Holding Out For Skye (31 page)

“Mr. Chan! Thea… what are you doing here?”

“May we come in?” Mr. Chan asked.

Skye stared back at her friends who were watching curiously except for Cian and Nick. Cian had a cold look on his face and Nick just stared at them blankly.

“I—”

“Please. It won’t take long,” Thea said softly, staring at Nick.

“Come in.”

“Thank you.” Mr. Chan turned to her friends. “I apologize for the intrusion.”

“It’s alright,” Skye reassured him.

“No, it’s not,” Cian disagreed coldly, getting to his feet and coming to stand by Skye’s side.

“Skye, if you want, we can give you some privacy,” Kiera ventured, getting up too. Tyler started to protest but Tasha shushed him.

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Mr. Chan told her. “But thank you.” He turned to Skye and Cian. “Miss Fletcher, I owe both you and Cian an apology. I am truly very sorry for all the pain I have caused to both of you. I know an apology does not make up for all of it but I hope one day you will be able to forgive me.”

“You can sh—”

“Cian.” Skye caught his hand, stopping his words. “I understand why you did it, Mr. Chan.”

Mr. Chan shook his head. “I had no right. I just hope you will not hold my behavior against Thea.”

“Thea has her own deeds to answer for,” Cian said coolly.

“Yes, I do,” Thea said, stepping up.

Her face was pale and her eyes had dark shadows under them. Skye didn’t know if she and Thea would ever have the same easy friendship as before but she was sorry to see her looking so miserable.

“Skye, I’m so sorry for the things I said to you—the horrible way I treated you.”

“It’s not your fault. You had no way of knowing.”

“No, but I should have been a better friend to you. And for that, I’m very sorry,” Thea said with a shamed look.

Skye felt bad for her. “It’s okay, Thea. Really.”

“Cian?” Thea’s voice sounded so small.

Skye stared pointedly at Cian. He let out a sigh, then gave Thea a hug. “It’s okay. We’re good.”

Thea gave him a look of relief. “Thanks, Cian.”

Mr. Chan walked to where Nick was standing. “Nick, I have made a lot of mistakes lately. Please don’t hold them against my daughter. I truly understand now that I could never find someone who will love Thea as much as you do. I hope you can forgive my past transgressions. I give my daughter’s hand to you freely. Will you accept her?”

Nick stared at Thea from across the room, a maze of emotions running across his face. Then his eyes shifted to Skye who gave him an encouraging smile. She gave Thea a small push towards Nick.

“So what do you say, Finnegan?” Tyler called out.

Skye and Cian smiled at his rowdiness.

Nick turned to Mr. Chan. A wondering smile lit his face. “I say yes.” He turned and walked up to Thea. “If you’ll have me,” he offered softly.

Thea’s eyes filled with tears. “Always.”

Nick held out his arms to her. With a sob, she went into his embrace and buried her face in his shoulder.

“Kiss the girl already, will ya?” Tyler shot out. Tasha gave him an exasperated look. “What?” he asked her. “I’m just trying to help.” She shook her head at him, unable to keep from smiling.

Skye, Cian and Ash flat-out burst out laughing while Kiera muffled her laughter with her hand. Mr. Chan smiled.

Thea gave a hiccupping laugh. Nick grinned, then pressed a gentle kiss on Thea’s lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Thea whispered back.

“Alright, party-time!” Tyler hooted.

“Ty, really.” Skye rolled her eyes at him.

“What?” he gave her an innocent look.

“I’ll take my leave,” Mr. Chan said, heading towards the door.

Skye stopped him. “You’re welcome to stay. Um, if you want to.”

“Thank you, my dear, but I’ll leave you young people to enjoy yourselves.”

After he was gone, Tyler turned to her. “Seriously? You had to invite him?”

“What? I was being considerate,” Skye said defensively, moving to the couch.

“Dude, really? You were gonna blow our party.”

“Jeez, be a little considerate and you get chewed out.”

Cian shared an amused glance with the others at their bickering. He took the middle spot on the couch next to Skye, Kiera taking the other.

Tyler tugged Tasha to sit next to him on the floor, over her nitpicking about having to sit on the floor, even though it was carpeted and muttering something about why the hell Skye couldn’t buy some chairs. Skye gave her a sunny smile at that. Ash sat on the arm of the couch beside Kiera. Thea and Nick sprawled down on the floor, holding hands.

“Thea,” Kiera called out softly.

Thea looked up questioningly.

“You ever speak to Skye like you did that day on the phone ever again and I’ll reach out across the damn thing and pull your tongue out,” she said sweetly. “Are we clear?”

They all stared at Kiera in amazement, except for Skye, who casually reached out for a cheese patty and said to Cian, “I told you she went easy on you at your diner date.”

“So you did,” Cian replied wryly.

Thea swallowed. “Yes—yes, we are clear.”

“Wowza girl, where you been hiding that side of yourself?” Tyler asked.

“Yes where?” Tasha’s eyes were twinkling.

Kiera smiled. “We are BFFs,” she said simply as if that explained everything.

Skye grinned back at her, feeling a wave of love for her at her defense. Kiera’d been the first real friend she’d ever had and she’d been the one who had taught her the meaning of friendship. Tyler, Crystal and Tasha had come after her, giving her the family she’d never had.

Skye stared at her circle of friends, at Kiera and Ash smiling at each other as she handed him a cream puff, at Tasha daintily eating her croissant and Tyler stuffing patties in his mouth, at Nick and Thea who looked like nothing short of an earthquake could tear them apart. Probably not even that. They hadn’t let go of each other’s hand, preferring to eat with one hand rather than letting go.

Her friends. Her family. The only one missing was Crystal. But one day she would go visit her in Atlanta. Maybe Cian would come with her.

Joy washed over Skye. All her life she’d never expected to ever feel this contentment, to be as lucky to have such wonderful friends, to have someone like Cian love her.
He loved her!
Her stomach fluttered every time that thought crossed her mind.

She knew that life was unpredictable, the future uncertain. But right now, at this moment, she was just fine. She finally belonged. With him.
Cian.

Cian had taught her the meaning of love.

“Hey, you’re not eating anything,” the object of her thoughts said.

And everything clicked into place inside of her. Kiera had been right. When you truly loved someone, everything else just paled in comparison. Skye’s fears and nervousness all took a backseat. Cian got her, he truly got her.

Skye turned to Kiera and smiled. Kiera’s eyes widened slightly at the look in her eyes and with a best friend’s instincts, she understood perfectly. She smiled back.

“What are you two girls smiling about?” Ty wanted to know.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Skye sent Tasha a secretive look. Tasha understood too and beamed back at her. She had another bestie in Tasha.

Skye turned to Cian, who had a questioning look on his face. “Yes,” she said with a luminous smile.

Cian stared at her for a moment, confused, then understanding dawned in his eyes. “You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

He let out a whooping laugh, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her right in front of their friends. Everyone cheered. When he finally let her come up for air, she flushed.

“Will someone tell me what’s going on?” Ty demanded even as he hooted with laughter.

“Cian’s moving in with Skye,” Tasha told him.

In typical Tyler fashion, he said, “What took him so long?”

Skye laughed. “Me.”

“Typical Skye.”

“Amen,” her friends said in unison.

Skye linked hands with Cian, happiness enveloping her entire being. He tightened his fingers around hers and gave her a wicked grin. Oh, yes, she’d been right, he was going to be trouble. With a capital T.

Yep, he was perfect for her.