Teagan

“Teagan, I’m so happy for you.” Paisley looks around my home while I arrange the flowers she brought into a vase.

“Thanks. I know it’s kind of stupid to have a housewarming party with two guests who have already seen the place, but damn it, I feel like an adult, and I want to show it off.”

Burke has been here countless times to help move furniture, shoot the shit with Kai, or maintain being my annoyingly overprotective big brother. Paisley came with me to all the home-goods stores and stood by as my second eyes for every detail of decorating my new home. Still, tonight, we celebrate. It took a month to get keys, and it’s taken another two months to make it feel like ours. We deserve to show it off.

“We’re happy to be here. Burke still hasn’t gotten used to you not living with him. He’s always trying to make excuses as to why we need to stop over. It’s cute.”

I smile while looking at my brother and Kai out on the deck, cooking on the grill.

“Yeah, Kai kind of picked up on that when Burke made a random trip over here to check our smoke alarms. Something tells me the news story that prompted that visit of his over here was total fiction.”

Paisley bursts into laughter and shakes her head.

“Don’t worry; I made sure to tell him that he always has to knock. He can’t just bust in because it’s his sister’s place. We wouldn’t want him to find you being naughty in the tub, now would we?”

Heat flames my face as my cheeks turn a perfect shade of rose.

“I’m so regretting telling you that story.”

“We’re on uneven playing fields. I can’t tell you sexy stories without you screeching bloody murder. Trust me; your brother does his fair share of freaky things I’d love to tell you about, but you’re so damn sensitive.” My hands immediately cover my ears. “So, if I can’t share, then I get to tease you mercifully.” The brat’s voice is only slightly muffled and barely at all as she laughs at me.

The slider opens, and the men walk in with plates stacked with food from the grill.

“Please tell me you ladies aren’t laughing about my meat.” Kai wafts the plate of hot dogs under our noses. “These weenies may look a little shriveled, but I promise you they’ll taste amazing.”

Burke’s scoff makes me blush again, but Paisley completely loses it, tears pouring from her eyes as she cracks up. Kai raises one eyebrow at me, obviously catching on that he was, in fact, the topic of conversation.

“I now realize where I went completely wrong in life,” Burke announces.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Paisley asks through laughter as she wipes away her tears.

“I never should have fallen for a girl who my sister liked so much, and I never should have encouraged the friendship between you two. I’ve made a horrible mistake.” Burke’s expression is so serious as he pulls Paisley to him and kisses her laugh lines.

“Out of all the dumb shit you’ve done, you think that is your biggest mistake?” Kai shakes his head while poking around at the meat from the grill. “Trust me, bro; there’s a list about a mile long of way bigger things that you fucked up.”

“Shut the fuck up, or Teagan will be living here alone.” Burke flips Kai his middle finger.

Kai flashes a toothy grin. “You’re going to kick me out of my own home?”

“No, I’m going to decapitate you and bury you in the backyard.” Like the complete opposite of a badass, Burke takes a hot dog and uses it to mimic the slicing motion against his own throat. A man holding a hot dog intimidates no one.

“Will you boys stop playing with your wieners, so we can enjoy our food?” Paisley leans over and takes a bite off the non-garnished hot dog in Burke’s hand. I roll my eyes when he looks at her with eyes hungry for something other than food. I’ll tease her about that later, but knowing her, she’ll somehow turn it around to put me in the uncomfortable position.

Today is a good day. I’m in my new home, which I share with the love of my life, and surrounded by the people I care about most in the world. I don’t really like my addiction being the center of attention, but today, I’m also six months sober from heroin, and that makes every day even more enjoyable. For as tough as it was when I first came back home, it feels really easy now. I was one hundred percent addicted to that shit, and I always need to be aware of that, but I do believe my situation was a bit circumstantial. I’d been through a lot and had no clue how to deal with it. I was running from all of it. I rarely ever think about the drugs in a dangerous way. More often than not, I’m thinking about them because I’m grateful for where I am now. I still go to meditation, and I’m still working on the emotions I have tied to my assaults and bad decisions, but the sessions are helping. I crawled out of my perdition of self-hatred and depression and am stronger on the other side.

“I’m so proud of you, baby,” Kai whispers in my ear as he brushes by behind me. Sometimes, I hate how easily he can read me, but let’s be honest; it’s part of the reason I love him so much.

“This is my song! Turn it up.” Paisley shakes her ass as she makes her request. Burke’s eyes, still full of hunger, zero in on her movements. As much as I give them a hard time about any public displays, I am so happy that they have one another.

I turn up the music and pull Paisley into the living room to dance.

Our family is finally at its best, and honestly, so am I.

The past has had its fair share of bumps and tragedies for all of us, but the present is amazing, and the future looks even better. I plan to spend the rest of my days with Kai.

“I could have told you two idiots that you belonged together about five minutes after I started hanging around. I couldn’t be happier that you finally figured things out.” Paisley spins me in so many circles that my sight goes dizzy.

I pull her close and drape my arms around her neck as we dance. “Believe me, this is one second chance that I won’t squander. My soul was ripped into a million tiny pieces while he and I were apart, and I hate that we put each other through hell, but I think going through what we have gone through has made us stronger.”

“I get that. You and Burke couldn’t be more different but alike at the same time. Burke is worth every up and down of the journey we went on together. I’m sure it’s the same for you and Kai. True love is messy but damn worthwhile.”

“I can’t argue with any of that.”

My eyes connect with Kai’s across the room, and my heart still beats overtime like the teenage girl who fell in love with her older brother’s best friend. The half-cocky, half-sincere grin he reserves just for me still makes my knees weak as he watches me act like a carefree fool.

This is our second chance done right, our redemption that will last long past forever.

I am Teagan Hensley, and I’m madly in love with Kai Grant. This is my story, our story, and while nothing is perfect, I wouldn’t change one single moment that led me here.