Page 104 of Already At Risk
HAVING ALL MY FAVORITE people in one place was slightly overwhelming. Tears welled in my lashes when my parents had walked in, both scooping me into a hug before even talking to anyone else.
It had been so long.
I hadn’t been at an event with my entire family insolong.
Last year, we’d all planned to go to Noah’s game together in Minnesota, but there had been an emergency at work, so Gemma took Chloe instead. I’d missed out, again, after so many other times missing out, mostly because of Korey and the way he’d controlled the narrative for years.
He’d tried to do it again today, not wanting to let Chloe come, not at first. I wasn’t sure what I would have done. Something illegal, probably, since I refused to beg that man for anything. He relented, luckily, and while I suspected that Noah had called him, I couldn’t say for sure. My brother wouldn’t admit to anything, but he’d made it very clear that he wanted Chloe to be here.
I was glad he had. Because currently, my brothers were giving Chloe all the attention in the world, making my heart soar. Korey would be here soon, and I was already dreading having to interrupt the fun. But right now? Right now was perfect.
Forever the sportsman, Noah set up a badminton net across the backyard, and all five London men—my dad had jumped in, too—stood surrounding Chloe, feet bare in the grass as they faced off against their opponents, which was all five Briggs sisters, plus Juniper. So six Briggs sisters, essentially.
The Londons werenotwinning.
Every time Theo hit the birdie, he barely tapped it, like he was afraid he’d hurt one of the girls across the net if he actually whacked it properly. But the result was the birdie never making it over the net at all. That, combined with Sully’s distraction with Ellie, Chloe’s lack of height, and Noah’s dazed look of love as he stared at Gemma, meant this match wasn’t making it very far.
Smiling at the scene, I walked over to Delaney and tried to ignore Cameron’s presence just behind her, where he chatted with Julian and two other guys—Grayson and Bren, other college friends of Noah. Beside them, their wives, Nessa and Madie, were deep in conversation with Cameron’s sister, while Ellie had found a friend in Beau, his brother-in-law. I’d overheard them talking animatedly earlier, having an in-depth discussion on why the eagles couldn’t just fly Frodo and Sam to Mordor in the first place—a rant I’d heard Ellie give before, on more than one occasion. I was glad she’d found someone who was as passionate about it as she was.
I’d also never seen Sully glare harder at another person before.
Sometimes I just wanted toshakehim.
“I bet this display is making you rethink the family you married into,” I said to Delaney with a laugh.
IfIwas feeling a little overwhelmed, I could only imagine how she felt. This was her first time meeting the entire London crew at once.
“Not at all,” Delaney said, shaking her head as she watched the game. Her gaze lingered on Blake, a gentle smile playing on her lips. “This is…beautiful.” When she tore herself away from the badminton crew, she looked at me with that same touch of gentleness in her eyes. “How are you?”
“I’m pretty good, actually.”
Things had felt…lighter lately.
“Good.” She tucked her long, blonde hair behind her ear. “I hope you know that we love having Chloe stay with us. She’s always,alwayswelcome. If there’s anything we can do to impress that upon the court system, please let us know.”
“I really appreciate that, Delaney,” I said, feeling my throat tighten. “Really. I’ll mention it to Cameron.”
Delaney glanced over her shoulder at the mention, raising a brow. “Should I tell him right now? He’s looking over here.”
I turned, finding Cameron’s steady gaze on us. Orme. As a result, my stomach felt like it was free-falling, drowning in the intensity of his brown gaze. He watched me like it pained him to be as far away from me as he was, and the ache inside me only increased. The attraction between us was sotangiblesometimes, like a real, living thing, and I didn’t think either of us knew what to do about it, nor knew how to handle it.
“Oh, that man istortured,” Delaney said under her breath, making me shiver. I hadn’t expected her to verbalize it, and there was something about hearing it aloud, the acknowledgment that I wasn’t imagining what I was seeing.
“Sonowyou can recognize a tortured man,” I replied, attempting to take the attention off me and Cameron, to laugh away her comment when really it was tearing me to pieces inside.
Delaney blushed vibrantly as we turned back to the badminton game, and I gave her arm a squeeze. “I’m just teasing, of course. We just all watched Blake pine for you for years and wondered how you never noticed.”
She sighed. “Trust me. I wish I had.”
Blake turned around then, like he knew we were talking about him. And something about Delaney’s expression—likely the pink highlighting her cheeks—made him stride over.
“Are you being nice to my wife, Natalie?” he asked, a faux seriousness on his face.
“She’s being very nice,” Delaney assured.
Blake smiled, slipping a finger beneath Delaney’s chin to tip it up and then pressing a kiss to her lips that only made her blush harder.
“Do you want to play, Lane?” he asked, and she shook her head.
