Page 41 of Four Times Forever

She softened and stepped into me, ran her hand through my hair. "Aw, babe. You'll see them in a month."

"Why wait? Don't you want to break up the routine?" I asked.

She took a breath and brought her eyes up to the side as if she was thinking about it, until Ethan, Ryan and Matt rushed through the door in a panic, startling her out of my arms.

She looked between all four of us and drew in her brows.

Chapter 31

Lily

"Okay, what's going on?" I asked. Ryan's eyes were wild as hell. Did the therapy session even help? He stormed past me and disappeared through the halls. I threw my hands up, gesturing at his back.

"What do you mean?" Ethan cleared his throat. "Eric, I got your message about that trip. I think it's a good idea if we leave tonight."

"Yeah. I agree," Matt chimed in.

"Tonight?!" I yelled. "If one of you doesn't start talking." The three men looked between each other as if I was mad. I felt mad too. "First of all, Ann-Marie called me to tell me that I'm probably never going to see her again."

"What? Why?" Matt's gaze expanded.

Well, now I stuttered, because I thought her leaving and the guys rushing this trip to Florida had something to do with each other, but Matt's shock appeared genuine.

"I-I- I don't know. She didn't say!" I tossed my hands.

"Aw, babe. That sucks," Ethan frowned.

"Yeah." My voice lowered and I hugged myself. "Never mind that, what do you mean we're leaving tonight? For what?"

"Because..." Matt started but left me hanging.

"Because..." Ethan followed up and he also left me hanging.

"Because what?!" I yelled.

Ryan came barging back into the living room with bags over his shoulder and a suitcase in his hand. He tossed me one of the bags.

"Packed you some stuff. We don't have time to stand around chatting," he grunted and marched toward the door. When I didn't move to follow him, he turned. "What the hell are you waiting for?"

I didn't have time to be scared. They were freaking me out and I reacted. "You know what, Ryan! I think you're going to need a whole lot more help than a little therapy. Maybe you need a damn psych ward."

Shit, that was harsh. His eyes flashed. Shock and pain registered in them before he walked away without another word.

"Ryan, I'm sorry," I called after him. He didn't look back. "I shouldn't have said that." I groaned and ran my hand through my hair.

"Don't worry about it," Matt murmured. "I'll just go sit with him." He headed off after Ryan.

"You guys ready to go? I'll just buy some stuff when I get there and Eric, you got stuff over at your parents' place, don't you?" Ethan grabbed his wallet.

"Wait a damn minute, who said I was going anywhere?" I let out a breath.

"Lily, we've got to go because... well, because my parents aren't doing well, okay? They were responding well to the drugs and the support of other retired vets around them. But they had another incident..." He paused.

"Oh no." Now, I felt like a brat. My mouth rounded and I covered it. "What kind of incident?"

"One like the last time, okay?" Eric sighed. His shoulders slumped over. "I don't want to get into it, alright. I just need to see them tonight, alright?"

His irritation during those last words made me irritable. "Well, you should've just said that. You can't just expect me to get up and go at your demand without an explanation." I grumbled while picking up the bag Ryan packed me and throwing it over my shoulder. I thought the words I was looking for were, I'm sorry, again. Of course he wasn't thinking straight.

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