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Lyric pulled to a stop on the street outside Aunt Lana and Uncle Drake’s house. Ahead of us, our parents were already getting out of their own vehicle, taking out Nevaeh’s present from the back.
I glanced at the house then at the other cars parked in the driveway and on the street. Uncle Shane’s SUV was already parked a few cars down from Dad’s, and anticipation began to make my heart slam against my rib cage.
“Take it easy,” Lyric cautioned me when I reached for the door handle. “Don’t go in ther
e and scare the fuck out of her.”
“That’s the last thing I would do,” I growled at him.
“Dude, I know that, and I’m sure, deep down, she does too. But she’s liable to take one look at your face and back away screaming.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Have you looked in a mirror lately?” I shrugged, and he shook his head. “You’ve been wearing this aggressive snarl for weeks. I get it, really, I do. You’re all kinds of fucked in the head since she broke up with you—”
“She didn’t break up with me!” I yelled.
“You keep telling yourself that. But the girl ghosted you, brother. She hasn’t talked to you in two months, and you haven’t seen her in the flesh in just as long.” His brows pinched together for a moment. “Huh, I don’t think you two have actually spent this much time apart since she was born.”
“I know,” I groaned, leaning my head back against the seat and closing my eyes. “I can’t take much more of this, Ric. That girl is my everything, and I can’t… I can’t breathe.”
My brother’s hand came down on my shoulder. “I know. Just calm down, and then you can go in there and get your girl back.”
I nodded and took a minute to get my heart rate under control before reaching for the door handle again. Mom and Dad were already walking toward the house, so we jogged to catch up with them. As soon as we stepped into the house, my niece and nephew came running through the crowd already inside, distracting my parents while I glanced around for Violet.
I saw Uncle Shane standing with Uncle Drake, the two of them laughing together. Across the room, Aunt Harper was standing with Aunt Dallas and Aunt Lana, and I even saw Mason talking to Bliss and Heavenleigh as they stood with plates of food in their hands. But there was no sign of Violet.
Shaw and Cannon weren’t anywhere to be seen either, and I gritted my teeth, realizing she must be coming with them.
Lyric muttered a curse, thinking the same thing. “I hate that little prick,” he grumbled. “And he drives like he’s a race car driver. He’s going to wreck one day, and I just pray Shaw and Vi aren’t with him when he does.”
“Shut up, Ric,” I muttered, fighting the horror of the images he was putting in my head. I couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to Violet.
“Let’s go get something to drink,” my twin suggested. Unable to answer, I followed him into the kitchen where the drinks station was set up, and we each grabbed a soda.
Time passed slowly as I waited for Violet to arrive, but it seemed she wasn’t the only one missing. It was Nevaeh’s party, but she hadn’t shown up yet. I overheard Aunt Lana saying Nev had met up with Jordan Moreitti at the mall earlier, but he was supposed to have had her home before the party started.
When the doorbell rang, I was already close to the entryway since I was trying to grab Violet the moment she walked through the door. Hoping it was Violet, I opened the door, only to come face-to-face with Aunt Emmie and her family, which apparently now included Barrick and Braxton.
Pushing back my disappointment, I smirked at them. “Welcome. Come in, if you dare.”
“Fuck,” Uncle Nik muttered. “What have you done this time?”
I gave him a faux wounded look and then grinned. “That hurts, Uncle Nik. Really. You hit me right in the feels, man.”
“Yeah, whatever.” He gave me that assessing eye I was so used to all the adults in my family sending my way. “Now what did you do?”
I winked and stepped back, waving them in. “The birthday girl isn’t here yet. Guess it’s cool to be late to your own party. I mean, I didn’t even show up to mine, so whatevs.”
I regretted those words as soon as they left my mouth when Aunt Emmie gave me that narrowed-eyed glare, but even more so when I heard Violet’s voice from right behind me.
“No, he was too busy getting into Megan Hawthorn’s pants to care he had people waiting to wish him happy birthday.”
Fuck.
She must have come in through the kitchen. I turned slowly, my gaze falling on the most beautiful girl I’d ever set eyes on. She was dressed in what had to have been one of Shaw’s dresses; the thing clung to her in all the best ways, and my body began to ache just looking at her. Her hair was curled around her shoulders, and she had on more makeup than usual, and I knew—fucking knew—that she’d dressed like this to punish me.
Violet stood there giving me a look I never wanted to experience from her again. The anger and pain I saw in her eyes was my fault, and all I wanted was to toss her over my shoulder and lock her in one of the bedrooms until she forgave me.
