Page 151 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

Heavy. Tense. The kind of quiet that hangs in the air right before something breaks.

Riley was curled up in front of the fire, knees tucked to her chest, wrapped in one of my flannels like she needed it to hold her together.

Her phone sat face down on the coffee table, untouched.

Couldn’t blame her.

Asher was pacing by the window. Garrett was outside, shoveling the same spot in the walkway as if it might stop the world from catching fire.

And I stood there. Watching her.

The girl who had turned everything upside down without even trying. The one I hadn’t been able to shake from my head since the second she showed up on our porch with that look in her eyes like she was barely holding it together.

She looked small now. Fragile in a way that made something twist in my chest.

And I hated it.

I didn’t think. Just moved. Dropped down beside her on the hearth. Maybe being close would help.

She didn’t speak. Didn’t cry, either. She leaned against me like I was one solid thing in a world that had cracked wide open.

“I should’ve told her sooner,” she said after a while, voice quiet. “Lucy. I should’ve said something before it all blew up.”

I didn’t tell her it wasn’t her fault. Because she wouldn’t have believed me, and it wasn’t what she needed.

I know how guilt works. How it sinks in deep, even when you’re trying your damn best.

Instead, I reached for her hand.

Wasn’t something I usually did. Wasn’t something I was good at.

But she laced her fingers through mine; it wasn’t even a question. And I thought: So this is what it feels like to let someone in.

Then my phone buzzed.

I ignored it.

Buzzed again. Then a third time.

Garrett came in through the back door, snow on his shoulders and that same serious look he always wore.

“Phones are blowing up,” he said. “Somebody leaked our numbers.”

Asher muttered under his breath and pulled out his phone, jaw going tight. “It’s not the press.”

I looked up at that.

He met my eyes. “It’sthem.”

My stomach dropped. I could hear it in his voice. “Mom and Dad?”

Garrett sighed. “Yep.”

Riley sat up a little straighter. Her whole body went still. “Do they know?”

Asher nodded once. “Looks like they read the headline. Lucy’s pissed. Mom says she’s been crying since this morning.”

That hit hard.

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