Samantha is about to reject me one final time. My chest is heavy, eyes searching hers for an answer. But suddenly Lexi makes a squealing noise, alerting me she’s here. I look toward the sound, but find nothing. She’s well hidden.

Or was.

Sam touches my chin to turn my head back toward her. Her cheeks are wet, but she’s smiling. “I didn’t move in with Steven. I mean, I did but then I moved out the next day. Yesterday.”

A seed of hope takes root. “Because I called you?”

She gives her head a little shake. “I did it before you called.”

“Are you still together?”

Sam laughs, “No.”

Lexi snickers, “Idiot.”

“Shut up, Lex,” Samantha calls out. She lowers her voice to blow my mind. “I made a mistake when I said I didn’t love you back then. I do.” Touching my chest she whispers, “Logan, I love you so much it hurts.” I step closer to her but she’s silently asking me to let her finish. “Every time we hung up the phone, I felt a little emptier. But I couldn’t ask you to come home. You were having so much fun, and it’s what you always wanted. And then you met her. It seemed so final that when Steven asked me out I jumped at the chance to find a way to stop loving you. You know how much it killed me to hear that she wanted to get pregnant? Do you know how much I love you that I could sit there and wish you well when you told me such a thing? And mean it? Because I didn’t mean it Logan! If you would have had kids with her, I would’ve been happy for you.” Her eyelashes drop to my lips. “But I never would’ve told you how much I wish it had been me. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, before you left Atlanta. I didn’t know. Since I’d grown up with you, it never occurred to me that the feelings had transformed into something different than they’d always been. It just seemed too weird. How do you go from friends to lovers?”

My voice is thick as I wrap her in my arms. “Like this.” I kiss her with all the time we’ve lost, and all the time we shared. Her arms rush around my neck as our tongues touch for the first time, holding there before we lace them, the kiss deepening. We press our bodies closer together, feeling just as good as I always knew it would if she’d just give me the chance to show her how I really feel.

“Why is Lexi listening to us? Does she always have to be here? Is that how our lives are going to play out?”

“Get used to it!” The closet door opens and she walks out. “Okay Max, Caden, you can come out now.” My lips part and I take Samantha’s hand as her older brothers thump down the stairs.

Caden starts clapping, slow and dramatically.

Max just smiles, green eyes crinkling around the edges.

Lexi swears under her breath as Hunter appears, fashionable boots taking their time as he comes down a few stairs behind.

“When did you show up?”

He smirks, “You’ll never know.”

I look to Samantha. “You didn’t want to warn me your whole family was listening?”

“Not the whole family.” Caden jogs his thumb upstairs. “The ‘rents are still sleeping.”

Hunter raises his voice. “That’s right, so keep your voices down.” Lexi is smacking his arm, and he’s swatting her away. “We don’t want to wake Mom and Dad now that Logan’s here professing his love to their daughter!”

Max comes over and shakes my hand to say, “Hey Logan. Good to have you back.”

Caden smirks, “And here we thought you were going to drop the ball.”

I’m blown away, but at the same time this is my second family. They feel so familiar that I’m teetering between normal and surreal. Samantha’s fingers slide down the inside of my wrist, over my palm, and lace with mine as Hunter tells me, “Do you know how close you were to never seeing us again?”

Sam whispers, “Don’t say that.”

“I don’t like the sound of that either,” I agree, locking eyes with her. She’s shining up at me a smile she didn’t even give to Asher. I’ve never seen this smile before, but I plan to see a lot of it. She adores me. This is going so much better than I dreamed.

She loves me.

“What’s this?” Jason asks as he and Sarah come downstairs in their robes to find us all here. Their eyes widen upon sight of me. “Logan?”

“Hey Mr. Cocker, Mrs. Cocker.”

They see I’m holding Sam’s hand and grins spread on their faces as her mom whispers, “Oh, thank God.”

Lexi hurries to explain, “We should have woken you. But we weren’t exactly positive what he came here for.”

Sam’s dad walks up to me and I release his daughter’s hand to shake his heartily. “I flew back here to convince her to be with me. I want to marry your daughter, sir.”

Samantha squeals and Lexi starts laughing as Caden corrects me, “You’re supposed to ask her first.”

Max smacks him in the chest. “Traditionally, you’re supposed to get the father’s blessing.”

“I didn’t get anyone’s blessing.”

“That’s because you’re rude.”

“Didn’t want to ask for permission,” Caden shrugs with utter confidence. “I’m my own man.”

“So am I.”

“You’re a daddy’s-boy.”

Max rolls his eyes. “Because I make one film!”

“Because you made it about—”

“Boys,” their mother cries out, shaking her head. “Stop distracting us from what is really going on here, please? This isn’t about you. You both already had your turns.”

Lexi mutters, “I don’t know why Samantha got hers before me.”

Hunter agrees, “Or me.”

Everyone stares at him, then returns to us.

“I would like your blessing, sir.”

Jason’s pale green eyes lose their amusement. “You have it, without reservation.”

Sarah sighs with relief, “I’ve always thought of you as one of the family anyway. Now it’s official!”

She opens her arms for a big hug. It inspires everyone to do the same. Samantha is wiping tears, grinning while her family accepts me into their lives in a whole new way.

There’s a lump in my throat as Hunter is the last to hug me. “Hey Logan, welcome to the family.”