Page 91 of Dare Me

There was only one thing she could do, and that was to throw herself into his arms and give him the biggest hug she possibly could. “Thanks, Dad.”

After that, the most important thing was getting Ryleigh down before she hurt herself, and after that, they all worked together to get dinner on the table. Once they were all sitting down, Uncle Ronan texted the staff that they should come back because they’d be opening the doors in thirty minutes.

Arianna looked around the table and realized that as much as she’d been vocal about wanting to move away and have her freedom, there was something to be said about being surrounded by people who love you. If she had stuck to her original plan to move away, she would have missed this—the chance to have this moment with her family and prove that they could trust her.

Plus, it was kind of nice to watch her brothers all be on the receiving end of some grief for once. She could only hope this led to some matchmaking happening to them too. Maybe she’d start dropping hints to her mother about who she thought would be good matches for the three of them.

It was almost enough to make her rub her hands together with a maniacal laugh like some sort of super villain.

But she refrained.

Honestly, she wished Will were here with her right now, but…she needed to prove to herself that she could do this without him—that she was brave enough to confront her family and stand her ground. Of course she’d tell him all about it later and there were witnesses just in case he thought she was exaggerating.

But she didn’t need to exaggerate.

This was perfect.

Okay, maybe not completely perfect, but it went much better than she expected.

Only…maybe next time she’d be sure to keep her sister away from the alcohol so she could do it completely on her own without Ryleigh drunkenly stealing her thunder.

They were eating and laughing, and it was the most enjoyable family dinner she could ever remember. And now that there were no more secrets and no more pressure, she felt herself relax.

“So have you and Will set a date yet?” her mother asked and Arianna nearly choked on her food as her sister burst out in hysterical laughter.

It was almost ten and Will was pacing and unsure of what to do. He’d been listening for Arianna for hours and she still wasn’t home. He wanted to go down to the pub, but he was also trying to respect her boundaries.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone rang.

Looking down, he saw Liam’s name and number and felt wildly disappointed. “Hey,” he said gruffly when he answered. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s been a wild night to say the least, but…I think it’s finally winding down.”

“Oh. Okay, good.” He hated to have to ask, but… “Do you know when Arianna’s going to come home and if she’s going to even talk to me?”

“Last I checked, she and Ryleigh were still huddled with my mother. I’m actually pulling into the parking lot now. Mind if I come up?”

“Yeah, sure. See you in a minute.”

Will pulled out a couple of bottles of water and set them on the coffee table before going and opening the door. “Damn, you look like shit,” he said as Liam walked in.”

“Yeah, well, it was a rough night.”

“How’s Arianna? Is she okay?”

Reaching for one of the bottles of water, Liam opened it and took a long drink. “My mother really threw a huge guilt trip at her.”

“Shit.”

“But…then Ryleigh pretty much had a meltdown on the whole lot of us, so…I want to say we’re all cool? Maybe?”

“Um…that’s great. Good for you,” he mumbled, because he knew he and Arianna still had some stuff of their own to discuss.

Liam paced a bit before stopping right in front of him. “I’m sorry. You’re literally the best guy I’ve ever known and…and I shouldn’t have doubted you or made you feel like anything less. I’m just so used to being in protective brother mode that I didn’t stop to really look at the situation for what it was.” Pausing, he let out a long breath. “I hope you can forgive me because I really want us to keep working together. I think we make a great team and I hope you reconsider and give me a chance.”

Now it was his turn to huff a bit. “Yeah, well, I said a lot in the heat of the moment. I think the important thing here is that we realize we need to actually communicate. No more sneaking around or lying about anything.”

“Agreed. Plus, now that I know you and my sister are legit serious, I’m going to want to know that she’s being taken care of. So the more successful we make this business, the better.” He grinned. “Like a whole silver lining thing.”

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