Page 76 of Zone Protection

When she pulls away, I have to blink fast to keep tears from spilling. Archie’s arms come around me again like a shield.

He moves me to the sofa, where we take a seat. Archie places his arm around me, and I notice him shift uncomfortably again.

“You okay?”

He shakes his head. “Nah. I’m good. I’ll ice it later. Nothing worse than usual.”

It’s just us for a moment, until his brothers come crowding around us, ready to pounce.

“So, Emma,” Aston says, plopping down on the arm of the sofa and grinning like he’s known me forever, “has Archie told you about the cow stampede?”

Archie groans.

“No,” I say, eyes lighting up. “But I’m suddenly dying to know.”

Ace jumps in, practically bouncing. “Picture this: fourteen-year-old Archie, already convinced he’s invincible, dares Aiden to jump the fence into the back pasture.”

“I didn’tdareanyone,” Archie mutters.

“Right, right. Hestrongly encouragedit,” Aston corrects. “Anyway, Aiden hops the fence, not realizing the cows are behind the barn, and they come charging like something out of a Western.”

“Archie panics,” Austin adds, already cracking up. “Runstowardthe cows, full sprint, waving his arms like a lunatic, trying to scare them off.”

“He got knocked clean off his feet,” Ace finishes, dramatically miming the fall. “Came home covered in cow poop and completely pissed off.”

“I was being a hero,” Archie says, deadpan. “They were stampeding my idiot brother.”

“And he still asked his ninth-grade girlfriend to the dance, smelling like a barn,” Aston says.

“Oh no.” I laugh. “Did she say yes?”

“Shockingly, yes,” Archie mutters. “Then she dumped me a week later for a kid with a four wheeler.”

“So, this idiot got a dirt bike to show him up,” Austin says with a wink.

“And I got asked out by three girls that day.” Archie beams as his arm’s still around me, and his thumb strokes lazy circles into my side like he doesn’t even notice he’s doing it.

“Thus began the era of Archie,” Austin laments.

“How you landed Emma is beyond me,” Aiden adds.

“You’re just lucky she’s already knocked up,” Ace says cheerfully, tossing a grape into his mouth. “Otherwise, she’d have better sense than to dateyou.”

“Bold of you to assume she’s dating me,” Archie replies coolly. “Maybe she’s just using me for my genetics.”

That gets a bark of laughter from the whole room.

I smile, already feeling strangely at ease with them. There’s a rhythm to the banter, a love underneath all the jabs. I’m still adjusting to it, almost like an outsider looking in, but with a front row seat to it all.

After a while, the conversation splits into side conversations—football talk with Shane, Alicia googling a list of baby names and suggesting them out loud to the room, only to be met with a bunch of vetoes. Apparently, the Griffith boys have dated a girl with every name on the top one hundred baby names and have a reason why we shouldn’t name our baby that.

I’m looking out the hotel window. Miami is beautiful and bright, even in the dark of night. I turn to look at Archie. He’s so handsome and strong. I can’t believe I wasn’t going to be here tonight. I’m surprised I missed so many moments with him. I guess I’m still waiting for the shoe to drop.

For the messy to begin.

For the bad news to come walking into the waiting room of life and tell me it’s all over.

I want to fully relax into this reality. I’m almost there, andwith every day that passes, I feel like it could be true, and it scares me.

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