Page 115 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

“I’ve already lost everything once,” she said. “My career. My reputation. My whole life, basically. I survived that. But Lucy?” Her voice cracked. “Losing her would wreck me.”

No one spoke. We didn’t have to. The silence said it all.

Asher broke it first. “You won’t lose her.”

“You don’t know that,” Riley said, eyes flashing. “You’re her brothers. To her, this could feel like betrayal.”

“Stop,” I said, stepping closer, catching her hand before she spiraled. “Don’t go there. We’re all in this together.”

“You’re important to her,” Beckett said.

“But this situation,” she said, glancing between us, “it’s not normal.”

“Not common,” Asher agreed, “but not unheard of. Not here.”

Beckett nodded. “Lila, Aurora, Sadie… they all found something real in setups like this. Different, yeah. But real.”

Asher’s voice softened. “And Lucy knows those women. She’s seen what it looks like when it works. She’s not going to throw a grenade just because this doesn’t fit in some neat little box.”

The tears showed up then, no matter how hard she tried to blink them away.

“I want to get it right,” she whispered. “I don’t want to ruin it. Any of it.”

“You won’t,” I said. “We’re doing this together. Whatever happens, we handle it.”

Riley let out a shaky breath, then nodded.

“Okay,” she said, this time with more spine.

Beckett stepped forward and pulled her into a quick hug.

“She’s going to be shocked,” he said. “But she’ll understand. She’ll see it’s real.”

Asher nodded. “She loves you, Riley. She wants you happy. Even if it takes her a minute.”

Riley leaned into Beckett’s chest for a second, then stepped back, squaring her shoulders, bracing for a battle.

“Let’s rip the bandage off,” she said. “Before I chicken out and fake a coffee-related injury.”

“You already pulled that card,” I said.

She snorted, mouth twitching. “Yeah, well. I’ve got two elbows.”

She laughed, but I saw the nerves under it. Felt them in my own gut.

But this was the next step.

Right or not, it was coming.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Riley

There’sa particular kind of silence that comes right before everything changes.

Not the peaceful kind. Not the kind that wraps around you like a blanket and says, “Breathe.”

No, this is the other kind. The sharp, waiting silence that presses on your chest and tells you to brace for impact.

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