Page 79 of Dare Me

He held up his hands in surrender. “I don’t think there’s anything Icansay to that.” He took a bite of his sandwich before asking, “Does he love you?”

She nodded and felt tears sting her eyes. “He says he does, but we fought last night about this and now he won’t talk to me.”

“Then maybe…”

“Don’t say it,” she snapped. “Don’t you dare even say it. I know he has his reasons and he needs time to think. I’m just impatient. You know that. We all are.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a Donovan trait, for sure. Does this guy know what he’s getting into with you?”

Just thinking about Will made her smile, even as her heart ached. “He does. Unfortunately, it’s the way I react to all of you that’s the obstacle.”

Truer words were never spoken.

Liam took another bite of his sandwich, but she knew he had something to say.

“Ari, you know that all any of us want is for you to be happy,” he began. “We don’t want to think there’s anybody good enough for you. I can’t help that. But if you love this guy and he loves you?” He shrugged. “Your happiness is all that really matters. You have to know that it’s not like we can all turn off this overprotective reaction. It’s just who we are. But at the end of the day, I’d like to think that we’ll see in this guy all the things that you see.”

“Remind me to remind you of this conversation at a later date,” she mumbled.

He grinned. “You may have to. Now, as for this fight the two of you had, just…give it some time. You’re going to need to be patient because everyone processes these things at a different pace. Just because you’re ready to say you’re fine and move on doesn’t mean he is. Trust me. Guys fall into one of two categories. One, they don’t even think about it and they’re over it immediately, or they overthink and need time to look at the situation from every angle. If you really love this guy, you’ll have to learn to love that part of him too.”

“Shit.”

This time, he laughed out loud. “Whoever this guy is, I’d love to shake his hand and wish him luck, because you, little sister, are going to give him a run for his money.” With another laugh, he asked, “Or do Patrick, Jamie, and I need to go and kick his ass? Because really, I’m good with both scenarios.”

“No need to kick anyone’s ass,” she told him. “I just hope I didn’t ruin everything with my big mouth.”

“Like I said, if he really loves you…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.” They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes and Arianna realized…this was nice. She’d never hung out with Liam like this, just the two of them. “Hey,” she said softly.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For reaching out and inviting me to lunch. I think this was possibly the best surprise ever and it officially makes you my favorite brother.”

His smile was the sweetest combination of bashful and happy. “I’ll let you break it to the others.”

“You’re on!” Then she laughed. “So tell me more about this fishing resort. Will there be awards for the biggest catch because…I’m kind of legendary in this town. I’d be more than happy to step up and maybe give a few pointers or allow you to hang a portrait of me in the lobby with my record-breaking catch.”

Liam groaned audibly. “Yeah, remind me to run that by Will and see how big of a laugh that gets. There’s no way he’ll believe you out-fished me. Ever.”

Oh, if only you knew…

It wasn’t until Will was settled in at his hotel after a long day of travel and frustration that he realized his text to Arianna never went through. “What the hell?” he murmured.

He had arrived in San Francisco at noon Pacific time and had slept almost the entire trip. As soon as he landed, he’d texted his aunt on his way to pick up the rental car and made the drive to Oakland to see about the storage unit issues. It was worse than what he expected and there were a lot of things that he simply had to throw away due to water damage. Small pieces of furniture and clothes got tossed in the dumpster, but fortunately the stuff that had real sentimental value—photos and yearbooks and some random knick-knacks from his childhood—had been spared.

The manager of the facility provided him with clean, dry boxes and packing materials and Will was able to get everything secured and took them to a local pack and ship place to have it all sent to Laurel Bay. It was something he should have done sooner, but…part of him maybe wanted to keep a connection to this place. This was where he’d grown up and where he’d lived with his parents, and now it was all gone.

They were all gone.

He hated getting sentimental and emotional like this, but since he was alone, he allowed himself some time to grieve for that life. Afterwards, he went to the cemetery and placed flowers on his parents’ graves before going to the hotel to grab a quick shower so he could take his aunt to dinner.

Now it was almost nine o’clock his time, which meant midnight for Arianna, but he knew he needed to call her.

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