Page 132 of Seeking Two Lovers

My jaw clenched, tension once more stringing me tight and making me want to punch something.

The board I stared at to take my mind off the crowd around us updated with arriving flights.

“She’s here,” I murmured, my anger dissolving as that excitement to see my sister returned.

Adrenaline leaked into my bloodstream, and I hopped to my feet, my heart racing. I rubbed my damp palms down my jeans and started forward regardless of the dozens of people. I needed to move, when seconds earlier, I’d been ready to sink into the floor and sleep for three days straight.

Lily came up beside me and took my hand again, the contact immediately settling my insides enough that I could breathe steady rather than in the pants I hadn’t realized I’d been attempting to fill my lungs with.

“It’s going to be okay,” she stated firmly as we came to a stop just beyond the roped-off area Sarah would appear behind. “Grey took care of everything. I’m here for you, and your sister needs you. You’re strong enough to help carry her burdens, Blaine, and Grey and I will be here for you when you need the same.”

I nodded, unable to move my attention off the hallway ahead.

“I believe in you, Blaine. You’re a good man—one of the best I’ve ever met.”

“And Grey?” I asked, desperate to occupy my mind for the final moments before Sarah’s arrival.

“Top-tier, just like you.” Lily’s slender fingers gave a few pulsed squeezes around mine, and I tore my focus off the hallway to glance down at her. “You’re pretty special, you know,” she murmured, smiling up at me.

The light in her eyes filled me up, and I found my lips responding to her smile even though anxiety still riddled me clear through. “I think I love you, Lilliane Astbury.”

“Ugh.” She made a gagging noise, then giggled. “Not the full name! Please!”

We both broke out into real laughter, and I hauled her up into my arms, burying my face into her neck.

“I’m falling in love with you too, Blaine Mitchell,” she whispered, her small hands cradling my face.

I pulled back, and our gazes held. Tears once more flooded her eyes.

Desire rushed up to choke out all negativity, and all I yearned for in that moment was to lose myself in her. Soak up her sunshine. Bask in the joy she brought to my life. Kiss all her tears away until she smiled in satiated bliss.

I wanted to tell her over and over how much she meant to me so she would never fear again—

“Blaine?”

My focus ripped off Lily.

Sarah.

My baby sister…less than ten feet away. She appeared pale, bruises littering her face, one eye an ugly shade of purple and swollen shut.

Wetness hazed my vision of her, and I set Lily to her feet, turning fully to face the tiny girl—woman—I hadn’t seen in almost a decade.

“Sarah,” I choked out her name.

She bit her lip, but a sob broke through.

We both rushed forward at the same time, and she threw her arms around my waist, burying her poor battered face against my chest. I cradled her gently, afraid to hurt her any more than she’d already endured.

Home—Sarah smelled like home, I realized while breathing her in.

My tears soaked her hair.

* * *

Grey was already at the house when we finally returned, my emotions feeling ragged and run dry. He had coffee waiting, his Jameson, and a few bottles of chardonnay since he wasn’t sure which we would all be in the mood for. A snack tray with cheese, crackers, and red grapes sat waiting for us on the island too—Meryl’s doing.

I’d talked Lily into coming home with us rather than dropping her off at her place like she’d insisted on since Haley had taken the car back home earlier in the afternoon. She kept busy tidying the kitchen and puttering around while Sarah, Grey, and I perched at high barstools. My coffee girl wore a pair of tight jeans that cradled her ass perfectly, and every move she made had her hips swaying and tempting my mind off the exhaustion settling into my bones and the many unanswered questions for my sister I still held quiet in my head.

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