“Auntie, this is Marlowe,” he says, staring down at me. “Lowe, this is my aunt, Loretta.”
“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” I tell her as I extend a hand in greeting.
Loretta waves my hand away and steps forward. “No need for the formalities here. We hug in this house.” She wraps her arms around me, causing a surprised laugh to escape me before I return the gesture.
She pulls back, resting her hands on my shoulders for a moment before she fully steps away and smiles up at her nephew. Levi wraps an arm around my shoulders, placing a quick kiss to my temple.
“I’m sure you kids are hungry,” Loretta says as she gestures to the house. “I made food.”
“Is anyone else here?” Levi asks as we follow behind her.
She hums as we walk through a very large and expansive living room before slipping into the kitchen. “As a matter of fact, all four of my babies are home,” she informs us, and I glance up to see a large smile on Levi’s face. “Jesse has a break before his next ride, Stevie is prepping her horse for their next rodeo, and Addie has her hands full with Kolbi, so she’s been staying here instead of in town. And of course, Nash is always here.”
“Levi,” a feminine voice yells from the hallway. Before he can fully turn towards the voice, she jumps on his back and wraps her arms around his neck, causing him to stumble forward slightly. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Levi laughs as she slips off his back, and he turns around to envelope her in a massive hug. She pulls back just enough to rest her chin on his chest and look up at him and my heart clenches at the sight. She reminds me so much of Neve, and that thought causes tears to spring to my eyes that I fight to keep at bay.
She’s roughly two inches shorter than me with tanned skin from being out in the sun all day. Her hair is multiple different shades of brown, starting dark at the root and growing lighter as it reaches her ends. She turns to me and flashes me a very warm smile, her pale green eyes twinkling with the motion.
“Oh my god,” she exclaims, shoving Levi away from herself and pinning him with a glare. “Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing her?”
Levi chuckles and glances at me. “Marlowe, this is Stevie.”
“Thank fuck he’s finally seeing someone he wants to bring home,” Stevie says as she approaches and gives me a hug like her mother did. She whispers in my ear, “He didn’t blackmail you into coming here, right? You’re actually dating? Like, this isn’tsome elaborate plan he enacted so I’d quit bugging him about his love life?”
I burst out laughing and shake my head, releasing myself from the hug with a smile. “No, I am here of my own volition, I promise.”
“Stevie,” Loretta snaps, interrupting our conversation. We both turn to her, shoulder to shoulder, and see her standing at the island with a hand on her hip and a spatula in the other hand. “Did you just cuss?”
“Sorry, momma,” she mumbles, causing Levi to chuckle.
We hear a door opening followed by a couple sets of footsteps. I glance toward the entry off to the right and see a tall man walk in first. He’s slightly shorter than Levi, but otherwise looks like he and Stevie could be twins.
Same hair color, skin tone and beautiful shade of green eyes with that same dazzling smile. His hair is on the longer side, thick, wavy and flowing to end at the bottom of his neck. He’s got a short beard that’s not entirely filled in on his cheeks.
Behind him strides in another woman. This one is taller than I am, standing at roughly five foot nine. Her hair is lighter than Stevie’s, appearing more blonde than brown and stops at the middle of her back. Unlike her sister, she has freckles covering her nose and cheeks, and her eyes carry a tint of brown around her iris mixed with that same pale green.
“You motherfucker,” the man says, and I see Loretta roll her eyes as he walks over to hug Levi. “You lied to me. I distinctly remember you telling me you weren’t coming.”
“Do we have to use that language in this house?” Loretta snaps, eyes narrowed on her son. He holds his hands up in surrender, causing Levi and I to laugh.
At the sound of my laughter, he turns to me and his eyes widen slightly, his eyebrows shooting up before a flirtatious smile covers his face. “And who might you be?”
“Yeah, don’t even think about it,” Levi tells him, slapping his hand down a little too roughly to be considered friendly on his shoulder. “I love you, man, but I’m not past beating the shit out of you for hitting on my girl.”
“Message received,” he responds before winking at me. “I’m Jesse, by the way.”
He extends his hand out in my direction. As I shake it, I don’t miss the rough calluses covering his palm. “Marlowe,” I say. “I thought you did hugs in this house.”
“I think if I hugged you right now, he’d take my ass out back and hogtie me.”
Jesse turns to his mom and immediately lights up at the sight of food. I chuckle as I turn to Levi to see him embracing his other cousin. She buries her head into his neck, squeezing him tightly, and something about the way they’re holding on to one another makes it evident that she needed this.
“That’s Addison, but we all call her Addie,” Stevie whispers, bumping into me gently as we watch them mumbling to one another. “She just became a single mom about eight months ago. Her best friend and her friend’s husband were in a car wreck, and Addie was the godmother. There was no other family, so she got custody. It’s been hard for her and the kid.”
“How old is her godson?”
Stevie turns to me, taking her eyes away from the exchange to give them some privacy, so I do the same. “He’s nine, which of course means he knows what’s going on and can feel that pain but doesn’t know how to regulate it other than lashing out.”
