Chapter 30

Lia

Two nights in a row with little to no sleep made a woman extra weepy and a whole lot on edge. Everything about my brother was grating on my nerves this morning, from the way he dripped water on the bathroom floor and didn’t bother to clean it up to the way he’d left all the breakfast dishes piled in the sink without bothering to even fill it with soapy water. It had to be the bachelor coming out of him, since Addie wasn’t here. But I wasn’t having it.

“Seriously, Collin? This place is a damn pigsty.”

He frowned from over his cup of coffee—drinking the coffee I’d preprogrammed for him the night before so it’d be ready this morning. Not once did I get a thank-you. Mom would’ve been pissed at his rudeness.

“What?”

“The kitchen looks like hell. The least you could’ve done was maybe put the rest of the dirty stuff in the sink and wipe down the counters after spilling cereal milk all over. I spent over two hours cleaning this apartment, and now it looks like it did pre-Addie. It’s disgusting.”

“This is my damn house. I’ll do what I want.”

“And this is Max’s house too. And since he and I are together now, I’ll be here a lot more. And I don’t want to deal with a messy kitchen.” Not that Addie wouldn’t fix matters when she came home, but still. I was trying to make a point.

He groaned and tossed his head back. “Jesus, you and Max don’t belong together. Get that through your head.”

“You know what? Screw you. Max and I have been together for almost a month. I love him. He loves me. End of story, get over it, and worry about your own life, not mine.”

“The hell, Lia?” He pushed away from the table, causing his coffee cup to rattle against the wood. “A month?”

“Stop.” I held up my hand and looked down the hall toward Chloe’s room. “I have every right to pick who I love. You don’t get to control that.”

He stood, taking his coffee with him into living room. “You can’t love him. He’ll only hurt you.”

“He’s different with me.” I followed him, my bare feet stomping against the floor with every step.

“We’re done talking about this.”

I snorted. “You’re the one who brought it up.”

He glared at me. “Chloe’s finally asleep for the first time all night, and I need this time to clear my head, all right?”

I rolled my eyes. “She’s only asleep because of me.” Immature comeback, I know, but everything about this situation and my brother was pissing me off.

“Well, she wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for you and Max.”

I froze, my eyes immediately growing wet. I’d known this was coming, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. His words smacked against me harder than a hand or a fist ever could.

A loud cry sounded, and I moved to Chloe’s door, hollering over my shoulder, “Tell me something I don’t know already, asshole.”

Before I could get to her crib, my brother zoomed past me, only to freeze before grabbing her. I shoved him aside, eyes widening when I found her sprawled on her back in her crib. Eyes rimmed red and filled with tears, she lay like a statue, seemingly afraid to move.

“Aw, sweet thing.” Not thinking twice, I carefully scooped her into my arms and laid her against my chest. Her blond curls stuck to her wet, pink cheeks. “You okay?”

She calmed in my hold, settling right in. I laid her on her changing table as gently as I could, yet the second I set her down, she wailed and cried harder.

“Hey, baby girl. Shhh, don’t cry.” Collin stood by her head, rubbing his fingers over her temples as I changed her diaper. Sure, kids broke bones all the time, but being personally attached to the kid made this feel like a tragedy.

Calm and collected, Collin touched my shoulder and said, “Grab me her bear from the crib, would ya, Sis?”

I nodded, forgetting that my brother was a grade-A jackass as I did what he asked. If Collin was good at anything, it was being a dad.

Just when he’d soothed her with a singing teddy and the hum of his own broken voice, someone knocked on her doorframe. I jerked my head back, finding my brother’s eyes narrowed into slits as he focused on the doorway.

Eyes widening in shock, I found the man I was desperately in love with looking at his best friend with more sadness than I’ve ever seen before. Dressed in a pair of low-slung sweats and no shirt, Max looked exactly like he did every morning: casual, sexy, and absolutely delicious. But the swollen lip and black-and-blue cheek reminded me he was stepping into dangerous territory.

“How’s our girl?” He cleared his throat and cracked his knuckles, clearly nervous.

For a good long and hard moment, my brother glared at him, unmoving and silent.

Deciding to break the ice first, I said, “As good as a fifteen-month-old toddler with a broken arm can be.”

Max cringed as he moved to stand at my side. Not once did he reach for my hand, or even graze my skin. But somehow, I felt his love through his presence alone.

“Hey, Beaner. How’s my girl?” he cooed, sending the sweetest shivers up and down my body. Collin glared at me, then at Max once more, before softening a bit when he looked at his daughter again.

Her little blue eyes nearly twinkled when she took one look at Max. Then for the first time since last night, she smiled and said, “Mas.”

Unable to contain my grin, I took a step back, letting Max move in next to my brother. Collin still hadn’t moved, his hands hanging onto the edge of her table. There was no way he’d push the issue in front of his daughter, which Max knew.

“How’s Addie?” Max looked toward Collin, the weariness in his gaze mirroring my own.

At her name, Collin’s shoulders fell, but he talked—and for now, that’s all we could ask for. “She’s doing all right, I guess. There’s a small service on Thursday, but I’m not gonna leave Beaner to go. And Addie doesn’t want me to.”

That same horrendous guilt made my stomach go tight.

“I’m sorry, Colly. I-I know Addie must be hurting.” Max put his hand on Collin’s shoulder. My brother stiffened but didn’t move to shove him off. Instead, he just shrugged.

My gaze darted back and forth between the pair, fear making me ready to grab Chloe and run, anger making me want to punch Collin in the face like he’d done to Max. Instead, I took a few more steps back, folding my arms as I waited for a storm to explode between them.

No matter what, this was my life, and if I wanted to be with Max, then I would be, no matter what my brother said or thought or did.

“I’m also sorry you had to find out about me and Lia the way you did. But I’m not sorry for wanting to be with her.”

Collin scoffed. “No, I figured you wouldn’t be.”

I opened my mouth to speak but stopped short as I stared at their profiles. I wasn’t sure if it was the unspoken look they shared or the small grin forming on Max’s face, but something clicked in that moment between them, something that lifted the ten-pound weight off my shoulders.

My brother reached for Chloe, pulling her against his chest. Her breath came out in little shudders as she settled against him.

Max leaned forward, rubbing the back of his forefinger down her cheek. One side of his mouth curled into a grin. “If it makes you feel any better, I got your parents’ permission.”

Collin’s jaw locked. “Not surprised. They don’t know you like I do.”

Max shrugged. “No. But tell me something…” Max turned his head toward me, his eyes meeting mine. “When you fell in love with Addie, when you knew she was the one, you didn’t give two shits who stood in your way, did you?”

Collin looked at me, then back at Max. But Lord Jesus in heaven, I could see his resolve and feel his resistance slipping away at the same time.

“But she’s my sister.”

“So?” Max moved to stand next to me. “We can’t help who we love, man. It just happens.” He smiled at me but kept his hands to himself, obviously knowing my brother’s limits.

“What’s gonna happen if you two—”

“It won’t get to that point. Lia’s my forever girl.”

Tiny, dancing butterflies fluttered against the inside of my stomach at his words. Romance wasn’t my thing, not because I didn’t like it, but because I’d never felt the desire to experience it like I did with Max. Yet his eyes were on me, and his words running through the air sounded like poetry. It made everything I didn’t think I wanted come to life.

Could it be this simple? God, I hoped so.

“Christ, you guys,” Collin grumbled. In turn, I smiled widely, knowing his acceptance was on the tip of his tongue. “Just…don’t fuck with the door open anymore, all right?” He ran his fingers through his hair.

“Fu-uck.” Chloe giggled.

My smile fell.

Max cringed.

In sync, the two of us turned to look at my brother, whose face had gone from blood red to pale white in a matter of seconds. “What the hell did my daughter just say?”

I blinked, my lips twisting. Max moved in closer, wrapping his arm around my waist. He laughed too, somehow getting the words out when I couldn’t.

“We may have been on duty when the arm got broken, but that right there is all Gavin.”

“Avvy, Avvy.” Chloe looked toward the door like she expected him to be there.

“I’m gonna kill him.” Collin left the room like a bat out of hell.

“Does this mean the heat’s off us for a while?” Max whispered in my ear, lowering his hand to brush against my ass.

My lips curling into a smile, I reached across his waist and tickled his ribs. “I wouldn’t push your luck, Maxwell.”

He dragged me around to face him, his hands on my waist, a new look in his eyes. “I’m gonna take my chances.” Then he leaned down and kissed me…and yeah, I kissed him back.