"Please, Drake. Help me understand."
He blew out a breath. "Fine. You remember when you were eighteen. You had that big shindig planned?”
I remembered. I'd purchased a new dress, done my hair just so, and worked my tail off to ensure it would be my big night, my first as a woman.
They never turned up, despite being on leave.
"We arrived the day before. Were going to surprise you."
I jerked back, blinking rapidly. "But you didn't come to—"
"No.” He blew out a breath. "We really should wait for Dane."
I bit my lip, experiencing a million different emotions at once. Finally, I give him a small nod.
"Let's move this to the lounge."
I sat in the one armchair in the room, desperate for space. Drake perched on the couch across from me, his hands clasped between his legs, his gaze trained on me. We heard the door open and Dane's heavy footsteps moving through the house.
"We're in the lounge," Drake called, not looking away from me.
"So, we going—" Dane's voice trailed off. "What's going on?"
"Blue wants to know why we never reached out."
"Fuck." He dropped the basket, reaching two hands up to shove through his hair. "Fuck."
"You're freaking me out," I whispered, glancing from Dane to Drake and back. Dane moved to sit beside Drake, their legs brushing as they exchanged a look.
"First thing," Drake finally said when they'd reached an unspoken agreement. "We've always wanted you. We've always loved you. Even before that night in the garage."
I sucked in a breath, unsure of what to think.
"But," Drake continued. "You were sixteen, and what we wanted, while legal, wouldn't have made sense to anyone but us."
"We didn't want that for you, not at that age,” Dane agreed. "High school is shit enough without adding gossip to the mix."
"So, you left?"
"Yeah, but we'd always planned on coming back."
"And we did," Dane said. "The day before your eighteenth."
"But you didn't attend."
"No," Drake agreed. They both looked so sombre, so serious that my heart ached.
"We went to your parents.” Drake sighed, shaking his head. "That was a mistake."
"My parents? Why?"
"We asked for their blessing. To date you, to woo you, to marry you."
I blinked in shock. They'd never said a word.
"Your Dad told us no. Your Momma was slightly better, but the final answer was still no."
Dane leaned forward, capturing my attention. "You have to understand, Blue. We grew up without parents. There wasn'tany way we were doing something that would have resulted in a breakdown between you and your family."
