Page 26 of Chase Our Forever

I shake my head, knowing she didn’t mean anything by it. She’s the best mom in the world. We couldn’t have asked for anyone better growing up. I still like to give her shit when I can, though.

Mom pulls away from the hug first, but she still doesn’t give Liv very much personal space. Her hands rest on her shoulders as she looks at Liv like she hung the moon. “Welcome to the family, darling,” she says fondly.

“Oh, uh, thank you,” Liv responds. She shifts on her feet, but other than that, only the slight uneasiness of her tone shows that Mom’s words took her off guard.

“Maybe let her work a week before freaking her out?” my dad chimes in as he plants his feet next to Mom.

I try not to laugh at the glare my mom aims in his direction. Behind Dad, the rest of my family files into the wide entryway to meet Liv.

“I’m Marshall.” Dad holds his hand out.

Liv takes it immediately. “Liv,” she responds, her eyes roaming over the group of people forming in the entryway.

“Nice sweatshirt,” Dad gets out, a look of approval on his face as he looks at the emblem printed on the front.

Liv’s cheeks get a little pink as she looks at what she’s wearing. “Don’t mind my outfit.” She looks at my mom withan apologetic look. “I’m still working on getting weather-appropriate clothing.”

Mom swats at the air dismissively. “Oh, don’t worry about it. There’s no dress code for Sunday brunch, darling.”

Liv’s eyes instantly find mine as we share a knowing look. I try to fight the smile but can’t resist when Liv’s entire face breaks into a beaming grin. It feels nice to smile casually. Something about her sunshine personality makes me want to break through the darkness that’s constantly pulling me in. I playfully grab at the ball cap on my head, knowing it won’t be long before Mom will comment on me wearing the hat.

I turn my focus to my mom, finding her already looking at me with raised eyebrows and a wide smile.

“Where are all the kids?” I ask, despite knowing they’re probably on the screened-in back porch with the puppies. I ask before having to explain to my mom how I’ve known Liv for such a short amount of time, and yet she’s been able to get me to crack a smile. If only Mom knew it was because I’d told Liv about Mom’s hat rule—and how I was sure to get in trouble for breaking it.

“With the dogs,” Jace cuts in, stepping around Dad to shake Liv’s hand.

“I’m Jace,” he introduces himself before hooking a thumb over his shoulder. “And that beautiful woman over there feeding the baby is my wife, Hattie. The darling baby girl is Ruthie—although she’s not as cute today after being up all night. We also have a five-year-old running around somewhere named Miles.”

“So nice to meet you guys.” The smile on Liv’s face never falters.

“I’m going to give you a run-through of everyone,” I begin, closing the distance until I stand right next to her. “Don’t worry if you can’t remember everyone’s names—it’s a lot. So obviously, you met Mom and Dad—Shirley and Marshall.” I point toeveryone as I rattle off their names. “Then you met Jace, who is married to Hattie, and their kids are Miles and Ruthie. Then we have Finn and his wife, Ashton. They have three boys who are probably teaching Clara all the things they shouldn’t be. The boys’ names are Jack, Clark, and Max. And then we have Reed, who is, well…it’s just Reed.”

My youngest brother pretends to be hurt by my words. “Way to cut deep, Dean,” he jokes, wrapping his arm around me.

“Is it cutting deep when it’s just pointing out the obvious?”

Reed is twenty-three and the baby of the family. He still has a lot of life to live; we just like to give him shit because everyone else got married and has kids while he’s still living life, enjoying being young and not settling down.

His carefree personality reminds me a lot of Selena. She and Reed got along great despite their age difference. They both always loved to give me trouble, and I know if she were here right now, she’d be ganging up on me with Reed. He brings out the more playful, carefree side of me, just like she did.

He wags his eyebrows at me and smiles. “It’s good to meet you, Liv.” Reed completely ignores my words and instead wraps his other arm around her.

Seeing his arm wrapped around her shoulder makes me realize they’re the same age.

Liv doesn’t seem too bothered by his carefree demeanor. She allows his arm to stay in place, even if, for some reason, I hate seeing him have any kind of contact with her at all.

“Nice to meet you, Reed.” She doesn’t seem overwhelmed by the number of introductions. If anything, she seems excited to strike up small conversations with my family, who are all anxious to meet her.

I love how they all instantly want to get to know her. I’m biased, but I truly have the best family in the world. I wouldn’t have survived the last few years if it wasn’t for them. They’vepulled me out of some really dark times, and it feels like a breath of relief to see them naturally gravitate toward Liv in the same way Clara and I have.

So many questions are fired off in her direction at once.

“How was your first night?”

“Do you have any allergies?”

“Have you thought about quitting yet?”

---