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“Beck?”

He turns, also seeming relieved. “I just realized I need to be sure you’re getting home, okay. I didn’t know if Lawson needed to stay with Brewser or what.”

“Brewser is heading home with Harley and Wilson and Leo. I rode up here with Lawson. And I’ll go home with him.”

Beckett shoves his hands into his pockets and nods. “Okay.”

Sutton steps closer. “Is it?”

He blows out a breath. “Jesus, Sutton, no. This isn’t okay.”

I force myself to stay where I’m at. Sutton knows Beckett better than anyone. She can handle this. I have to trust that she has found her voice and figured out what she wants. And that she will tell this person—the most important person in her life—what that is. She has to trust that he wants her to be happy.

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” she finally says. “But I love him. And he loves me too. And this is what I want.”

Beckett sighs. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what?”

“It’s not okay that this huge thing happened, that you fell in love, and that you’ve had to hide it from me.” Beckett steps closer to her. “You are not the type of girl to get random crushes, to date a bunch of guys, to fall in and out of love all the time or easily. If this is how you feel about Lawson, then it’s serious. And you haven’t been able to tell me about it.”

I can’t see her face fully, but I can imagine she’s feeling a mix of shock and sadness because what he says is true.

“At first I was upset that you left me out. I don’t want to be left out of your life. But then I realized…it’s my fault.”

“Beck—”

He shakes his head and lifts a hand to stop her. “You know the story Lydia told us tonight about her and Lawson?” His gaze moves past Sutton's shoulder to me, then back to his sister.

“You mean about the guy who filmed her?”

“About how Lawson’s overprotectiveness got in the way of her getting what she really wanted and needed? How if he hadn’t jumped in there and beat the shit out of the guy, she could’ve really pressed charges and made the guy pay for what he did. Instead, she kind of had to let him go so that Lawson could go free.”

All of that is true, but hearing it spelled out like that again makes me flinch.

Sutton nods. “Yes.”

“I feel a little bit like that here.”

“What do you mean?” Sutton asks. “Nobody’s gotten hurt.”

“But we kind of have. My overprotectiveness made me think that you shouldn’t be with Lawson. So when you guys developed feelings, you couldn’t tell me about it. That means this major thing happened and you and I couldn’t share it after we’ve shared everything else. That does hurt. That isn’t how it should be.”

“I just never want to hurt or disappoint you,” she says.

“You have never done either of those things,” Beckett says firmly. “And even if I hadn’t already decided that Lawson is a good guy that I can trust and that I was wrong about him. if you have fallen for him, that’s all I need to know to give him a chance.”

Damn, the hits keep coming. But this one feels…good.

That’s amazing, and it means a lot to me. It means a lot to me that Beckett trusts his sister that much too. And I love that he’s telling her that.

“I know that all our life, I’ve been the one making all the noise and stealing the spotlight, and sometimes I forget that it makes the people around us underestimate you.” Beckett laughs softly. “But I’ve always known the truth. You’re the amazing one. And until recently, I did not make the mistake of underestimating you. I’m sorry I forgot for a second that you quietly doing your thing always means something fantastic is going to happen.”

Sutton doesn’t say anything for a very long time. Finally, I can’t stand it, and I stride over to where they’re standing. I set my hand on her lower back. “Sutton?”

Beckett smiles at me. “Just give her a second. I have a way of overwhelming her sometimes.”

Finally, Sutton makes a gasping noise and then launches herself at her brother, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. “I love you, Beckett. Thank you so much.”