Page 143 of The Way We Collide

“You could transition to books,” Zane suggests, and I imagine his low voice reading a bedtime story.

“That would put me to sleep,” I say.

“Worked for me!” Dylan chirps up.

“Wait, tell me more—” Rachel scoots forward, smiling brightly. “You watched old movies together? That’s so cute… Which ones?”

“Let’s see…” I think, counting off on my fingers. “Forrest Gump, When Harry Met Sally, Steel Magnolias…”

“Hated it.” Hendrix interrupts, and all the girls gasp. “She died!”

“Okay, that part was sad,” I agree. “Rocky…”

“Nowthatwas some good shhhh…” Four pairs of eyes cut to him, and he grins. “Stuff.”

“La La Land…”

“Worst ending ever.”

“Driving Miss Daisy…”

“Cock blocker.”

“Hendrix!” Dylan cries. “Miss Daisy is not a…” Her eyes meet mine, and she seems to understand immediately.

We fall back laughing, and Logan clears his throat. “Back to what we were saying… Whether you keep going or not, you’ve got your legacy.”

“Yes, I do. It’s right here.” Hendrix nods, patting his little girl as his pretty blue eyes meet mine. “But maybe I’ll keep playing a little longer?”

I reach out to squeeze his hand. “We can do that.”

Liv walks over with her phone. “Clint has started posting pictures—check them out!”

We spend a minute laughing and cooing over the candid images. He has a shot of Haddy with her face in a slice of cake and one of Gigi lying on the back of a blow-up octopus.

I follow the social media account on my phone. “I wonder if he can send us the originals so we can make prints.”

“We have to frame the Dylan twins’ first birthday party,” Allie laughs, joining us.

A longneck is in her hand, and Jack isn’t too far behind, walking over with his hands on his hips. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who notices his eyes drift down to her ass.Interesting.

She takes out her phone, and I’m about to tell her Clint’s business handle when the color drains from her cheeks. She blinks quickly, and it’s like she sees a ghost.

“Allie?” Dylan stands quickly, going to her. “What’s wrong?”

Allie’s always so feisty and fun. I’ve never seen her like this. She hugs her waist, seeming to shrink.

“It happened,” she whispers. “I set up an alert on my phone…”

Jack is at her side at once. “What happened?”

He reads us the brief that Rip Sinclair was released on probation.

“He said as soon as he got out, he’d…” Allie clears her throat, her eyes flying to the pool area. “Don’t tell Austin.”

“Don’t you worry, girl.” Garrett steps up to her side. “I happen to know the sheriff.”

“And a good lawyer.” Liv is right there with him.

I give Hendrix a worried look. “Who is he?”

Allie sniffs, wiping her hands over her face like she’s regaining her footing after an unexpected gut punch.

“My ex,” she says. “He said when he got out he’d be back for us. Looks like he’s out.”

Dylan catches her around the waist. “We got you, Al.”

Jack and Zane exchange a look, and while I’ve only been in this family a few months, I can tell. It’s about to get real interesting around here.

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