“You look like you’re about to be taken out back to get shot ol’ yeller style for starters,” Savannah said with an amused chuckle.
“And you’re stress eating,” Claire added.
“Guys,” Emmett warned. Their heads snapped in his direction. He shook his head. “Lay off.”
Oh fuck. All the food I just shoved in my mouth was about to come back up.
Light flooded the hallway, and Tess came down the hall, a hand on her small baby bump.She smiled when she saw Emmett. “Hey, Em. What are you doing here?”
All four of them were sitting on the couch, looking like the picture-perfect little sibling quad. I couldn’t take it anymore. My lungs burned with all the words I’d swallowed for weeks—decades, really. If I didn’t say it now, I never would. So I did. “We’ve been seeing each other for nearly two months,” I blurted all in one breath.
Emmett’s eyes went wide. Claire choked, wine dripping down her chin and into her hand. Savannah’s jaw went slack. Tess gasped.
“That’show you decide to tell them?” Emmett balked.
“What?” Savannah screeched. Her face was a perfect mix of disgust and horror combined. My heart flew to my throat, pounding so hard I could hardly breathe.
“Emmett’sthe guy you told me about? He’s ourbrother, Delilah!” Claire grimaced. “God, I think I’m gonna be sick.” My stomach churned, ready to race her to the toilet.
My whole body shook, my skin prickling with a cold sweat. Tess glanced between Emmett and me. “What do you mean, seeing each other?”
Everything bubbled up inside me. The panic, the fear of losing them, the adrenaline. I burst into tears, all the snacks falling out of my hands onto the floor. “I love him,” I sobbed.
Emmett shot off the couch, rushing to my side. “Hey, hey, hey,” he whispered, brushing my tears away. “Everything’s okay, sugar.” I couldn’t stop crying, shaking my head against his chest while he pulled me into his arms. Nothing was okay. I went and just dropped a bomb on his sisters in the worst way imaginable. The only thing worse would’ve been them walking in on us.
His voice rumbled in his chest as he said, “Delilah’s the love of my life.” I buried my head further into him when I heard his sisters’ gasps. “I couldn’t really care what you guys think about it, but she does—obviously. So it’d mean a lot if you could get on board because I’m not giving her up, and I’d hate for things to be awkward.”
My hands curled in his shirt, touched by his devotion, but I didn’t expect it to be that easy. Emmett’s sisters were strong-willed with big personalities. Well, Claire and Savannah were anyway. I’d always known Tess would be the easiest to win over.
“I should’ve known something was going on between you two with the way you tore into me at Beau’s,” Claire said, sounding closer. I pulled away from Emmett, blinking away my tears. Her eyes met mine. “As long as younevertell me details again, then I’m one hundred percent on board with this.”
I let out a watery laugh. I wiped my face. “Deal.”
Emmett cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head. “Um, what kind of details, exactly?”
“You don’t wanna know.” Claire shivered. “I can’t even look at you right now,” she said and went into the kitchen.
I glanced up at Emmett, biting my lip. “Nothing crazy,” I assured him.
Tess suddenly hugged both of us, reaching up on her tippy toes. “This makes mesohappy,” she cried. “Sorry”—she wipedher eyes—“pregnancy hormones.” She jumped up and down, her hands clasped together. “I’m just so happy y’all are happy. That we’reallhappy.”
I looked over her shoulder, finding Savannah watching Emmett and me. Specifically, where his hand was resting on my waist. I left Emmett and Tess, going over to her. “Do you hate me?”
Her lips pressed into a flat line, eyes softening. “Of course I don’t hate you.” She pulled me into a hug. “I just wish you had told me.”
My eyes squeezed shut. “I know. There were so many times I wanted to, but then as more time went by, the more scared I got that you’d react badly.”
We broke the hug, hands clasped together. “How long has this been going on?”
“We’ve been hooking up for about six weeks, but…”
“But what?”
I swallowed roughly. “I’ve had feelings for him practically the whole time.”
Her brows furrowed. “The whole time you were hooking up? That’s not like you. But then again, none of this is.” She chuckled.
“No. The whole time I’ve known you—your family.”
