Page 50 of Everything I Crave

She walks over to the desk at the base of the stairs, off to the side. She grabs a key and motions for me to follow her up the stairs. “So there’s only one room available. We do still have a few guests coming today, and a lot of rooms are out of order due to repairs needing to be done. I’d ask, but I’m willing to guess you’re good sharing a room with my brother?”

Oh, that sneak.

“Are there two beds?”

She laughs in response to my question, opening the door to room number six.

“Don’t worry, Liam stays in one of the cottages closer to the beach, and Mom and Pops have their own house on the back of the property where I stay with them, so unless you’rereal loud, no one but the knitting club down the hall will hear ya.” She laughs harder at herself, handing me the key and walking away.

I throw the bags on the bed, and I’m surprised to see that this room has a small balcony facing the beach. I bet this room was always the most popular, if it were in better shape it probably still would be. I’d be willing to bet this one was in the running forout of ordernext.

I step out onto the balcony with my notebook and pen, and sink into the lounge chair that creaks with my weight. I startle, looking at the sides making sure I’m not about to fall through.

When I’m satisfied that I’m safe on the chair, I open my notebook to the song I was writing earlier, and start writing again, the sound of the waves crashing into the rocks as a soundtrack to my writing.

Chapter Eighteen

Gunnar

When I get back to Pops’ room I can hear the low murmur of an argument starting.

Mom speaks first. “Liam, that is enough. You want to yell at them? Go for it, just not here.”

Liam doesn’t respond; he just storms out of the room and leaves. Luckily, there’s only one bar around here so we all know where he’s going.

“What the hell is going on?” I ask my brothers.

“Language, Gunnar!” Mom swats my shoulder.

“Sorry, Momma.” I pull her into my side for a hug. At five foot one, she tucks right in under my arm, and she can never stay mad at us. Despite her best efforts.

“Liam is angry. He’s angry that he’s at the inn with me all the time. I don’t know why that boy stayed put and tried to take this over,” Dad grumbles.

Hunter chimes in, “I don’t think so, Pops. Liam loves that inn. He always has. It’s got to be something else.”

“Well, I suppose we won’t find out until we go talk to him. Who is giving me a ride to Rebel’s?” I ask

Rebel’s Brews is the only bar in town. Unless you want coffee or cake, it’s the only restaurant in town. Roman, a friend of ours, opened it a few years ago after his home brewing got a little too popular to continue in his basement. He’s pretty well known in New England and I make sure to keep my bar stocked with his most popular beers. He also uses The Bar as a test kitchen for new flavors. My regulars are all too happy to give their feedback for a freebie.

Wyatt slaps me on the back. “Since you lost your truck to a woman, albeit a smoking hot one, I guess I can bring your ass to the bar.” He winces before Momma hits his back for swearing, then laughs when she does.

All of us pile out of the room and into our cars to go search for Liam. Hunter sent Roman a text first to let him know we were coming.

Roman greets us at the door when we walk into Rebel’s. “He’s pissed. And in the back. Good luck, brothers.” He juts his thumb toward a corner table by the pool tables.

Sure as shit, there’s Liam with a scowl on his face, and a beer in his hand.

“Thanks.” I suck in a breath and release it before heading off in that direction, my brothers following me. Except our pseudo brother who takes thecowards way out and sends a waitress in his place to take our orders.

Once we all have our drinks, Cooper is the first one to lay into Liam. Which surprises all of us because Cooper is the quiet, laid back brother. Out of everyone he's the one I expected to give Liam a pass.

“What the hell was that, Liam? You have every single day to bring shit up with us, and you choose to wait until we’re all by Pops’ bedside in the hospital?” He seethes at Liam.

Liam snaps his head toward Cooper. “You think I fucking planned this? That I was just waiting for Dad to get hurt so I could lose my shit on you? Fuck you, Coop.”

“Then what is it, Liam? Clearly you’re pissed at us and we have no idea why,” Wyatt asks a little more calmly than Cooper.

He runs both his hands through his hair, tugging on the ends. Now that I’m looking at him, his hair is a little shaggier than his usual clean cut self. He has black circles under his eyes, scruff covering his face, and he just looks sad instead of angry.

---