I felt so much better, but even still, I held my breath as we stepped through the doors. Not spotting anyone unexpected made a surge of relief go through me. He’s not here. Thank God. Kiera was bombarded by friends who wanted to congratulate her. Her cheeks flushed, but she took their praise in stride. It filled me with an odd sense of pride and bliss to see her growth, to see the connections she’d made without me. She wanted to be a well-rounded person, with joys and interests that didn’t solely rely on me, on my presence…and I wanted that for her too. Our tendency toward dependency wasn’t healthy. We should be just as strong apart as we were together.

Even still…I wanted her to join me. We could make it apart—I knew we could now—but she was my best friend, my lover, my soulmate. She enriched me, and I wanted to share every moment of my upcoming future with her. I wanted her by my side. I wanted her to be my wife. I didn’t want to wait anymore.

I fantasized about marrying Kiera while I talked to Troy at the bar. By the way he was flirtatiously tilting his dirty-blond head, softly smiling as he openly admired me, I thought maybe I shouldn’t fantasize about Kiera while talking to him. I knew he had a thing for me, and I didn’t want to lead him on. As he made a tray of sodas for me, Jenny stepped up to my side.

“Hey,” I said to her. “Where’s Evan? I figured you two would arrive together.” With a grin, I added, “If you bothered to get out of bed to join us at all, that is.”

Troy smiled at my suggestive remark, his light brown eyes amused. Jenny rolled her eyes and thumped my chest. “You’re just as bad as Griffin sometimes, you know that, right?”

I gave her a playful look of mock indignation, and I heard Troy laugh…then sigh.

Jenny laughed too, then said, “Evan will be here soon. He and Matt went to the airport to get…you know who.”

My jaw dropped. “He’s coming?” I really thought he might pick the bikinis.

Jenny pursed her lips and nodded. As one, we both looked back at Anna. Griffin was going to find out he was a father-to-be today. I was relieved, but I was nervous. I inhaled a deep breath, then muttered, “I hope Griffin doesn’t make me kill him.”

“You and me both, Kellan,” Jenny said. She sighed, then her mood brightened. “Hey, did Kiera tell you about the book she’s writing about you?”

My brows knitted in confusion as I flicked a glance at Kiera talking to her family. “About me?” Why would she write a book about me?