Page 74 of Between Regrets and Promises

“You can’t use her as bait.” I chuckle, reaching out to grab her. She’s six months now, and her little personality is startingto show. “Come here, baby girl. You’re welcome anytime.” I smile, holding her against my chest.

“Are the boys here?” Maddie asks, and I roll my eyes.

“Just Mason.”

We retreat to the living room where I was folding laundry since I’m living out of my suitcases. They look at the mess and help me pile it on the coffee table so they can take a seat on the couch.

“How’s it going?” Lennon asks.

“Good. Trying to organize my shit.” I grab my books one-handed and set them in a pile.

“Soph.” Lennon’s tone has me turning to look at her. “How is itreallygoing? You okay? You haven’t been too responsive to my texts.”

I sigh, taking a seat. Before I can respond, Maddie strolls in from the kitchen with a popsicle in her hand. I didn’t realize she snuck in there.

“What? There are more if you want one.” She plops down on the end of the couch, then holds her arms out for Allie. I hand her over, then swipe the popsicle out of her grip. “Hey!”

“Those are mine, thank you. Mason bought them forme,” I taunt.

“So you can’t share?” Maddie gives me a pointed stare.

“Ugh, fine.” I toss it back at her with a grin and see Lennon staring at me. She knows I’m avoiding the conversation at hand.

“Are you going to his funeral?” she asks.

I frown, then shrug. “His mom reached out to me yesterday and gave me the details. If I don’t go, she’ll wonder why her son’s girlfriend isn’t there. She just lost him, and I don’t want to cause any more pain or stress by explaining to her why I won’t be attending. He might’ve been a monster to me, but that shouldn’t be his mother’s last memory of him. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yeah, that’s a tricky situation, Soph. I’m sorry.” Lennon frowns.

“We should all go,” Maddie chimes in. “That way you don’t have to do it alone, and we can pull you away if things get weird.”

“Yeah, we’ll go with you,” Lennon agrees.

“You guys would do that for me?” I ask, stunned. They hate Weston almost as much as Mason does, so this won’t be easy for them either.

“Of course,” Lennon says. “Make an appearance and then we can get the hell out of there.”

“Thank you.” I wrap my sister in a hug and hold back the tears threatening to fall. I’ve tried so damn hard to keep them under control when I’m around other people. Only in the shower will I let them fall, mixing with the water, but as soon as I’m done, I straighten my spine and push them back again.

I’m not crying for him. I won’t.

“So how has it been living here?” Maddie asks. “I imagine lots of women, beer, and porn on the regular.”

I furrow my brows as Lennon snorts. “Mads!” I scold, narrowing my gaze on Allie.

“She doesn’t know what I’m saying anyway.” She shrugs, then lifts Allie higher on her lap. “Do you, baby girl? No, you don’t,” she says in a high-pitched voice.

“See what you’re leaving me with?” Lennon holds out her hand, which causes me to laugh.

“I babysat her last year, so it’s your turn,” I retort, and we both chuckle. Lennon went through hell after Brandon’s death, and we gave her space to deal with it but only because Hunter was looking after her. Hmm…is Mason my Hunter?

Could he be? Or better yet, does he want to be?

“Is it weird?” Maddie asks.

“Is what weird?”

“Living here with Mason and Liam.”

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