Page 81 of Liam

“Oh, my God, the chest lay,” Luke groans, eying the sky, as if praising the heavens.

“Especially after they have a bad day,” Logan continues, “and it’s their way of seeking comfort.”

Lucas adds, “It’s the best feeling in the world, boys—knowing that you’re their safe space.”

“Or that they come to you when they need saving…” Logan says.

“What if you can’t save them?” Lachlan asks, chin tilted up, giving our older brothers his full attention.

“They don’t actuallywantyou to save them. They just want to know that you will if you have to,” Luke offers.

“You guys are so fucking whipped,” Lincoln murmurs.

Leo ignores him. We all do. “The best hugs are the early morning ones… when I have to leave for work, but Mia won’t just stay in bed. She’ll come out to the door to say goodbye, and she’s still half asleep, and her legs don’t work yet, and she shuffles her tiny little feet to get to me. Doesn’t even raise her arms. Just nuzzles in real close.”

“The fucking nuzzle!” Luke growls.

“It’s too much,” Logan agrees, holding a hand to his chest and falling back into the water, too overwhelmed by his emotions.

I laugh lightly, shaking my head.

Lincoln turns to Leo, his eyebrows drawn. “You realize you could’ve had, like, ten extra years of that, but instead, you dipped and punked out and?—”

“I got it,” Lachlan cuts in, slamming both feet directly in the center of Lincoln’s back, literallykickinghim into the lake.

Logan pulls himself up on the side of the dock, asking, “Was I that much of an asshole at his age?”

“Worse,” sayseveryone else.

Lincoln comes up for air. “Fuck all y’all!”

Leo holds on to Lucas’s arm as an anchor while he presses his foot down on Lincoln’s head until he’s beneath the surface again. Lucas tells Logan, “I think he’s collected all that shitty attitude you left behind.”

“What are we talking about?” All of us turn to Roman as he makes his way up the dock. He grabs a beer from the cooler and sits next to Lachy.

“Hugs,” I tell him, at the same time everyone else says, “Addie and Liam.”

He flicks his gaze to mine. “Really?”

I press my lips together, shake my head.

“You think they’d make a good couple?” Logan asks him, getting out of the lake completely.

Roman hasn’t taken his eyes off me. “I think you’re great,” he says, and a knot unfurls in the space between my shoulder blades. “But you should probably ask her boyfriend what he thinks.”

“Oh, shit,” Luke murmurs.

“Who?” Lincoln asks, gripping the edge of the dock, his fingers caught beneath Leo’s foot. “That fucking Wyatt guy?”

“No,” Roman answers, then takes a swig of his beer. “Some guy back in Raleigh. Pierson, I think. They’ve been together for years.”

27

Addie

Liam asked me to text him when I got home, so I did.

Twice.

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