Nix’s eyes had softened. “Wait for me?”
My face faltered, “What do you mean?”
His lips pressed into a thin line before he replied, “Just don’t give up on me—on us.”
“Us?” I echoed.
Nix slowly nodded, his eyes hooded. “Yeah, I want to sort this shit out in my head before…”
“About time!”
Before? Nothing, as the door was suddenly yanked open and Micah appeared with a massive grin on his face, belting, “Where thefuckhave you two been? Reed’s about to eat his own fist.”
My mouth hung open as we pulled back from each other, both stunned. Micah’s energy sliced straight through the tenderness of the moment, as both Nix and I snapped to our senses. We were clearly so overcome with the surprise of Micah’s presence that ourdwell in the darkmoment evaporated at light speed.
“What are you doing here, man?” Nix volleyed back.
“I heard you were all pining for me, like pussies. So here I am.” Micah did a grand sweeping gesture with his arms, motioning towards his body as if the fricking king had just arrived.
I watched, grinning like an idiot as the big, beautiful black man barged onto the porch and threw himself at Phoenix. You couldn’t help but smile with delight as the two men hugged each other like a couple of girls.
They both pounded each other’s backs in greeting, chuntering away before Micah finally drew away and turned to look down at me. His dark eyes roamed over my body from head to foot.
“Fuck me, when didyouget hot?” he replied with a chuckle, dragging me into his arms. I wasn’t a hugger by any means, but my hands automatically circled his shoulders as I sank against his chest. The embrace was almost suffocating, but I let myself be swept up in that feeling. I had always been closer to Micah than the others, as he used to help me with my science homework.
His hug was literally squeezing the stuffing out of me, and I wiggled away. “Er, air would be good right about now. Unless you’retryingto kill me.” I thought it amusing that he called me hot, like we hadn’t been on call recently.
After a bout of playful banter between the boys, we all entered the house, Ma shouting from the dining room that supper was going cold. Reed added to that with a less-than-polite comment and got what sounded like a slap across the back of the head for his troubles.
I watched as Micah and Phoenix trudged across the hallway towards the scent of Ma’s cooking, laughing, and joking. They didn’t even glance back to see if I was following them. I found it interesting that Nix’s desire ‘to clear his head’ had gone, as had that moment between us. My stomach knotted as I once again felt invisible.
So, all it took to make Phoenix feel better was the appearance of one of his brothers. I had always envied the bond between them. They were tight, and I had never really managed to slot into that. Not that I had tried that hard in the past. I’d been nothing but a whiny bitch towards them all. Maybe that’s who I was now?
My afternoon had started to nose-dive in a less-than-spectacular fashion.
“Don’t give up on me,” Phoenix had whispered. He wanted to sort his shit out before—before what? As I clutched my bag against my chest, I knew I had my own demons to slay and decided against pushing it anymore with Nix for a few days. The thought of discussing what happened between us in his room again was nerve-racking.
“Harper?” Ma called from the dining room.
“Just a minute, I need to wash up.”
“Be quick then, we’re serving up.”
Racing up to my room, I took my trophy out of my bag and placed it in the drawer of my nightstand next to my stash of Tylenol and chewing gum. My eyes glanced at Tate Parker’s Louis Vuitton wallet, which I’d taken last year. It stillsat in there, partly covered by underwear. I hadn’t even transferred it to my secret place back at the Manor. I couldn’t risk anyone seeing me with it. I knew better than to flaunt expensive-looking stuff around the house. I had fuck all money, and so questions would have been raised. All her credit cards were still in there, and some cash. I remember how amazing it had felt when she noticed she had ‘lost’ it.
After splashing my face with cold water in the bathroom sink, I went downstairs and joined my family for dinner.
Pfft.It was as if theSawyer Brothers’ importancewas baked into the air along with Ma’s cooking.
I entered mid-conversation, Nix glancing at me briefly as I plonked myself into a seat at the end of the table. Ma was serving up. It sounded like Micah had come to visit and was staying for the week.
Everyone was chatting noisily and handing plates around. Micah’s appearance had broken the tension, and the house was alive again.
As I thanked Reed for handing me the vegetables, I watched all of Nix’s muscles relax one by one, but he didn’t look at me. I swallowed back a lump of hurt.
Everyone then shot the shit, with Ma beaming at us all whilst we enjoyed the feast she had prepared. It was pot roast, Micah’s favorite. He was sitting at the other side of Reed, and they were extremely touchy-feely, theirs being a proper bromance. Hudson and Nix were on opposite sides of the table.
I tried to catch Phoenix’s eye once or twice, but he was too wrapped up in the return of the prodigal, so I studied him on the sly. It appeared he had shelved what happened with his mother to the back of his mind, for now.
