to stay focused on the screen. They’d filmed a series of scenes that roughly told the story of Dirty Dancing, with Gavin and his brothers playing all the characters. Logan sauntered around in a leather jacket, his hair slicked back, doing an exaggerated impression of Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle. Gavin absolutely nailed the dancing on the stairs scene. He’d even worn a peach tank top and jean shorts.
Some of it had been filmed where Gavin had set up the murder cabin. Evan, playing Baby’s father, glared a lot. Asher, playing Baby’s mother—complete with a bouffant wig—made me laugh so hard I almost fell out of my chair.
It got to the scene where Johnny and Baby practice the lift in the water. Logan made a few attempts to lift Gavin. He finally got him up, and for a second, he held Gavin overhead—until his arms buckled and Gavin crashed down on top of him. They both came up sputtering and spitting out water.
“I can’t believe it’s still going,” Levi said.
“We jammed the door pretty good,” Gavin said.
“I can’t believe the people down there are staying,” Grace said. “I thought for sure the cars would all start leaving.”
“We dumped a bunch of hay bales to block the entrance before we came up here,” Evan said, his tone nonchalant.
“Nice,” Gavin said, and reached over to fist bump his brother.
“Here it is,” Logan said. “The big finale.”
Everyone aimed their binoculars at the screen.
Gavin sat at a table with Evan and Asher. Logan approached and pointed dramatically.
“No one puts Gavin in a corner,” we all shouted in unison.
They started the dance, and although they were pretty terrible, it was so funny the lack of choreographic accuracy didn’t matter in the least. The boos from below were louder now. I aimed my binoculars at the cars. Some people had gotten out and stood yelling at the projection booth. Others tossed popcorn toward the screen. There was a jam of people trying to leave, the cars backing up around the turnaround. It was mayhem down there.
The movie cut off, the screen going blank. We all surged to our feet again, laughing and cheering.
Gavin grabbed me, lifting me off my feet, and spun me around. I threw my arms around his neck and suddenly he was kissing me. Right here, in front of everyone.
And in that moment, I had a terrible realization. I was madly in love with Gavin Bailey.
34
Gavin
The day of Evan and Fiona’s wedding brought out a rare sight. My brother smiling.
Evan didn’t just smile. He smiled more than he scowled, and that was saying something. He’d been a lot happier since Fiona, but today he’d achieved a new happiness level. One I hadn’t seen on him since we were kids.
It was pretty fucking awesome.
They’d set up a tent in Gram’s backyard, decorated with twinkle lights and outfitted with heaters against the cold. Despite the fact that Evan and Fiona had both insisted they’d have a small wedding, Fiona’s habit of making friends with everyone was evident. There was a great turnout.
I stood up front with my brothers and my eyes kept straying to Skylar, sitting with her parents and Ginny. She looked so pretty in her dark blue dress with her hair pulled back. Our gazes caught and I gave her a quick wink. The way it made her smile at me did weird things to my insides.
In fact, this whole wedding was doing weird things to my insides. I didn’t know what that was about. Every time I looked at Skylar I felt a fullness in my chest. It was freaking me out a little bit because I didn’t think I was supposed to be feeling like this toward her. Yeah, I liked her a lot, and the sex was off the charts fantastic. That was great and everything, but we were just friends.
You weren’t supposed to feel like this about someone who was just a friend. Were you?
Fuck if I knew.
The ceremony was short and to the point. Cara and Grace cried through the whole thing, and even I got a little choked up when they said their vows.
And just like that, I had another sister.
When the ceremony was over, my brothers and I helped move chairs to make room for the food. The whole thing was pretty low key, which was what Evan and Fiona wanted. Family, friends, good food and drinks. A big ass cake that Cara had insisted on buying for them. Someone turned on music, and everyone started