Page 38 of Through the Storm

Katy

You’re all way too nice. No, we don’t hate Ben anymore. He’s been great.

Matt

consider us your official hype squad.

And that’s how it starts.

It’s ridiculous.

Definitely not how I imagined my life.

But I somehow feel less lonely than I’ve felt in years.

CHAPTER TWELVE

ben

TRIPLE BIRTHDAY

Tonight is the triplets’twenty-first birthday party, which means I get to see Katy even if she’s been keeping her distance.

I hate it.

I shouldn’t have said I was the baby’s dad. Part of me knows I should’ve talked to her first. But another part of me can’t shake the feeling that she just doesn’t think I’m good enough to be a father.

That she hopes someone else is the dad.

I shove the thought deep where it belongs and put on my Party Ben attitude.

My cousins’ backyard is pure chaos. There are string lights everywhere, a dance floor, music blasting, and way too much food. Rose Bay U’s entire hockey team and half the football team are here, dressed like they’re at a frat formal. Plus some of the triplets’ friends from high school.

Then I see Katy.

She’s across the lawn, talking to Rebecca, one hand resting casually on her belly, the other wrapped around a mocktail. She’s glowing, but not in the cliché pregnancy way people always talk about.

It’s confidence.

The way she laughs, like she’s finally decided she doesn’t owe anyone anything. Like she’s done with expectations.

The sight hits harder than I want it to.

She’s wearing a flowy floral dress, curls loose around her shoulders. She looks gentle and untouchable at the same time. And I’m just… standing here, beer forgotten in my hand, staring like an idiot.

She catches me looking.

Of course she does.

“Wipe that look off your face, Davis,” she calls, already smirking as she walks over. “You’re drooling.”

I snort. “I wasn’t looking.”

“Liar,” she says easily. “You’ve never been good at subtle.”

That is very true.

We stand there for a second, the noise of the party filling the space neither of us is rushing to fill.