Page 126 of Yours, Finally

She searched the crowd for her parents. They grinned at some of Gabe and Vi's cousins. Pure happiness radiated around them.

I smiled and put an arm around Vi. "It's good now. Everyone we care about knows. We made it work."

"It might have been different if Jake and I hadn't been together onthat. But we were, and we figured it out, and we told everyone the truth."

Javier's eyes widened as he stared at us.

"Fuck," he muttered. He covered his mouth with a hand.

We all watched him with varied degrees of confusion.

"You okay?" I asked.

He lifted frustrated eyes at me. "I fucked up, and I should come clean. Fuck."

"What happened?" Max frowned.

"I lied to someone I… I care about. I think. If how this feels—" he waved a hand in circles over his chest— "is any indication."

"Someone you… care about?" Vi asked.

Javier nodded, eyes pressed close. "A… friend. I think. She… I hid something from her. Made a few bad choices."

Vi and I stared at each other. This wasn't usual for Javier. It seemed to be confusing her as much as it confused me.

"It's complicated." Javier sighed. "But I should… own up to what I did."

He gulped. Max put a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Max offered.

"No. Not at the party." He gazed at the ceiling. "But I'm going to need help on this one."

"Of course," Gabe said. "Whatever you need."

Max rubbed Javier's shoulder and let go. "You helped me figure out things with Eva. Remember? We'll help you figure out things with… what's her name?"

Javier gave him a sideways glance. "Not the same situation as you and Eva. I didn't say anything about love."

Max's immediate grin was full of cheekiness. "I didn't either. But isn't it interesting that I talked about how you helped me, and I'll be happy to help you… and you thought of love for… what's her name again?"

Javier's eyes narrowed, but a small smile appeared on his lips. "You're funny. I'll tell you another time."

A server offered drinks to the group. Javier reached for a glass, and took a long sip of bubbly, clear liquid.

"Mh. Vodka soda. Perfect." Javier took another sip. "Now please return to the festivities. We're not here to chat about the mess I made."

Vi gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. "You kind of stole our thunder. What did you expect?"

"I did not do that," Javier said. "We're all thoroughly pleased and surprised. You are finally together!"

"You also suspected?" I asked.

"We all did." Gabe smirked. "You two were not as subtle as you thought you were."

Lina arched an eyebrow. "And yet the only one to actually know they've been together since the gala was me."

"Aaaanyway." Vi snuggled to my side, an irreverent look on her face. "All that's well and dandy but dinner will happen soon. We should all go mingle. We'll have years for you all to tease us."