Page 100 of Bend

He laughs, but it fades when he sees my face.

“How come you haven’t told your dad?”

Sayshen goes quiet.

Not surprised. Just careful.

He digs his heel deeper into the sand before answering. “Because we didn’t know if we should.”

I frown. “What does that mean?”

“At first, we were still trying to process it ourselves.” He glances over at me. “Then, after a while, it started to feel like it should be your decision.”

“Mine?”

“You’re the one who has to decide whether you want him in your life.” His voice softens. “It didn’t feel right for us to make that choice for you.”

The answer lands harder than I expect. I’d prepared myself for almost anything else.

Maybe they didn’t know how to tell him. Maybe they were worried about how he’d react, or thought bringing him into it would only make everything messier.

I wasn’t prepared for the reason to be me.

For them to have stopped and actually thought about what I might need.

I look away before my face gives me away. “That’s annoyingly thoughtful.”

Sayshen grins. “Keep that to yourself. I’ve got a reputation.”

I laugh, mostly because the other option is crying, and there’s no chance I’m doing that in the middle of beach day. Not with this group. One tear and suddenly everyone’s forming a circle and passing around emotional support beers.

Up near the water, Talon starts heading back toward us, dragging a hand through his wet hair as he crosses the sand.

A second later, the sand shifts beside us, and he stops at my other side, water still dripping from his swim shorts.

“What are you two doing?” Talon asks.

Sayshen glances up at him. “Family meeting.”

Talon looks between us, then down at the empty patch of sand on my other side. He’s clearly had a beer or two, not enough to make him drunk, just enough to sand down some of the usual sharp edges.

“As the oldest sibling, I feel like I should’ve been invited.”

I raise a brow. “Pretty sure invitations are reserved for siblings who acknowledge they have siblings.”

Sayshen coughs into his fist, badly hiding a laugh.

Talon gives me a look, but there’s no real bite behind it. “Move over.”

I shift just enough to make room, and he drops onto the sand beside me, stretching his legs out toward the water.

For a minute, the three of us sit there watching the rest of the team mess around in the surf.

Bexley spots us from the water and cups her hands around her mouth. “Echo, get your ass down here!”

Talon lifts one hand and shouts back, “We’re having a sibling moment.”

I turn my head so fast I nearly pull something. “Wow.”