I shot her a scowl as I loaded the plates in the dishwasher. “I’m always happy.”
Pressing her lips together to hide a grin, she nodded once. “Of course, my mistake.”
After closing the dishwasher, I braced my hands on the counter and huffed out a breath. “Can’t believe you brought up my fan mail around Sutton.”
“You thought you could hide it from her forever?” She laughed. “Besides, I don’t think it’s going to faze her. You two make a good match.”
“We couldn’t be more opposite.”
“Maybe that’s why it works.” Mom bumped her shoulder against my arm. “And why you should let it happen.”
I glanced into the dining room. Sutton’s head was tossed back in laughter as she clutched an envelope to her chest and leaned into Laurel’s side. Lincoln was chuckling along, and even Declan was smiling, which was usually rarer than a solar eclipse. Sutton and Laurel fit so perfectly here. With them. Withme. As if they belonged.
There was only one problem.
“I’m just not sure it’s real,” I admitted quietly.
Mom hummed. “Well, I see the way Sutton looks at you when you’re not watching her. Which, by the way, isn’t very often. The only time you’ve taken your eyes off that woman is to glare at your brothers.”
“They’re being shitheads. They deserve the glare.”
“And you deserve to be happy, Atlas.” She squeezed my arm and waited until I met her eyes. “Start by trusting it’s real.”
That was easier said than done. Especially with a painful past that had a way of sneaking up on me.
The family we’d had with my dad had felt real too. We’d had laughter and fights and connection and compromises. With a rock star father, we’d never been a typical family, but we’d been a family, nonetheless.
Or so I’d thought.
But after a decades-long relationship with my mom, after having all four of us boys, after being in our lives for years, he left.
Walked away and never looked back.
While he’d still been around, he’d taught me a few things. To look out for my mom and brothers when he was busy chasing his next thrill. To be a rock for my family to lean on because he’d been nothing but quicksand. To stand as a shield, protecting the people I cared about most from his unforgivable deceit.
But the lesson that stuck with me the most was that nothing lasts. Not love, not family. Sure as hell not promises.
Everything was temporary.
In a blink, the people you loved without exception could decide you didn’t matter anymore. And there wasn’t a damn thing you could do about it.
After that, how could I trust anything to be real? No matter how desperately I wanted it to be.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
SUTTON
Meeting Atlas’sfamily hadn’t been nearly as scary as I’d been expecting. His mom was vibrant, easygoing, and clearly loved each of her sons beyond measure. She was everything I’d wished a thousand times I’d had in a mom.
Lincoln was the same charming flirt he’d been that first night I met him. Though now I knew he did it solely to get a rise out of Atlas, and it definitely had. I’d lost count of how many times Atlas had growled at his brother toknock that shit off.
I hadn’t been sure what to expect with Declan, considering what I knew of Atlas and Lincoln. But it sure wasn’t the motorcycle-riding tattoo artist covered in ink he turned out to be. He definitely leaned closer to Atlas’s gruff personality than Lincoln’s laid-back charm, but he wasn’t quite as serious as my fake boyfriend.
And why did that accurate descriptor have my stomach twisting in knots? Even though it was the truth, it didn’t feel quite right. I wasn’t sure it was reflective anymore of this arrangement that had begun as make-believe.
After saying good night to Laurel, Atlas and I headed upstairs. Even though I had spent every night for the past severaldays in his bed, I didn’t want to be presumptuous, so I headed toward my room.
Before I could make it a step into the guest bedroom, Atlas hooked an arm around my waist and tugged me back into his chest. Without conscious thought, I melted into his warmth, releasing a deep sigh at how right it felt.
