Page 9 of Ballads of Lines Blurred

“That goes for Slater too.”

“Deal.”

Well, at least that was taken care of. I worried about Olivia though. She didn’t deserve to get her heart broken. As she’d aged, she’d decided to explore her sexuality, which I gave her huge props for. I just didn’t want to see her hurt.

We worked around each other as we put the finishing touches on the setup. Olivia and I got along for the most part. When we fought, it could get brutal. We didn’t hit each other, but we sure as hell knew how to hit below the belt with our words.

Perry, Peyton, and Dominic were the first to arrive. Dominic wrapped his arms around Olivia and me, hugging us tightly. Olivia thanked him for coming before everyone else, then dragged him off to her room to help her pick out something to wear. Olivia was surrounded by men. Xaiden worried it would have a negative impact not having a female influence. Who I saw was the confident person she was growing into. My sister didn’t take anyone’s shit and always stood up for herself. It helped she had a wall of men at her back, ready to step in if need be. She handled most things on her own, only relying on family when necessary.

There had been women in our lives since we lost our parents. Autumn, a nurse who worked in the ER with Corbin came by often. Dominic brought his sister, Fawn, by sometimes. Then there were the guys’ moms. Luann was Greer and Peyton’s mom. She smothered us with love whenever she was in town. Xaiden and Dexen’s mom, Barbara, loved having us in her life and was there if we needed her. Corbin’s mom too. We had plenty of women. Men simply outnumbered them, which none of them seemed to mind.

JJ mentioned Romeo’s mom one night. He said if we ever had the chance to meet her, we would fall immediately in love with her for the way she treated his dad. Apparently, Pepper had an ongoing feud with Jordan, where they liked to leave each other gifts at one of the houses Romeo shared with Dash and Tristan. I’d seen photos thanks to the group chat. She seemed like a lot of fun.

Peyton clapped me on the shoulder. He wasn’t one for showing a lot of affection, more the stoic type who was ready to jump in and rip limbs from an attacker if need be. “How are you doing?”

“Good,” I replied. “Glad you and the others could come.”

“There was no way Dom was missing this party. We had to drag Perry away from work though.” He thumbed over his right shoulder to where Perry sat on one of the stone benches surrounding the firepit on the patio. The fire wouldn’t be going until tonight. Perry’s face was buried in his phone as his fingers flew over the screen.

“Did something happen?” Perry owned the company Val worked for.

“Nothing more than usual. He’s a workaholic.”

“I can hear you,” Perry said.

“I wasn’t trying to be quiet,” Peyton teasingly shot back.

Ten minutes later, Dominic and Olivia emerged from the house with Olivia’s hair braided intricately. She beamed and had her arm looped through Dominic’s.

“Another masterpiece completed.” Dominic grinned.

“It’s perfect,” Olivia said.

“You can thank Fawn for that one. I used to sit and braid her hair when she was having a bad day. Sometimes it would help lift her spirits.” Fawn had battled severe depression for years. She was now married and happy with a baby on the way.

“I’ll text her.” Olivia pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Group after group showed up as the afternoon wore on. Dexen shook his head at his brother, telling him he didn’t have to go to the trouble. By the smile Dexen wore, he appreciated it and everyone who came.

I couldn’t help looking toward the driveway, waiting for Slater and Milo to appear.

“He’ll be here,” I heard from my left. Turning, I found Dominic with a pink slushy drink in his hand. He took a seat beside me.

“Milo though?”

He shrugged. “Milo’s cute in a rocker kind of way. They work.”

“But I need Slater to work with me.”

“What about Milo?”

“What about him?”

“What do you think of him?”

“I’m not answering that.” I focused on the driveway again.

Dominic laughed and took a sip of his drink. The party was in full force. While it wasn’t a bunch of rowdy drunk people; it was definitely loud. There was enough land where we wouldn’t bother the neighbors.

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