Page 50 of Dirty Dancer

“Why not?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Because…” Freddie spread his hands. “I have to do some of this on my own.”

“Why?” Kellan asked, not an ounce of judgment in his voice.

“You have to do the classes,” Mickey said. “You’ll have to take the tests, do the work, and make the time to study. You’ll have to face your own demons on the way. All of that is something you have to do. Why can’t we help you pay for it?”

Freddie seemed at a total loss.

“When Milo went to law school, he used loans and we pooled resources. We did that to buy the first truck,” Jasper said. “We did it again every time we expanded here at the warehouse—whether it was the business or the clubhouse itself.”

“Same with my investment at the first shop,” Vaughn added. “Kel at the mechanic’s shop, he needed to get certified and trained. We’ve always pooled resources.”

As if seeking help, Freddie looked at me and I smiled. “I want to help with anything you need, and if that means making sureyou have no school loans to worry about? Then why can’t we do that? You’re the only one who can do this for you Freddie, but we want to be a part of it. We want to be there for you—just like you guys have all been here for me.”

“Basically,” Liam said. “But also, you’re my baby brother. You want to go to school, you get to go to school. I don’t want you worrying about bills, classes, or books. That’s a luxury we can afford.”

“Don’t fight him,” Rome said. “He’ll just do it anyway, then you’ll fight. But it won’t stop him.”

Rolling his eyes, Liam stared at Rome.

His twin just shrugged. “Am I wrong?”

The silence held sway for a moment, then laughter exploded through the room.

“Fine,” Freddie said, still laughing. “You guys can pay.” At the same time, his eyes shone and his face was flushed. When he stole another look at me, I just grinned at him. We all wanted to help him.

Satisfaction blew through me like a desert wind, because he was going to let us.

CHAPTER 20

TEN MONTHS LATER…

EMERSYN

The Christmas tree looked fantastic in the downstairs living room. The guys had to shift the pool table over along with the new gaming system to make room for the nine-foot tree we’d picked out. We’d actually chosen several trees. One for the school, one for Vaughn’s shop, another for Kellan’s place, one for down here and another one for our suite upstairs.

The whole place was going to be hosed down in Christmas. Lights, decorations, and more. We were even planning a huge Christmas feast for us the night before so we could devour leftovers on Christmas Dayafterwe delivered meals around the area.

We’d adopted over a dozen local families. I was excited about the fact we were going to play Santa’s Vandals rather than his elves. Making the holidays about other people and makingtheirwishes come true wasfantastic. I even had a surprise planned for Theo, not that he’d asked for anything.

His first Christmas with us had been full of surprises. I hated learning that he’d never truly celebrated before. In so many ways, we’d had such radically different lives. In others? We were too much alike.

The fact we’d tried to spoil him last year hadn’t gone over well. Mickey and Rome caught his discomfort, so we’d dialed it back. This year, though? I had a plan.

It started with a little ski trip that Liam wassurprisingme with, between Christmas and New Year’s. Theo was going as Liam’s “cover” and when we got there, Bodhi and Lainey would just happen to be there with Levi and Andrea.

I was ridiculously excited with the sneakiness of it. More because Theomissedhis friends, but he wasn’t comfortable with their lifestyle. Or at least, that was what he kept saying. I suspected it was something else, but he wasn’t trusting me with more information.

Hopefully he trusted someone else. Maybe Mickey or Jasper or Freddie. Until then, I would just have to stealthily smother him with affection and make sure he got time with those he cared about in safe forhimlocations.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I tugged it out to silence the alarm before pivoting to head upstairs. Everyone had somewhere to be tonight, even me. Though tonight was about a date and I needed to take a shower before he got here.

I’d come straight from the school and I’d actually done my own training there after the kids left for the day. Once upstairs, I grinned at our tree in here. The whole room sparkled with lights. They’d swapped out all the white fairy lights with colored ones. Then added an attachment that would shift the light colors in time to whatever music we played.

It was absolutely magical.

I paused on the way to my room and pivoted to study the decorations. Something had… Then I saw it. Someone had wrapped the stapler and the axe in Christmas lights and tinsel.

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