Page 143 of Liam

My brothers and I all look at each other, then back at her.

And then she cries—just one sob—before her hands cover her face.

“Shit,” Logan hisses.

Luke shoves Leo forward. “Go to her,” he whisper-yells. Of all of us, Leo seems to be the best when it comes to sensitive emotions.

Beside me, Lincoln sighs.

Lachlan shovels more pie in his mouth.

Leo steps to Lucy, places a hand on her shoulder. She’s sotinycompared to him. “Luce…” he starts. “Uh…” He glances at us, panic written on his features. “I can’t tell if these are happy or sad tears.”

“Yeah,” Luke agrees.

“You want us to slash her tires?” Linc asks.

“We can steal her car, drive it into the lake?” I offer. I don’tmeanit. Unless I do. I’d do pretty much anything for Lucy. We all would.

“Nah,” Logan says, shaking his head. “That means she’ll be here longer.”

Lachlan pipes up. “This pie is so fucking good.”

“Shut up!” Linc snaps.

“You shut up!”

“No, you?—”

“Boys!” Lucy yells, and the room goes silent, all eyes on her.

Tears cling to her lashes as she looks at us one by one. “You guys…” she breathes out, her shoulders dropping. And then she’s crying again. “He looks so happy!”

Swear, no sound has ever been more synchronized than the collective exhale of six relieved brothers.

“He does, right?” Logan asks, the joy in his voice evident. “We should all be happy for him.”

“We are!” Lucy cries. “Losing Mom took so much out of him, and I’m not saying Alyssa will replace her, because no one can, but gosh, I’ve been waiting for him to find someone who will love him as much as she did, and now…” The weight of her emotions prevents her from finishing her thought, and Leo’s quick to pull her into his arms. Luke’s next, hugging her from behind, and then Logan goes, and then it’s all six of us, wrapping our tiny little big sister in a bubble of love and protection and respect and everything else we feel for her.

At some point, her cries turn to laughter and she tries to escape, but we don’t let her, and that somehow turns to all us boys tussling and play fighting. Lucy escapes between Leo’s legs. “Boys!” she yells, and we stop immediately. “Time to clean up!” Then she taps at the tablet beside the speaker on the counter and plays some bullshit song she knows we’ll all hate. Still, none of usmakes a move to change it. Instead, we all get to work cleaning the dining room and kitchen.

My phone alerts me to a text just as I’m wiping down the table.

Addie

Just got into town. Should I get Roman to drop me off at the cabin?

I’d been so wrapped up in Dad’s “special guest” and Lucy’s possible emotional meltdown, that I’d almost forgotten all about Addie’s meet up with Olaf/Gaston. Clearly, my decision to be here saved my sanity.

Liam

Come to the house.

Addie

Okay. I’ll be there in a minute.

“I’ll be back,” I tell Lincoln, who’s pretending to sweep the floor. Kendrick Lamar plays in the kitchen as I pass through and head outside. It doesn’t take long for Roman’s truck to pull up. He waves, and I wave back, and not soon enough, Addie’s right where she belongs—in my arms, laying her head on my chest.

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