Page 127 of Liam

“Okay then,” she says, getting to her feet and holding a hand to her heart. “God, I love love.”

I break out another smile.

“Just… make sure you’re not letting that overtake the work you’re doing in therapy. I know it seems?—”

“I know,” I cut in. “I’ve already spoken to Amanda about it.” Amanda’s my therapist, and Logan was right about her; she really is great. She doesn’t ask idiotic questions or push me beyond my comfort zone. She just listens, offers advice when I seek it. Obviously, I’ve told her about Liam, and she gave the same advice as Dayna just now.

“Well, I spoke to Griffin this morning,” she says, going back to her suitcase. She struggles to zip it closed—just like I knew she would. “I knew your plan was to come back a couple of weeks before classes started, but we don’t want you to feel pressured to be on any kind of timeline. If therapy is working and you have the support system with Roman and Loverboy?—”

“Loverboy?”

She laughs once. “Roman called him that once, and now it’s stuck.”

“You talked to Roman about Liam?”

She shrugs. “I talk to Roman about a lot of things.”

“Speaking of…”

“Uh-oh.”

“How did he have your number?”

“About that…” she says, and for a split second, she looks uncomfortable. Right before she hurls herself onto the bed, kicks the suitcase to the floor, and opens her arms wide for me.

I crawl across the mattress, lie on my side beside her and in the crook of her arm. Then I wait. And wait. And wait. Usually, Griffin’s the one to have these uncomfortable conversations, but since he’s not here, she’s going to use physical affection to lessen the blow. “Roman’s always had our numbers,” she finally says. “He would call us occasionally, from prison, to make sure you were okay. It continued after he got out. But Griffin and I decided early to only tell him what we knew you would be comfortable with, mainly about school and softball and how you were—emotionally, to an extent. We didn’t tell him about the accident. We figured you would eventually.”

I can easily picture Roman, like a scene in the movies, in his prison clothes, waiting to use one of those metal phones hanging on a wall. “He asked you not to tell me, didn’t he?”

Dayna strokes my arm as she answers, “He said he thought it was what was best for you, and he knows you better than anyone, Addie, so we agreed to it.”

I nod slowly, my mind trying to catch up with her words. It took a lot of soul-searching for me to accept Roman’s reasons for not keeping in touch, and in the end, his motives were simple: He did it for me.

He’s doneeverythingfor me.

“He also asked our permission before inviting you here,” Dayna says. “Please don’t be mad at him, sweetheart.”

“I’m not,” I’m quick to say, a slight smile taking over. “In fact, I’m not even surprised. It’s very Roman-esque, and I kind of love him more for it, to be honest.”

Dayna shifts, and I can tell she’s trying to look at my face, so I give her what she wants.

“Besides, I know Roman.” I shrug. “He wasn’t just calling you to checkinon me. He was checking out you two. He was making sure we were a good fit, and you were taking care of me, and he must’vereallyliked what he saw—or heard—because he’d only ever let me stay with people he knew would care for me better than he could. And that’s a high praise, a hugetrust, especially coming from him. And his instincts were right.” I throw my arm over her, hug her close. “You guys have done more for me than you’ll ever understand. And I’m sure you’ll continue to do so.”

Dayna pats my head, right over my scar. “Because we love you, Addie.”

“I know,” I say, nodding. “You’ve shown me every day that you love me, and I…” I swallow my nerves. I used to think that saying the words out loud was some kind of curse. That the people I’d say it to would one day leave me, just because my parents did. Or because Romanhadto. But Roman’s still here, and so are Dayna and Griffin. “I love you, too. Both of you. So much.”

Dayna’s eyes instantly fill with tears. “Shit, Addie,” she moans, wiping at her eyes. “You got me all emotional.”

“I’m sorry,” I coo. “I’m going to call Griffin later and tell him, too. Don’t say anything.”

“Oh, he’ll cry.”

“You think?”

“Addie, there’s a reason you and Griffin get on so well. You can’t see it?”

I shake my head. “No.”

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