Page 69 of Don't Leave Me

“I think someone has a crush,” Sophia singsongs.

“What up, small fry? I'm Cody and this is my brother, Jax.” Cody drapes an arm around her shoulders and her smile widens impossibly bigger.

“You know, Syd. If we get married, every person in your family would be married to someone in my family.” Jax grins at her from the couch.

“Something tells me you’re not prepared for an instant family.” Sydney tilts her head to the side and examines him.

“Ignore him and give me a hug.” Wyatt steps in front of Sydney with open arms. She doesn’t waste a second to step into them and hug him back. “It’s so nice to finally meet you in person,” he whispers softly.

“I'm so sorry for how you found out,” she murmurs. “I never would’ve-”

“Stop, Syd. It’s over and done with. We can't change how things worked out and I’m not sure I’d want to. I'm happy. Happier than ever before. I have an amazing adoptive family. Fantastic in-laws. A perfect wife and daughter. And now I have a wonderful blood related family too.”

“I'm so happy to have you in our lives,” Sydney chokes on her words as she hugs Wyatt even tighter.

The rest of the evening is spent with Danny asking Wyatt questions about baseball, Bree bursting with happiness each time Cody talks to her, Jax flirting with my sister, and everyonegushing over how adorable Carter is. The entire time, I watch my girl. Noticing how she’s lit up since her family showed up.

Don’t get me wrong, Sophia’s happy here and she’s always smiling, but it’s different when she’s with her family. She’s more.

“Peck, can I talk to you somewhere private?” Sydney places a hand on my forearm and stares up at me with her brows pinched together.

“Yeah, no problem.” I lead her into my bedroom, unsure of where else we could get privacy. It’s too cold to be outside when we don’t need to be. “What’s going on?” I ask as I shut the door softly.

“You have to move,” she blurts out before covering her face in her hands to muffle a quiet scream.

“Umm… what?”

“You have to move! She’s so happy with her family and so are you. They’ve welcomed you with open arms and even you’re happier with them around. It’s like they’re this missing piece of your life and you’ve finally found them.”

“I'm happy with the family I’ve always had and I'm happy here.” I tug her hands away from her face and try to calm her down.

I don’t want to think about where I'm happiest because that makes me feel like a shitty brother. Instead, I blame it on Sophia and where she’s happiest.

“Oh, shut up! I know you love us and want to be around us, but that’s not what I'm saying! You love that family, Peck. Wes treats you like you’re his son and I know how much you miss having Dad around. I'm not saying he can replace Dad, but he’d come freaking close! And Addi is the sweetest woman ever. She’s even more amazing than Mom was. They’ll be such amazing in-laws to have.”

“We’re not engaged, Syd. I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself.”

She looks like she’s seconds away from a meltdown and I don’t know how to fix this. The only thing I can think of is reassuring her I'm not leaving yet. I'm not engaged yet.

But deep down, I know I want to leave Maple Springs. I want to drop down on one knee right now. I wasn’t sure if Sophia’s family treated me differently when we were visiting because I was new or if they were trying to be on their best behavior, but now I see it’s just who they are.

“Bradley! Youneedto marry her. You love her so much. You’d be an idiot to walk away from her.” She grips my shoulders and shakes me a little harder with each sentence.

“I’m not planning on walking away from her, but we’re not walking down the aisle yet. I need to make sure I can give her what she wants and I'm not sure I can right now,” I say softly, hating how true my words are.

“What does she want?”

“She wants to go back to Mulberry Lane. She says she’s happy here, but I'm sure you’ve seen how she lights up with her family. She’s happier, more talkative, more at ease. I don’t know, she’s justmore.”

“And so are you.” Sydney places her hand on my chest, right over my heart. “You and Wyatt act like brothers, Peck. You don’t seem like people who just met. Jax and Cody treat you like you’re their best friend. Charlie welcomes you easily into their family and I already told you how I feel about Addi and Wes. You love Sophia and you love that family. Why are you still here? Why aren’t you moving to Mulberry Lane?”

“Because I'm here for you! If I move, I can't help you or babysit, but if I stay, I could lose Sophia. I'm screwed no matter what I do!” I run rough hands through my hair and barely contain the scream wanting to break free. I'm so frustrated about this and yet there’s nothing I can do to fix it.

I pace up and down the length of my room and wince every time I step on the same spot that makes a loud creak.

I can't make Rob magically come back and honestly, I wouldn’t want to even if I could. He’s a piece of shit and doesn’t deserve to be in their lives.

I can’t make Danny and Bree grow up faster so they don’t need someone home with them and I can't do anything about Sydney’s weird hours she works.

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