“Girlfriend?” she asked, pulling back slightly to search my face.
“That work for you?” I asked, hoping my voice didn’t relay my nerves. Yes, we’d talked about giving us a chance, but I wasn’t sure how she felt about me labeling it already. I still worried that I was a couple steps ahead of Chloe when it came to our relationship.
“Sounds perfect,” she said, then delighted me when she tip-toed up to brush our lips one more time. “Now let’s go find our family.”
We wound our way through the crowd of people until I caught sight of Gabe. One of the perks of being as tall as my cousin and I were, was that we stood head and shoulders above most people, even those dressed as cyborgs, X-Men, and aliens, so I could usually pick him out in a crowd.
Never one to miss the slightest detail, Gabe zoned in on our clasped hands as we made our way toward him. His head shot up, his gaze locking on me, and his eyebrow went up.
I answered with a shit-eating grin, which he immediately answered with one of his own.
We conveyed everything we needed to with those grins.
I’d told him after Chloe and Chris came into our lives that I’d seen her first at that party, and how I’d felt about her, so he knew where I stood. Now he knew Chloe was standing right there with me, and he was cool with it.
That’s all I needed to know.
I knew Zoey, Jazzy, Serena, and Dillon would be cool too, and fro
m his reaction at the fitting, Chris didn’t have a problem with it. I was pretty sure my dad and most of the family would be cool. The wild cards were my mom and Aunt Annabeth, but I’d already decided to talk to each of them myself, to try and shield Chloe from any possible grief, and let them know right off where I stood.
Because, like I said, I was a few steps ahead of Chloe in this relationship, and I already knew she was it for me. What started as lust and infatuation was quickly turning into love, the more I got to know her. I knew it wouldn’t take much for me to fall completely; I just hoped she could come to feel the same way about me.
I just needed to slow down and give her the chance to catch up.
“Hey,” I said when we reached my cousin.
“Hey,” he replied, then looked pointedly at our hands. “What have you two been up to?”
I noticed Chloe’s face getting pink, so I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed it gently, hoping to reassure her that I’d handle any questions, and replied, “Just getting things sorted.”
“Cool,” Gabe replied simply, then looked around the room with a slight shake of his head. “It’s already been complete madness around here. A couple of fans were a little too eager to get close to Zoey, so I had to step in. I don’t think they realized she’s pregnant, but still, I almost lost my shit. She’s making me stay out here for the rest of the panel.”
“She’s okay?” Chloe asked, her concern for her sister apparent.
“Yeah, she’s good. There’s security with her now, or else there’s no way I would have left, no matter what her fans thought.”
I tried not to laugh at the thought of Zoey kicking Gabe out of the panel, but a snicker escaped my lips.
Gabe just scowled at me.
“Is Chris with her?” Chloe asked.
“Yeah, she allowed him to stay.”
This time I had to cough to cover my laugh.
“You got a problem?” Gabe asked, but I could tell he was trying not to smile.
“No, man, glad to hear your honeymoon’s off to a great start.”
“You keep fucking with me, I’m not going to tell you where Stan Lee is, or where the cast of X-Men were taking pictures,” Gabe threatened.
“I’ll stop,” I promised immediately, causing both Chloe and Gabe to chuckle. I didn’t care if they made fun of me, I needed to know where Stan Lee was. “Where?”
“C’mon, I’ll show you.”
“I’ve got my camera ready,” I said, patting the camera that was hanging around my neck.