Page 318 of Second Sets Omnibus
“You’re all serious?” I ask in disbelief as tears stream down my face. “You’re seriously going to work here?”
“Yes,” Kieran chuckles, brushing the tears from my cheeks. “We’ve lived our dream. You helped us with that, and we appreciate what you did for us. Back then, in Central City, helping us set up for Battle of the Bands. And now, helping us work through our shit. You’ve done so much for us, and it opened our eyes. We weren’t happy because you weren’t in our lives. We weren’t happy because Whispered Words is nothing without River West.”
“We’d give up the world for you, Little Brat,” Asher whispers, licking his lips.
“But we’re doing this for us, too. We want to be in your lives. We want to help take Ly to school every morning and pick her up in the afternoon. We want to wake up for the night feedings and let you sleep. We want the shitty diapers, long nights, and beautiful sunrises with you,” Kieran adds again.
“We want all the things. Firsts, seconds, and lasts,” Rad whispers, moving in on me. “We want it all with you at the center of it. You’re our number one. You always should have been. Music can take a backseat. Everything else can get fucked. I mean, you can too; we’ll help with that. But you’re ours. Forever. Whether you like it or not.”
I sniffle, leaning into Kieran’s touch.
“I can’t believe you’re giving up everything for me.”
“You did it for us,” Asher says. “You gave up your whole life because we walked away. You raised our baby into an amazingchild. You sacrificed your time and freedom to give yourself the life you deserved all along. Now, we’re here to help you keep moving forward. We love you, Little Brat.”
I close my eyes when their touches start softly stroking different parts of my body. Arms. Face. Back. Shoulders. They’re everywhere, surrounding me, promising to never leave my side.
“I love you, too,” I murmur through a ragged breath. “I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it, Pretty Girl. You’ll be seeing our faces every day from now on.” He wiggles his brows, forcing a laugh from my throat.
“So, what do you say?” Kieran asks, bringing my attention back to him. “Are you ready to start this new chapter in our lives?”
“Yes.” A smile breaks free, stretching across my lips when he leans in and kisses my cheek.
“Good, because I think we would have just kidnapped you, anyway.” Kieran shrugs, pulling back.
“I don’t doubt it,” I say with a laugh, shaking my head. “Well… Looks like I’m free for a day or two. What should we do?”
“Let’s go get reacquainted properly,” Rad quips, wiggling his brows. “My tongue wants to explore some new places.”
I snort when something bangs against the mirror on the opposite side of the room. Serves them right for being nosy assholes.
“All right,” I say, holding out my hand for him to take. “Let’s go then.”
The five of us slowly walk toward the door as a unit, with silence between us. Not the uncomfortable kind, either. It’s the satisfied—we finally made it—kind of silence.
It’s been five years of pure hell thinking they left without reason, leaving me with our baby and restraining orders. All we needed was time to patch ourselves back together and knitour relationship back to what it was. This time around, we’re more cohesive and in better control of our emotions. From this moment on, we’ll be a fucking family together. Forever in each other’s arms.
“So, how about that wedding proposal?” I ask when we make it out the front door after saying our awkward goodbyes to my brothers.
“Wait, what?” Rad shouts, turning sharply on his heel to face me.
“You heard me,” I say, waving a hand in his direction.
He swallows hard, eyeing the other guys, and pats his pockets. “I don’t have a ring.”
“That never stopped you before,” I say, smiling when his face reddens.
“Marry us, Pretty Girl. Please be our wife. Our baby momma. The woman who lets me clean her up when the others are done with her,” he asks in a low voice, taking my hand in his as the others gather around us with their hearts in their throats.
“Okay,” I say with a grin, squeezing his hand. “I’ll marry you all.”
“YES!” Rad shouts, throwing his arms around me and lifting me in the air. After several spins, he sets me on my feet and captures my lips with his. “Time to celebrate,” he chuckles, dragging me toward my car.
Whispered Words and River West. We started out as something impossible. Five broken people coming together and finding something other people long for. The love was there, but the timing was all wrong.
We spent five years apart from each other, growing into broken adults. We were people who depended on music, work, drugs, fighting, and fucking isolation to get us through the end of the day.
