My One Night: An On My Own Novel by Carrie Ryan (life books to read .txt) 📕

and then kissed me again. I heard cheers from the other side of the house. Dillon groaned, and I started to laugh, ignoring my oncoming headache.

“It’s about time,” Sanders called.

Mackenzie punched him in the shoulder as they walked in. “Stop it. We were supposed to pretend that we weren’t listening.”

“And yet you were the one who cheered the loudest,” Pacey drawled.

I laughed, leaned into Dillon’s side as our group sat down around us, and began making plans to destroy the shed and build something new. Most of us would be dispersing for the holidays to spend time with family, but somehow, we would come back together.

Plans needed to be made, and I didn’t want to lose this connection. I’d already lost so much. I didn’t want to lose anything more. But as long as I had Dillon at my side, I knew I could do anything. We still had the rest of our futures to plan, but I knew that I wanted Dillon to be my forever. He was no longer my one night, no longer a dare. He was mine.

And I would thank my best friend to the end of time for gifting him to me.

Bittersweet promises and all.

Chapter 21

Dillon

I leaned Elise against the wall and kissed her hard on the mouth. “Hi,” I whispered.

She laughed. It reached her eyes this time, though maybe not as brightly as it had before. “Hello, there. I didn’t know there was mistletoe above us.”

I looked up and saw empty rafters. “I didn’t realize I needed mistletoe to kiss you.”

“Maybe not. However, it is a holiday party. I’m pretty sure mistletoe abounds.” She sighed a bit, and I knew she was thinking of Corinne, of the first party she’d come here for. We’d almost canceled this one, but Elise had insisted we keep it going. Because Corinne needed to be remembered, and we needed brightness in this home. We all needed a point of light in the times when it felt as if there might not be one again.

I smiled then. “Secret mistletoe should make for some interesting pairings since it’s mostly just our friends at this house party.”

“That is true,” she said, leaning into me.

“Let’s go see the rest of our people.”

It had been a week since the attack, over a week now since we had lost Corinne. Nobody was okay. Nobody was fully healed, but we were trying to make the most of it, even if it wasn’t easy. And that meant having a holiday and goodbye party before the next semester started.

There were a few people from school that I didn’t recognize, but this was a smaller gathering than the one we’d thrown when I first met Elise. Or the one where I’d first met Mandy, for that matter. Mandy and her boyfriend had not been invited, and that was fine with me. I usually didn’t have a problem with my ex coming to these types of things because I tried to be nice to everybody, but she had been harsh to me the last time we spoke, same with Elise, and I didn’t want her near the love of my life.

I couldn’t help but let a small smile play over my face at that thought. The love of my life. Some people might think it was odd to find that love so young, but what did they know? If we were blessed, we would have a long life left to live, and I would have the one person I wanted above all others at my side as I did so. We would be able to change together, find out who we were as we traversed the rest of our school years and careers. And we would have each other to lean on.

Maybe it would be easier if we were single and weren’t thinking about forevers and all of that, but we were doing exactly what we wanted, and that had to count for something. Or maybe it counted for everything.

Tonight, though, was about our group becoming a family, surrounded by others we didn’t know as well, but they were still invited.

I kissed the top of Elise’s head while we walked in, knowing that bittersweet feeling was back again. Corinne’s picture was on the mantel, a small candle lit against the frame. She would forever be remembered in this home and in our hearts. I still didn’t know how to reconcile the fact that she wouldn’t be coming through the door again, daring Elise to kiss me, making a joke or having a laugh with us to remind us that we were supposed to be enjoying college and life, and not stressing out about the next paper.

It didn’t seem fair that a girl so full of life and happiness wasn’t here anymore, but it was my goal to live my life along with Elise in Corinne’s memory. We’d find a way to make that work.

Once again, Miles was in the corner, this time with a girl I didn’t recognize. They didn’t seem to be arguing, just chatting peacefully. Tanner was on his phone, scowling down at it, alone this time, but Nessa and Natalie were near him, the two girls talking to each other. I knew they were searching for another house to live in, and my brothers were helping them. They would find a place for them to settle, along with Mackenzie if she ended up moving in with them as they’d talked about.

I wouldn’t get in the middle of that other than to offer my brother’s help with real estate. We’d find a way to make it work. For now, though, the house was a little busy with so many people coming in and out.

Pacey growled in the corner. I wasn’t sure why, and I wasn’t going to ask. For as open and helpful as Pacey was, the man had more secrets than I could count. And I wasn’t going to pry them out of him, at least not during the holidays. These days weren’t