Page 12 of Falling With You
“You’re off in your head again. What’s wrong?” Violet asked. “You’re not drinking your beer either.”
I smiled widely, shaking off those thoughts, and took a big gulp. It was nice, not too hoppy, and a little bit sweet. The perfect beer for me.
“It tastes amazing. Sorry, you know me, just blah blah blah in my head.”
“You usually blah blah blah outside your head. You never shut up.” Violet winked as she said it, and I rolled my eyes.
“Be nice.”
“I am nice. I’m the nice one.”
“No, Mace is the nice one. You’re the weird one. And I’m the annoying one.”
“Did you just call our big brother the nice one?”
“Maybe. Heisthe nice one. Well, Adrienne makes him the nice one.”
“You’re talking about your brother? The big, bearded tattoo artist?” Harmony asked. “Well, he actuallyiskind of nice. The few times that I’ve met him anyway.”
“He is sweet. So sweet. I mean, have you seen him with his daughter?” Violet clutched her chest over her heart and rolled her eyes. “I mean, who would have thought the big Grumpy Gus would fall in love and help raise a beautiful little girl.”
“When is their wedding again?” I asked, trying to remember if Adrienne and Mace had set a date.
“Not set yet. Apparently, all of the Montgomery women are getting married or remarried, and so they’re all planning different weddings.”
Our brother Mace was marrying Adrienne Montgomery, who was part of a large family. Everyone had slowly started to fall in love and get engaged over the past couple of years, much like my friends up here.
Harmony and Violet were practically engaged to their men, yet here I was, alone, trying not to think about the last time I’d had sex.
Because I was not going to think about that.
Or him.
I reached out to grab my beer and twisted my wrist right at the wrong moment. “Fuck,” I muttered.
Violet was right there, helping me with my glass. “Are you sure you’re not in too much pain?”
I rubbed my wrist softly. “I’m fine. The bruises are healing. I promise.”
“You say that, but I’m afraid. Just talk to me. Okay?”
“I am talking to you. They’re going to find the men who came at me. I know it. I trust the police.”
“I trust them, too,” Harmony said. “But there’s not a lot of evidence to help find those guys. And it was so close to here.” Harmony shivered, and I reached out to rub her arm.
“It’s going to be fine.” Iwasgoing to be okay.
“You’re not supposed to be the one trying to help me,” Harmony said quickly. “I’m supposed to be the one helping you.”
“You know what can help me? Forgetting it all happened. Because if we can just forget it all happened, it’ll be okay.”
As soon as I said that, Cameron came out, holding a tray of appetizers and tapas for us. I looked at the food and then remembered that I couldn’t actually forget that it had happened.
Because I wasn’t the only one who had gotten hurt.
“Hey, ladies, I have what you ordered here. And Aiden and Dillon added a few extra things. We have those chicken nachos that I know you love. And Dillon made these since I was really happy for them. There are some wings, but they’re the Korean-fried wings rather than the buffalo ones. There’s also a dip that I think has crab in it, but I’m not a hundred percent sure because he was mumbling it quickly, and it’s not on the menu yet. There are also two types of side salads that are more communal than just for yourself. If none of this is to your liking, I’m sure I can bully my brother into making something else.”
My mouth watered looking at everything that he was putting on the table, and I shook my head. “Don’t bother him, I’m sure everything’s going to be great.”