Her lips twitched. “Ah.Nowwe’re getting to the real issue.”

I gave her a look. “Mom.”

She laughed, taking a sip of her coffee. “Samuel, come on, Iknowyou. I know the other guys as well.”

I smirked. “That obvious, huh?”

She tilted her head. “You tell me. How do you feel about it?”

The answer wasn’t simple.

“I want her,” I confessed. “But I can’t ignore the fact that Kai and Adam do too. And she… she likes all of us.”

Mom considered my words, tapping a finger against the rim of her mug. “And how does that make you feel?”

I let out a slow breath, staring down at my coffee. “Honestly? I don’t know. All I know is that this isnothinglike it was with Penelope.”

“How?” she prompted.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table. “With Penelope, it always felt like we were trying to hold ontosomething that was slipping through our fingers. Like we had to convince her that what we had was worth it.”

Mom nodded, her gaze steady. “And with Sadie?”

I exhaled, shaking my head. “It’s not like that. She’s not running. At least, not yet. And I don’t think it’s because she doesn’t care… I think it’s because of her life. Of her parents dying when she was young, and maybe never really feeling like she had a home. It kinda feels like she might be bracing for something to go wrong.”

Mom hummed, taking another sip of her coffee. “Sounds like someone else I know.”

I huffed a quiet laugh. “Yeah, yeah.”

She smiled, but I could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. “And you trust Adam and Kai?”

I nodded without hesitation. “Of course I do. They’re my brothers in every way that matters.”

Mom tilted her head. “So what’s really stopping you?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it again.

Because I wasn’t sure.

With Penelope, there had been jealousy, sure, but mostly there had been doubt.

We weren’t enough for her. Or maybe she wasn’t enough for us.

Either way, it had fallen apart before it could ever truly come together.

But Sadie? She wasn’t a repeat of the past.

She was something else entirely.

“I just don’t want to mess this up,” I admitted. “Not with her. Not with them.”

Mom reached across the table, squeezing my hand. “Then don’t.”

I let out a quiet breath, looking at her.

It sounded so simple.

And yet, nothing about Sadie Collins was simple.