Page 79 of If You Were Mine
It wasn’t a local company, but still a small town around here. It was damn good, and we had a family connection through Phoebe and Ford in the careless way of family trees.
“So… do you want to tell us what the hell’s going on with you?” Hudson asked, staring at me.
“Since when did you get so chatty?” My jaw clenched and it took all within me to force myself to relax.
“Since you stopped speaking to us,” James whispered. “I know that you went through an unimaginable hell. I can’t even begin to imagine.”
“No, you can’t. None of you can,” I snapped.
“No, we really can’t,” Flynn said softly, “but we’ve giving you time to try to figure out what the hell you want. Or even just to heal. But maybe we gave you too much space.”
“Like enough rope to hang myself?” I asked.
Theo’s eyes widened. “Don’t even joke like that.”
I held my hands up, my beer dangling from my left. “I’m not going to hurt myself. It’s not like that. I promise.” I’d already lost my best friend, and I wasn’t about to hurt anyone else in my life by going in a direction that would be the end. That, at least, I knew for sure.
“You know the reason we’re here is because we’re worried about you,” Aston said in that deep fatherly voice he had learned over time.
Maybe it was because he had been more of a father even with such a small age gap between us than our own father. Father. What a word. It didn’t mean much. Especially to me.
Aston continued. “I have been truly worried for a while now. How I could help you, how we were failing you.”
I swallowed hard. I knew I’d been caught up in my own mess, my own healing, but I hadn’t realized how hard I’d been on everyone else even if they’d been quiet about it. “You weren’t failing me. You gave me a place to stay. My house had too many stairs and you let me growl and be mean at your place.”
“And you still ran away here.” Aston met my gaze, and it took all within me not to flinch.
“And why here?” Hudson asked suddenly. “Why this place? The piece of land that we didn’t even know about until you said you were staying here. It’s between two pieces of Cage family land, part of the main trust, but it’s a different slice. So what the hell?”
“You don’t need to tell us everything, but we’re here for you,” Ford said. “We’ve all kept our secrets, sometimes for good reason, but we’re worried.”
“I was far more worried before,” Aston added. “Until I saw you with Harper.”
“Yeah?” I asked, my voice biting.
Aston just raised his brows. “She might be too young for you, but what do I know? She makes you happy.”
I snorted. “You’re going to pull the age card?”
“Blakely and I don’t have that much of an age gap,” Aston said with a shrug. “And frankly, you don’t have one either. Not in the way you’re thinking. You two fit. I have no idea how you’re going to make it work once you’re ready to head back to the city, and I know you’ve been thinking about that.”
“I’ll figure it out,” I put in quickly.
“I hope so. Because like I said, I’ll kick your ass if I have to,” Theo put in, his gaze on mine.
“I’m not going to hurt Harper. I love her.” I pressed my lips together, annoyed with myself for even saying the words out loud. I hadn’t even said them to her.
“Damn,” Flynn said, sounding like his old self before he whistled through his teeth. “Each Cage is falling quickly. Surprising.”
“Of course you love her,” Hudson said. He rolled his eyes and took a sip of his beer. “Everyone in Cage Lake knows it.”
“Is there a small town paper that tells everyone these things?” James asked, looking intrigued.
“Yes, but you just need to ask Ms. Patty and she’ll let you know everything,” I added dryly.
That made the others laugh since we all knew of Ms. Patty, even if we hadn’t lived here full-time.
“Why this house, Dorian? Why did Dad leave it to you?” Hudson being Hudson pressed once the laughter died down. He was like a dog with a bone. That should have annoyed me since the man kept his secrets close to the vest…but I was too tired to anymore.
