Alexander barely had Rose back before Aria stole her away. “Give me my niece. I bought a little black dress for her, and I’m dying to see her in it.” Her nose wrinkled. “I’ll even change this diaper while I’m at it. You’re welcome.”
I wasn’t sure if it was possible to have baby fever while already pregnant, but if it was, Aria had it.
Everyone settled around the bonfire, talking and laughing and eating our weight in Fudge Stripe s’mores. After a bit, I stood.
“What do you need?” Alexander asked, always ready to give me the world.
I shook my water glass. “Refill.”
“I’ll grab it.”
Waving him away before he could stand, I added, “Bathroom, too.”
His lips tipped up.
His smile was good.
His grin was better.
But that slight curve of his mouth, like it was a secret just for me?
That was the best.
After I took care of what I needed, I didn’t head outside. Not right away. Instead, I grabbed my notebook and a pen out of a drawer. I flipped through it again, skimming random entries.
Finding a blank page toward the back, I quickly jotted down my daily entry.
For being flawed and fucked up and damaged.
And that’s okay.
I closed the book and grabbed my stuff, carrying it all outside. When I was next to the fire, I inhaled deep, holding my breath until my lungs burned. As I exhaled, I tossed the book in.
“What was that?” Aria asked.
“Just something I don’t need anymore.”
Alexander grabbed my hand and hauled me as close as I could get with company around and a baby on his chest. “I love you.”
He’d never asked what the notebook was, I’d never told him, and I was positive he’d never read it. But I figured he knew anyway.
He always knew everything when it came to me.
“I love you, too.”
I looked to the side to see my sister laughing with her family. I looked to my other side to see my husband with our daughter asleep on his chest.
Everywhere I looked.
Joy in abundance.
Which was why I was excited to show my sister the black and white picture that looked like an alien.
My family was growing.
Our family.
Our perfectly imperfect family that would know love like it was ingrained in our DNA.
It was the new Dillon sister way.
The End
Keep reading for a teaser chapters of Deathly by Brynne Asher
Chapter 1
The Beholder
Aria
BRAVERY IS IN the eye of the beholder.
I know the idiom is beauty, but beauty won’t get you anywhere in life. I don’t care how you spin it, how poetic you drone on about it, or how deeply you reach inside your soul to find it.
I’m sick of beauty and the weight our society puts on it.
I’ll take bravery over beauty any day.
Some might think bravery is the important piece of that puzzle.
They would be wrong.
Bravery is only the act. The beholder … that’s the key.
They shoulder the power, the fight, and, when they come out on the other side of the battle, the consequences.
In any plain-Jane, sappy fairy tale, courage, and heroism are romanticized, polished, and dusted in glitter to shine through the darkness. They scream, “Look at me! I’m perfect. Normal. Winning at life!”
But for those of us who are not normal—let alone perfect—who are struggling to catch our breaths, bravery looks very different.
Bold, daring, and, yes, even audacious. This is the type of bravery required to walk in my designer-dupe heels and off-the-rack cocktail dress, since the real deals aren’t in my budget.
Yet.
I’m working on it.
Most wouldn’t think bravery would be required for a night out with your only friend, who isn’t really that close of a friend. But for me, it is.
Psychoanalyzing every detail of every moment until I’m bleeding from my nails is a curse. It’s how I’m wired and impossible to turn off. But when I manage to, things don’t turn out well.
At all.
“Hot and cute have collided, creating a burst of beauty. I’m telling you, my heart and lady bits can hardly take it. I thought for sure I was here just for the eye candy, but I might have to dip into my 401k to make a bid.”
I look over at Kate, who has become one of my only friends in the Pacific Northwest aside from my sister. “No way. We’re here to check off a major task on my list to become a well-rounded human. Don’t ruin it for me. We’re here to be social—but just you and me, not with anyone else. We need to sit back and appreciate everything going on around us. My plan is airtight if we stick to it.”
She hikes her perfectly manicured brow. “Don’t lie, Doctor Shrinko. You’re drooling over these beautiful specimens that God sculpted just for us—I’ve had my eye on you and you’ve had your eye on a certain tall, tan, broody man. Either that or the chocolate something-or-other with curly hair he’s got on a leash.”
Dammit. I’m not usually transparent. I excel at drowning every emotion that claws its way to the surface. My father made sure I hid my feelings. “Emotions showcase your weaknesses,” he said.
My insides tense just thinking about it.
I turn back to Kate. “Of course, I’m looking. I’m like every other woman in the room. There are plenty of men and muscles here to appreciate, Kate. We’re here for the experience, but that’s it.”
I’ve lost her attention. She takes a sip of her green apple martini, zeroing in on a man across the room who’s being attacked by a Dachshund trying to lick his face off.
From the looks of it, I bet Kate wouldn’t mind tasting him too. Lust is dripping off her like the perpetual Washington rain.
I grab her forearm to stop any crazy ideas running through her head. If I’m cautious by nature, she’s the exact opposite. “We made a
