Page 45 of Freeze Frame

“Brandon is hardly what I’d call older.”

Lukas snorted. “So picky.”

“Thank you.” My throat closed around the words, like it didn’t want to let them go. Like somehow expressing my gratitude was unthinkable. “You’ve always stood by me.”

Even though I still had my sister in my life, I didn’t have any other family. They all wanted nothing to do with me. And then I’d found Lukas. Or maybe he’d found me.

Lukas had been there for me since day one. He’d helped me during my recovery. He’d done his best to find on-screenpartners who made it obvious they were into me, who liked me as a person and didn’t just want to use me to check a box.

I’d found community in the industry, but it was Lukas who made a family. Lukas and Asher and now Sawyer, as well as Jax and Blue. They were all family to me.

Lukas must have read my mind because he looked at me and smiled warmly. “That’s what family does.” He paused and set Nitro, who’d grown restless, on the floor.

“Do you know what else family does?” he asked.

“Uh… I have no idea.”

“Family hugs it out.” Lukas stood and opened his arms and then just stared down at me. “Come here.”

I couldn’t have ignored that particular request even if I’d wanted to. I knew that if I continued to sit there, Lukas would pull me up out of the chair and make me hug him. So I stood and walked around to the other side of the desk and let Lukas wrap his arms around me and pull me close.

I wound my arms around his waist and rested my forehead on his shoulder. He kissed the side of my head and held me tighter.

“Awwww, you guys are getting all snuggly and you didn’t tell me,” Asher said, appearing out of fucking nowhere like a goddamned ghost.

I jumped in Lukas’s arms, and he laughed, holding me tighter. Asher didn’t wait for an invitation; instead he just wrapped his arms around both Lukas and me and squeezed.

We were quiet for a second, then Asher asked,

“So why are we hugging? I hope it’s a happy hug and not a sad hug.”

“A what?” Lukas asked, amusement coloring his voice.

“A happy hug is a hug you give someone when things are going right. A sad hug is the opposite. You’re hugging because something is wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong,” I told him. “Everything is pretty darn good actually.”

Asher squeezed me tighter. “Good. I was hoping that was the case. You deserve more days when you get happy hugs.”

“Happy hugs and sad hugs?” Lukas asked, pulling away. Asher remained with me, his arm a comforting weight around my waist.

“There’s also horny hugs, but those are reserved for Jax and Blue.” Asher waggled his eyebrows. He looked at me and tilted his head to the side. “If you marry David, will that make you my father-in-law or my step-father-in-law?”

Asher’s question left me speechless, and he seemed to be extra pleased with himself over that. “Are you staying for dinner? Jax and Blue are here and Sawyer is ordering pizza for everyone.”

David wouldn’t be off work for a while yet, and I had no interest in being alone.

“I could eat,” I said.

Asher smiled broadly and excused himself so he could tell Sawyer.

Lukas slid his arm around my shoulders. “I’m glad you’re staying for dinner.”

“Me too.”

“It’s like the whole family is here.” Lukas seemed happy by that and as he led me out of the room to go sit with everyone, I realized that I was pleased too.

TWENTY-THREE