Who We Could Be - Chelsea M. Cameron Page 0,78

and we had to figure out what our next steps were.

“How about we bring everyone together so we can do it all at once? I mean, my aunts aren’t here, but we can get them on video.” That was Tessa’s suggestion, and although it made me want to throw up, it did make sense. Do it like a bandage: all at once.

The rest of the day was spent alternately napping, inviting everyone to dinner at Tessa’s house, and more sex. I was actually considering quitting my job and devoting myself to fulltime sex with Tessa. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my life.

“Okay, we really need to get our shit together,” Tessa said, and we headed for the shower. It was a bit of a scramble to figure out how to shower together and get clean and not get distracted by each other, but somehow we managed.

It seemed appropriate that if we were inviting everyone to a dinner that we would actually provide said dinner. Since we were exhausted from the sex, we grabbed a couple jars of alfredo sauce, a couple rotisserie chickens, some bags of salad, and a few boxes of pasta.

“Should we get cake?” Tessa asked when we were in the bakery section of the grocery store.

“Probably. I wish I had time to make something, but I literally can’t right now.” I was resting on the handle of the grocery cart so I didn’t fall asleep in the aisle right there.

“Cheesecake medley it is,” Tessa said, putting a huge box of different flavors of cheesecake bites in the cart. We added some drinks and called it good.

“How are we going to do this? Because this also means coming out, for you,” I said.

“I told you, it’s okay. I’m fine with it. You know I’m a leaper and not a looker.” That was Tessa. Once she was in, she was completely in without looking back.

“Okay. If you’re sure.”

We arrived at her parent’s house and I had to take a few deep breaths before walking in the house with a few bags of groceries weighing down my arms.

“So, what is this all about?” Tessa’s mom asked as I set the bags down on the floor.

“Mom, stop being weird. You’ll find out when everyone else does. Now let us cook.” Tessa moved around her mom and started getting out pots and pans.

“Are you sure you can’t give me a little hint?” she asked, hovering around. Tessa’s dad was out puttering around the yard with a leaf blower.

When we’d invited everyone to this dinner, we’d made it sound like Tessa was the one with the announcement. If we’d said that both of us had one, they would have figured it out in two seconds flat.

“Mom, seriously. Chill.”

She stopped asking questions, but she didn’t stop sort of surveilling us and watching our conversations really closely from the living room as she pretended to read a book on her phone. Tessa was far more annoyed by it than I was.

The volume in the house went up dramatically as soon as her brothers started to arrive with their wives. Donny and Steph (they’d gotten a babysitter for Cadence), Mike and Bekah, Ben and Annabelle. Gus was there too, and it was good to see him.

Everyone crammed around the dining table as Tessa and I brought out the food.

“No garlic bread?” Donny asked, looking at the spread as we passed around a bowl of salad.

“Really?” Tessa said. “Can you just be grateful for a free meal, eat your food, and shut your face?”

“I mean, I could do that, but I don’t want to.”

Light bickering between the siblings peppered the meal and I tried to eat while also trying not to have a panic attack. When we’d come up with this plan, it had seemed like a good idea, but now that everyone was here, and I looked around at all of their faces, the reality of it was terrifying.

Even though I knew they loved me. Even though I knew they loved and would accept Tessa. Even though they were effectively my family, there was still a tiny seed of doubt planted in the back of my mind.

“You okay?” Gus said, nudging me with his arm. He was on my right with Tessa on my left.

“Yeah, fine. Just tired,” I said. So, so tired. I wanted to sleep for an entire day.

Everything wound down and finally, Mike spoke up.

“Okay, can we get to the reason why we’re here now? Not that this hasn’t