Page 69 of My Family

Liam is always abandoned by the people he loves. He never abandons anyone—and I'm doing the same thing to him, even without meaning to.

That's what he's feeling.

I pull him in tighter, my forehead against his hair, and he holds on just as hard.

"We're going to stay together no matter what," I say. "Okay, pup?"

"Okay, Daddy," he says.

"Whether I get out or I don't. Whether I keep working at the hospital or not. I'm not going to abandon you. Do you trust me, or do you think I'm a liar?"

He lets out a small laugh. "I trust you more than anything."

"Then we do this as a team, don't we?"

"Of course." He pauses. "But what if—"

"There's no what-if. You're my family, Liam."

When I say that, he goes completely still.

Like he hasn't let himself think it until just then.

He looks at me with his lips slightly parted, face open with surprise.

"You're my family too," he murmurs, eyes full. "You're all I have."

We're both just two jealous idiots who took way too long to say the right things.

"Promise you'll stay with me forever, then?" he asks.

"I swear on everything I love."

"If you're lying, you're going to have a stomachache for a month straight."

I laugh, loud and real.

He's so ridiculous.

And then I kiss him.

He kisses me back, warm and sure, tasting like home.

Chapter 26. Liam

We're still in his office. The tears are dry. His shirt is damp from mine. We've said everything that needed saying, and the air has shifted. I'm still feeling lightheaded, the way I always do after a good cry. I guess I do like being a crybaby. Everything feels better now but not done. There's still something hanging between us, and I think we both feel it.

I pull back enough to look at him. His eyes are red-rimmed, which I will think about forever.

Ethan cried.

For me.

"I did something shitty," I say.

He raises an eyebrow. "You did a few shitty things."

"Hey."