Page 153 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

I didn’t say anything. Didn’t trust my voice not to break.

“She just needs to talk to Lucy,” Mom added. “Face to face, if she can.”

“I don’t know if that’s smart right now.”

“She doesn’t need to apologize for falling in love. She needs to tell the truth. Girl to girl. Friend to friend. That’s what Lucy needs.”

I got that.

When I came back inside, Riley looked up at me.

“How bad?” she asked.

I knelt in front of her, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. She didn’t flinch, she watched me with eyes that already knew the answer.

“They’re not mad,” I said. “Dad’s somewhere between mad and worried. Mostly worried. About Lucy.”

Her eyes shimmered, but she blinked it back. Got to her feet slowly, like her body weighed more than it should.

“I need a minute, okay?”

I nodded.

She walked down the hall and shut the bedroom door. A second later, I heard the soft click of the lock.

That sound hit harder than it should’ve. Felt like a punch to the chest.

I stood there, staring at that door, jaw clenched so tight it started to ache. That anchor’s voice was still playing in the back of my skull, dragging Riley’s name across the air as if it was a headline, not a person.

She was in there, alone, trying to hold herself together, and we were all out here pretending like we had a handle on anything.

Garrett was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, stone-faced. Hadn’t said a word since the call from Mom.

Asher was the first to break. Of course he was.

“Well,” he muttered, pacing behind the couch, “that went about as well as a gas leak in a match factory.”

Garrett’s head snapped toward him. “You think this is funny?”

“No,” Asher shot back. “I think it’s a disaster. But if I don’t laugh, I’m gonna lose it, so unless you want me to start breaking windows?—”

“Try shutting up for once,” Garrett growled. “That might actually help.”

Asher stopped pacing, lifted his brows. “Oh, great. The noble older brother act. Been a while since we got that one.”

“Someone’s gotta give a shit,” Garrett snapped. “Someone’s gotta clean this mess up.”

My hands were fists at my sides, but I didn’t move.

“She’s not just some girl we fooled around with,” I said, voice low. “She’s Riley.”

Garrett stepped toward me. “You think I don’t know that? Don’t stand there and act like I don’t care.”

“You haven’t always acted like it,” Asher said, arms crossed now, voice colder. “That’s half the problem.”

Garrett turned on him, eyes sharp. “Say that again.”

“Gladly,” Asher said. “You wanted her, but when she actually needed someone, you froze.”

---