering where you are and Mrs. Lewis won’t let anyone eat until we’ve all said grace. So hurry your hot asses.”

“Let’s go eat. We can continue this conversation later . . . with a king bed behind you instead.” He waggles his eyebrows. He looks so young and carefree it’s hard to remember the man I met at HERS a few months ago.

He intertwines his fingers with mine as we walk down the stairs and into the packed room. Because Brynn is Brynn, she couldn’t just buy a few plastic foldout chairs from Walmart and call it a day. No, instead she went all out, ordering tables extending the entire expanse of her dad’s living room. The table is beautifully set with a burnt-orange tablecloth and gold dinnerware that matches the gold seats we’re assigned to. Food fills the table. Everything from the Thanksgivings I had with my dad, from mashed potatoes and green bean casserole to macaroni and cheese and collard greens. It’s like the best of both worlds. I almost get teary-eyed taking it all in. I wish I had this growing up. Seeing people of all shades in one room, celebrating together, feeling as though I could exist in both worlds.

After Mrs. Lewis says grace, we all not so gracefully dig into the food in front of us. Ace and the Lamar trio pack their plates, and Mr. Sterling—Brynn’s dad and America’s favorite grandpa—encourages them to eat downstairs in front of the Xbox, despite the objections of both mothers. Mrs. Rafter is on the other end of the table, chatting it up with an older Black woman I haven’t met yet.

“Did I sound convincing enough?” Vonnie whispers in my ear after the basement door shuts behind Jett. “Not having to fuss over them while I eat is a Thanksgiving miracle.”

“You honestly deserve an award, I thought you were pissed.”

“Misguided

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