Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
He kisses me again, this time softly, then pulls back, his brow furrowed. “Speaking of not being perfect…There’s something I need to tell you.” He tightens his grip on my hips. “Before your accide—”
His words are cut off by the door swinging open and my little sister exclaiming, “I knew it!”
I try to scramble out of his hold, but he holds me close, turning to face Bailey while wrapping his arm around my middle.
“Admit it,” she says, raising a brow.
“Admit what?” Camden asks, coming up behind her.
“Can we take this inside?” I mutter, worried someone will be spying and catch us on camera.
Bailey moves to the side. “I’ll let our sister tell you.”
“Tell me what?” Camden asks, his eyes going to Declan’s hand, which dropped from my waist so we could walk inside and is now holding mine. “Oh, shit. Is this where you’ve been? With my sister?”
Declan glances at me, leaving me to answer. “Yes,” I admit to my entire family—including Layla and Kaylee—who’re all now standing in the foyer, staring at us. “Declan and I are… dating.”
I wince, ready for my brother or my dad to lose it, so I’m shocked when everyone starts hugging and congratulating us.
“Welcome back,” my dad says into my ear when he wraps me in his arms. “Happiness looks damn good on you.”
“Thank you,” I choke out.
“Dad’s right,” Camden says, hugging me next. “You look good, sis.”
“You don’t mind me dating your best friend and bandmate?”
“Maybe if he were anyone else,” Camden says. “But I’ve known how much Declan cares about you for years, so I have no doubt he’ll treat you right.”
“You knew he liked me?”
“Everyone knew,” Bailey says with a snort. “Everyone but you.”
“Yep,” Layla agrees. “While you were talking crap about me not knowing how Camden felt about me, you were completely blind to the crush Declan’s had on you for years.”
Everyone laughs.
“I didn’t know.”
“It’s all good, baby,” Declan says, kissing my temple. “It wasn’t our time yet.”
I snuggle into his side. “We’re not telling anyone yet,” I say to everyone. “I just want to keep this private for a little bit. It’s only been a short time since I called off the engagement…” And a small—okay, maybe big—part of me is still scared, but some of my fear was tamped down by Declan’s words outside.
My family and friends all nod in understanding.
“We better get going,” Camden says. “Checkout time is noon.”
The guys say bye to everyone, then take off, leaving the women and kids here. Instead of going out to brunch, Mom had food brought in so we could catch up in private. While we eat, I tell them about our trip. And once we’re done, I spend some time with my niece and nephew, giving them the gifts I picked up.
Layla is about to take the kids home for a nap when Declan, Dad, Camden, and Braxton walk back through the door.
“What are you doing here?” Mom asks. After they picked up Gage, they planned to bring him back to his place and spend the afternoon making sure he had everything he needed.
“Where’s Gage?” Kaylee asks. She and Gage are close, have been for years, and she hated not being able to go with them to pick him up.
Declan, Braxton, and Camden don’t stop to answer, the three of them stomping down the stairs to where the studio is.
“What’s going on?” Layla asks.
“Gage wasn’t there when we arrived,” Dad says. “He had already checked out.”
“What?” Mom gasps. “So where is he?”
Dad shrugs. “We don’t know. We were just told he checked out early.”
“Oh, God.” Mom tears up. “What do we do? How do we know he’s okay? He has nobody. He needs us.”
Dad pulls her into his arms to comfort her. Mom considers all of the guys to be her kids, especially since once they started coming around in middle school, they never stopped, practically living here. And when Gage aged out of the system, and the family he was living with made it clear they no longer wanted him, he moved in here, at my mom’s demand. When Gage would have no one to attend his parent-teacher conferences, Mom would do it. And when shit went down at the end of their senior year, she and Dad helped him handle everything.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Dad tells her. “He’s a grown man. We have to hope that wherever he’s going, he’s safe and will eventually contact us.”
“If you’re not up for this, we can reschedule,” I tell Declan as we walk into the studio. It’s been a week since they went to pick up Gage, only to find out he wasn’t there. The guys needed some time alone but eventually came up to tell us that Gage sent a group text, letting them know he’s okay but needs some time. He insisted they move forward with the band without him, not wanting to hold them back, but the guys agreed that there’s no band without him and told him they’ll be here when he’s ready to come home.