Page 19 of Give Me Forever

"I don't. We both showed our interest in the space simultaneously, andsheneeds a roommate. I like the loft—"

The look in his eyes was triumphant, and it derailed my train of thought. I didn't like it, but I didn't question it, because I honestly didn't want to know.

"Hmm. Well, I tend to agree with your mom," Kendra said. "It might not be the best of ideas."

"Unless...," Megan said.

"Unless what?" I asked.

"You’re planning to... you know. Get back with her." She wiggled her eyebrows. I liked her a lot. She was very feisty.

"Damn, I didn't think about that," Tyler said. “Are you?”

I burst out laughing. "God, I forgot what it was like with you all."

"Yeah, we should ease the guy in," Reese said. "We don't want to scare Sam off. He isn’t even in the WhatsApp group. Now we're suddenly overwhelming him with... I'm not even sure if I should call this advice."

“No, it's calledopinionating," Paisley said confidently.

I smiled again. I was happy to be back, even though I'd lost my touch. I had no idea how to handle this conversation. Especially since the last time everyone butted into my life, my brothers had been single. Now I had twice as many opinions.

"This is good, Uncle Sam," Paisley said, "because you’ll get a female perspective on it."

"I wasn't even aware I needed a female perspective," I said. "Or any sort of perspective. But by all means, pitch in."

"Oh, we weren't going to stop," Tate said.

"Or ask for permission," Reese added.

"We were just taking a moment to process everything," Luke finished.

Duly noted.The Maxwell clan had sharpened their skills over the years, and I was playing catch-up. But not for long.

"Anyone care to share the story with me?" Lexi asked. "I don't believe I know it in full."

"And we can't offer our advice without knowing it," Megan agreed. “How long were you together? Was it serious?”

Gran looked at me before glancing at Paisley. Considering she knew the expression "balls dropping off," I couldn't see how my story would be worse for her ears.

"Avery and I dated for two years in high school."

"They were prom king and queen," Mom said. "And I honestly thought they’d marry right after college. But then they broke it off as soon as prom was over."

"Mom, would you like to tell the story?" I asked.

She ignored me and said, "But I don't know the whole story."

I swallowed hard, putting my fork down. I hadn't thought about that evening for years. Did I want to drag it all up?

"Her mom got sick, and she had to move out of the city to take care of her. Just before she left, she said it wouldn't make sense to keep dating while we were apart.” In the blink of an eye, things just ended. I'd wanted to be there for her, help her with her mom. But she categorically refused.

My chest constricted. Even after all these years, losing her felt like a punch to the gut.

"Okay, see that expression on his face? It tells me your mom is on to something," Lexi said in a fake whisper.

"Yeah, dude. Are you still mooning over her?" Tyler asked.

I stared at him. "I already agreed to this, and I'm not going to go back on my word, even if you’re disagreeing with me."

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