My mother stands in front of me, wearing herLancaster Lionssweatshirt, her hair thrown back in a loose, wild bun. I see myself in her, in the cut of her nose and her cheekbones. In her periwinkle blue eyes, turned to mine. Her cheeks are flushed, her fist tightening on the tissue again and again.
When she finally speaks, her voice is hard, and I deflate with the sense that she hasn’t heard me at all. “I do not know when you started to think you could disrespect me like this, Lucia. All for some… dalliance.”
“It’s not a dalliance,” I hiss back at her, my grimace deep and twitching with the force of my emotion. “Ilovethem. I’min lovewith them. These men are the loves of my life, and I will not give them up for you. I amdonesacrificing my happiness in the name of your approval.”
With that, I push past my mother and barrel down the hallway, determined to see my brother, even if it means I might be dragged out by security after I do.
Chapter 46
Cole
Lucy has just said she’s in love with us.
Nottous, but to her mother, which is arguably harder. And means something more.
My mind is a field of fireworks, synapses firing and flaring, making it hard to wrangle my thoughts. The first and most pressing thing to consider is the fact that my vision is blurring, little dots swimming at the fringes.
I realize, with a start, that it’s because I’ve stopped breathing. Maybe it’s the instinct to stand still, to absorb the moment even though Lucy is gone. Or maybe it’s the fact that what she just said hit me square in the chest, like a shock for cardiac arrest.
Clear.
Lucy is in love with us.
This isn’t just a phase for her. Unlike the rich asshole, pretty young girl dynamic shown on TV, this isn’t a transaction. Of course, somewhere in my brain, I was aware of that. Now, though, it’s a fact, spoken into existence by the woman I love.
And it’s not justmeshe loves, but all of us.
I turn and look at Nico and Dane, who look equally as affected by this admission from her. Seeing their expressions makes me realize that this is something I’ve waited for, almostintentionally. All the other women that didn’t feel quite right, all the pressure to settle down—I’d wondered, briefly, if I was aromantic, maybe asexual.
But that wasn’t the case. I was just waiting for Lucy, for a woman who could take all of us. Both metaphorically, and physically, it turns out.
It’s the perfect ending I’d not even known enough to imagine.
And now she’s disappeared down the hallway, into one of the rooms, no doubt determined to see her brother before her parents have her removed. And theycan—Augustus is a minor, which means they get to make decisions for him. They can keep her from seeing him until he’s an adult, if they want to.
If we don’t find a way to fix this thing.
Moving before thinking, I step toward Lucy’s mother, who flinches in response, and hold my hand out to her, “Mrs. Lancaster. I’m Dr. Cole Davenport, and I’m in love with your daughter. I believe we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.”
Lucy’s mother, shriveled and shaken in her panic, stares up at me with wide eyes. She grasps at the tissue in her hand—which is gross, frankly—like it’s a rosary.
Then, to my shock, she reaches out and slides her palm against mine. I’ll definitely have to wash my hands now, but it’s a start. It’s movement toward what Lucy wants more than anything—to keep us,andher family.
“Nico Hawthorne,” my best friend says, sweeping forward with his usual charisma, taking her hand and shaking it as well. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, though I wish it was under different circumstances. Did you take the helicopter?”
“Yes,” she chokes, hands and voice shaking. “I rode with Augustus, but Brett?—”
At that moment, there’s a paternal growl from behind us.
“What thehellis going on here?”
I turn to find Dane swinging around, facing Lucy’s father, Brett, who is breathing hard and clutching a set of car keys in white knuckles. There are two teenagers behind him, twins, it looks like, staring at us with wide eyes and pale faces.
Therese and Thomas, likely.
“Brett,” Lucy’s mom—Angela, if I remember correctly—says, her voice still trembling. “They paid for Augustus to get here. It’s?—”
“It’s a fucking joke, that’s what it is,” Brett bellows, his eyes darting to mine. “You shouldn’t be here.”
