Page 109 of No Place Like Home

“If you wanted to leave, I would have helped you.” She pulled back and looked into my eyes.

“You would have?” My lower lip trembled.

“Yeah,” she breathed. “We can’t heal in the same place that keeps breaking us.”

Then I wrapped my arms around her and felt like the last three years had finally stopped spinning.

I felt so very drained.

Prescott was right. Like a Band-Aid had done the trick.

Now that there were no more boxes, I had to learn how to deal with each emotion as it came. It was insane and too much.

“Now it’s my turn.” I heard Freya’s tone as she pulled Juliet away from me.

“Dude, I’m the queen of running away. I’m so mad at you for not coming to me,” she said with all her sassiness.

I laughed, and she hugged me.

I patted her back right before my eyes met Emma’s. There was a smile on her bubbly face.

When Freya let go, she came and squeezed me tight. Three years didn’t seem like a long time, but looking at the faces of the people I loved and seeing those years reflected back at me…three years did seem like a whole lifetime.

After her, the next person to come was Jake. He didn’t say anything, but hugged me close.

“We missed you so much,” he told me and then proceeded to kiss the top of my head.

My eyes watered.

Somehow, it still shocked me to know I was missed.

When he pulled back, I noticed Prescott, who had remained in the kitchen. He was next to Max, and he shot me a wink before turning to face his brother.

Dex and Max eventually said they were glad I was back, and now that I wasn’t so scared, I noticed the person I had missed the most wasn’t here.

“We didn’t tell Ma you were back,” Jake said after he caught me looking around.

Yeah, I was grateful for that. I loved his mom, but she was a lot to take in.

“Sooo, are we going to pretend like we don’t know about the baby?” Freya asked.

Everyone glared at her, and then their eyes landed on me.

“Her name is Quinn,” I told them.

“Now, does that name—” Freya began to speak, but Emma elbowed her.

They were family, and I now knew that I deserved this family. They might not have been my blood, but they were mine nonetheless.

“Yeah, she’s our daughter,” I told them.

It was the first time I didn’t feel like I was making Quinn out to be a dirty little secret.

* * *

I could barely keepmy eyes open, but everyone was still there. The men were outside drinking the beers that Jake had brought, and we were drinking wine Freya had brought in the living room. I showed them a sleeping Quinny, and they all marveled over her.

“My question is…” Freya raised a hand. “Why did you go to Prescott out of all people?”

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