Page 52 of Psycho

“Alright, lay it on me.” Peyton mumbled, wiping pasta sauce from her face with her last mouthful. To my surprise, she held back from asking throughout the drive to Hartington and during our meal.

Dane wasn’t home, probably out somewhere with Maddox, but I still felt stupid saying any of my thoughts out loud.

“It’s probably just pregnancy brain.” I brushed it off, washing down the last of my meal with water and hoping she’d let me just rest.

“Well, tell me what happened, and I’ll help you figure it out.” She tried again, “Because I can see through your tough girl exterior, Livvy. And I can tell you’re hurting.” When she put her hand on mine, I pulled away. “Let me in.”

“I’ll cry if you’re nice to me.” I took a deep breath, steeling my spine against the emotions trying to take over my body. “And I hate crying, so don’t do that.”

“Okay,” Peyton tried another tactic. “Tell me what the fuck that limp dick mother fucker did to my baby sister, or I’ll hunt him down and sick the post office lady on him.”

I simply raised one eyebrow at her from across the table. “The post office lady?”

“She’s terrifying. Even Dane won’t walk in that building. And he’s a fucking monster.” She shrugged like that was all the answer I needed.

“Hmm.” I hummed, “Who knew you were such a badass?” I deadpanned, and she broke character and smirked.

“Was I convincing?” Leaning forward on her elbows, Peyton gave me a silly smile. “Did I ever tell you about the time I tasered Dane? Well, twice now I’ve done it, actually.”

I snorted and covered my face in absolute disbelief as she clucked her tongue like she’d save that story for another day.

After a long stretch of silence, I knew I owed her some explanation for my SOS text, so I ripped the band aid off and tried to make sense of all my thoughts and feelings. “I don’t think Maddox wants a family after all.”

Her brows knitted over her eyes in disbelief, “Did he say that to you?”

“No.” I picked at a string on the placemat under my dish.

“Did he give you hints? Make you feel like that?”

“Well, no.”

“Then how are you determining that then? I haven’t seen even a second of hesitation in him this entire time.”

“I did.” Whispering, “Last night, when he was having a secret conversation with a woman in the hallway.” Peyton’s eyes bulged as I word vomited the story, “She was touching him, and he was letting her. She said she cared about him, and he said,I know. And that he appreciated it.”

“Whore ass dead beat, who?” She stood up in a flurry and stared at me. “You’re joking.”

I shook my head sadly, realizing deep down that the whole situation seemed bad if she could get outraged in ten seconds flat. “I woke up in the middle of the night, alone, and heard whispers.” Tears welled in my eyes as I stared at the placemat, shoulders slumped. “I thought Damon had found me and was there to—” I let out a shuddered breath. “But instead, I found Maddox in his underwear talking to some Swedish supermodel as she outright questioned why he’d want to be tied down to me. And he didn’t tell her to—”

“To fuck all the way off?” She screeched in outrage. “He’s such a standoffish guy, and he let her touch him?”

“Even touched her back.” I replied, and then groaned. “And now I’m fucked in the head and I’m out of time because this baby is going to be here in like point two seconds flat and I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Hysterics bubbled up, and I hiccupped as despair tried to pull me under again.

“Shh,” Peyton hushed as she pulled me to my feet and walked us over to her couch. We sat there, with her arms wrapped around me, and I just cried. For the first time in—forever, I just cried.

I didn’t have any answers. I didn’t have any plans.

I didn’t even have a last name to give to my baby that was due soon.

So, I cried.

And Peyton held me while I let it all out, even though I knew it wouldn’t give me any answers when I finally wiped away the tears. But it felt good to just let it go in the moment.

“We can figure this out. You and me, Livvy.” My sister’s soothing voice and touch calmed me, the tears eventually subsided, but a heavy feeling of sadness settled over me.

“I thought I already did.” I sighed, “I can’t believe I thought Maddox was going to just step up and take care of something that wasn’t his responsibility. That was stupid, P!” I hissed asanger replaced the sadness in me. “Wedon’t do stupid. We’re Everett’s, and we always have a plan, and we always think three steps ahead, so we don’t get into these situations. Ugh!” I cried out and huffed, forcing fresh air into my lungs as hysteria tried to take its place.

“Talk to him, Liv.” She squeezed my hand, grounding me. “Because you’re right, we are Everett’s, and we take care of ourselves and sometimes that means facing things head on. If at the end of that conversation you don’t feel convinced that he’s in it for the long haul, then we’ll reassess and make the moves necessary to give you the peace you so dearly deserve.” My sister put her hand on my stomach and gently patted it, and on cue, my baby kicked back in greeting. “The peace that both of you deserve.”

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