Who We Could Be - Chelsea M. Cameron Page 0,45

not that. I don’t think, anyway. It’s just not knowing what my future is going to look like has been really stressful lately. This helps.”

We’d agreed to get a salted caramel cheesecake and it was orgasmic. I was definitely going to make Gus take me here sometime.

I really needed to get more used to the idea that we were getting married. That I’d be moving in with him to his little cabin near the pond. He’d inherited it from his grandparents and it was idyllic. We’d probably get a few dogs and go paddleboarding on the weekends. In the evenings I’d read and he’d fiddle around in the shed with woodworking projects.

Still, our wedding was at least a year away. Did I have to let it consume my every waking moment? No, I don’t think so.

“You are awfully contemplative over there, Cin.”

While I’d been navel-gazing, she’d been attacking the cheesecake and now there wasn’t a whole lot left for me. I had to get my act together or else she was going to finish it before I got to have another bite.

“Just thinking about life.” That wasn’t a lie.

“What about it?”

I didn’t want to talk to Monty about this shit.

“That I need more cheesecake in my life. Definitely. We should get some to go.” Monty got so excited about the prospect of cheesecake that she didn’t pry further about what I’d been thinking about.

My parents were home when we returned, and I was patting myself on the back for deciding to get another piece of cheesecake for them. I never would have heard the end of it if I hadn’t brought some home for everyone. What I didn’t count on was my brother Mike and his wife Bekah coming over to have dinner with my parents, so I didn’t win with everyone.

“How the hell was I supposed to know you were coming over?” I yelled.

“I told you a week ago that we were coming over!” he yelled back.

“Children, please,” Mom said halfheartedly. With four of us the house had been loud. The neighbors had complained so many times we’d lost count. It wasn’t my fault that the boys were loud. I was also the youngest, so if they were loud, I had to be louder.

“Whatever, Mike. It’s not like you know anything about my life.” This was a total dig, because I was actually extremely close with my brothers. I saw all of them at least once a week, if not more. I’d seen Donny earlier today, and Ben was dropping by the bookstore tomorrow to get some books because his wife, Annabelle, was pregnant with their first child and he was a nervous wreck. Now I had two sisters-in-law pregnant at the same time and it was going to be a chaotic Christmas at the O’Connell house. I was over the moon about getting new niblings. I adored my niece, Cadence, and couldn’t wait for her to get a sibling.

“Will you two just hug and stop being ridiculous?” Bekah said. She’d been ignoring us this whole time. She and Mike had been together since high school, so she’d had enough of our shit. Tessa had been on her phone the entire time and hadn’t even been paying attention to our nonsense.

Mike and I smiled at each other and he picked me up in a big hug.

“I love you, Firework.” He kissed the top of my head and set me down.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “Love you too.”

Monty left a few minutes later. I really wanted to ask her to stay, but there was no reason now. She was all-in on her new lesbian life and had other shit to do, I guess.

“Thank you again for the tea set. I love it so much.”

“You’re welcome, Ford.”

She waved goodbye with her free hand as she walked to her car with the tea set box.

“What’s up with Monty? She seemed quiet,” Mike said.

“Well, she did just find out that her fiancé was cheating on her, maybe it has something to do with that?” I said, and his face went red.

“Shit, I forgot about that, sorry.”

I shared a look with my mom. Yes, my parents knew, but they’d been sworn to secrecy, and I knew they would keep their word to Monty. She wasn’t ready for anyone outside of her inner circle yet, and that was fine.

“Babe, it’s late and I have to work early.” Bekah was a nurse and sometimes worked weird shifts at the hospital, so she was exhausted most of the