Page 60 of Stay, Swear.

“Normal??” I half shout.

That shit’s normal?

“Calm down, Mystery Man. It’s fine. I’ll stay in bed and it shouldn’t happen again.”

“Shouldn’t? So it could happen again?” I can feel my hands starting to get clammy, I don’t like this at all.

Nix’s hand comes up and gently strokes down the side of my face, “Hey, I’m okay. I’m going to get up and go back to bed now, okay?”

Before she can make a move, I stand with her cradled in my arms. I move her back to the bed and get her comfortable. Rowan’s hand grips my shoulder at the same time Clara slides into my bed and cuddles up to her best friend. They look like they do this all the time, which I guess they do. They’re friendship is so pure, not thriving on arguments, talking bad about other people, or drama. They’re just two girls who thrive on spending time together, watching their shows, and being in each other’s orbit. It’s truly beautiful to watch.

Rowan nods to the door and we make our way out the room, giving the girls their time for a minute. Leaning back against the wall adjacent to my door my head falls back to the wall and my eyes close willing my heart rate to slow. After a few minutes I open them again and look into the deep green ofmy big brother’s eyes.

“You okay, Kie?”

“That was terrifying. I thought— it was just scary. Like when you got shot but a thousand times worse.”

He nods in understanding, “Yeah, I get that. That’s how I feel every time she gets a migraine. It’s hard, they need us to be strong, but we just want to crack under the weight of it.”

“Exactly. I thought love was supposed to be all fun and roses. That’s how Da made it look.”

Rowan lets out a loud laugh, “Yeah, he made fatherhood look easy too, but the other day Rhett got mad at me and told me I wasn’t his best friend anymore. I almost broke standing in the middle of the living room.”

I sigh and run my hands through my hair, “He never got the chance to give us all the secrets.”

“Honestly, I don’t think he had any. I think he led with love and let everything else fall into place. That’s the legacy he left behind. That’s the shoes we have to fill. We just have to love, little brother. Come on, let’s give the girls their time, I need a sparring partner anyways.”

A real smile pulls at my lips as I agree with my brother and follow him down to the gym. He’s right, there’s no handbook for this shit. Protect Nix without smothering her, because she needs a partner, not a dictator. Make sure she gets her power back, because she’s strong enough to do it on her own, but I love her enough to want a front row seat. Swear to stay, and see to it that I do, because I want to, and because she deserves someone to weather all the storms with. Lead with love, and the rest will follow.

31

Chapter Thirty-One

Phoenix

As soon as the boys walk out of the room Clara springs up, and moves so she’s facing me criss-cross applesauce style, “You’re not going to believe this. My entire day is ruined. I’ve developed a complex.”

It clicks what she’s talking about, my eyes widen as I force myself to sit up and lean against the headboard. This is a conversation we can’t have laying down, “No, you’re lying.”

“BRITTANY, she didn’t tell me again today!” She throws her hands up in aggravation.

I match her intensity because this is just what we do, “She can’t do that!”

“You can’t tell me you love me one day, then never say it again. I have abandonment issues.” She says with mock disdain.

One of Rhett’s preschool teachers accidentally told Clarashe loves her when she was getting Rhett out of the car for school the other day. It’s now the running joke between us, especially since this teacher has acted super awkward since and avoids talking to her now.

“Does she want to be sent your therapy bill? You’re so lovable, I can’t believe she’s going to act like she didn’t say it at all. You can’t just tell someone you love them then never say it again, that’s so rude.”

“Thank you!” Clara tosses her hands up. “See you get me. Rowan looks at me like I’m actively having a psych break every time I bring this up to him, but just love me, dammit.”

We both break character and fall back into the bed with the most unladylike cackles. The silly bits we have drive Rowan up a wall. Half the time he can’t tell if we’re serious or not, but we love them so they stay. We’ve settled back into the bed when Clara sighs then says what’s on her mind.

“So, want to talk about what happened yesterday?”

I hate that I’m lying to her. She’s going to be pissed when she finds out, but I guess there’s not a better time than the present to come clean.

“Uh, so I might have something to tell you.”

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