Page 72 of Crack the Ice

I wanted to find my sister and give her a piece of my mind, especially if she knows how Cecilia is with unexpected changes. I don’t know if she’s had that talk with her, but they’ve been friends for so long it’s hard to think Lana wouldn’t have seen the pattern herself. But then again, Lana can be quite selfish and oblivious to other people’s struggles sometimes.

“What do you need?” I’d asked when her wide, teary eyes met mine from where she was still crouched on the floor. She stood, wordlessly walking to me and wrapping her arms around my waist. A shudder rolled through her, but she held on.

A knot twists in my chest when it clicks that all she needs is me to be there. She doesn’t need words or big, grand gestures. She needs consistency, someone who’s going to show up when she doesn’t ask.

I take the curve that leads to the entrance of our community, the warm July air moving through my open windows, blowing my hair across my face. We’ve got our first book club with the kids this week, and I assume we’ll be telling everyone about this new development. With how Lana reacted to it, I’m a little worried about Sammy’s reaction. It’s a conversation she and I will have to have before Wednesday, but tonight, I want to make Cecy feel comfortable. Ease her stress, even if just for a minute.

I cut the engine the second I pull into my driveway next to her rose gold Lexus LC. It’s so her, but she’s also had it for almost a decade. It might be time to upgrade it, maybe get her something with a little more space. I’m not sure two hockey bags and two kids are going to fit in there.

The thought has a smile so big crossing my face that a chuckle falls from me uninvited. Who would have fucking thought I’d be having thoughts about Cecilia and kids? God, what a beautiful turn of events. Pushing through the front door with the first box in hand, I’m met with the unmistakable smell of teriyaki sauce. That wasn’t what he told me he was making.

“Daddy’s home!” A voice calls, one I was not expecting to hear. I drop the box in the entryway, picking up the pace to where the voice is now laughing with Cecilia.

“Monroe,” I say through gritted teeth. “Why are you here?”

He juts out his bottom lip, batting his eyes at me as Cecilia looks on in amusement from where she and Cade are standing at the stove. “Aww, this isn’t the warm welcome I was expecting from Daddy Reed.”

Jesus Christ.

I pinch the bridge of my nose between my fingers, inhaling until my lungs ache in protest. His chuckle grates on my nerves, but then Cecy rounds the island and drops her head on his shoulder, and my irritation ebbs a bit. She doesn’t seem as stressed as she was earlier.

“Cecy called Kait, who called Lettie, who then told me we were coming over here because she had a bad day.” He leans his head against the top of Cecy’s, and my eyes immediately move around the room, looking for the other two people he mentioned, also noting the absence of Lily.

“Where are they, and where’s Lily?”

“Sammy took them to the store.” Cade mumbles as he stirs whatever’s on the stove. “There wasn’t enough for everyone.”

My brow quirks in Cecy’s direction. “You’re okay with them all being here? You didn’t want to relax tonight?”

She bites down on her lip, eyes boring into mine. With a small shake of her head, her lip pops free as a small smile graces her face. “Yeah, I needed this more than I let myself realize.”

I see the things she isn’t saying. She needs her friends. A place to land, a place where she can be herself without having to perform for anyone. I nod, coming around the island and planting a kiss on her temple.

Her soft sigh and the move has Monroe’s eyes cutting to mine, and good God, I already know what’s coming. I pin him with a look, one he blissfully ignores when he brings his hands to his cheeks.

“Don’t,” I warn. I should have known that’d add fuel to his fire. The asshole starts humming and softly bouncing in his seat at my island.

“Monroe…” I growl.

His humming gets louder, the bouncing gets more exaggerated, and both Cecilia and Cade are looking between the two of us with varying degrees of much earned confusion.

Monroe’s lips pull into a smile, his teeth slowly coming into view as he sings. “Brother’s in looooove!”

“For fuck’s sake.” I throw my hands in the air, giving him my back.

As if it couldn’t get any worse, Sammy walks in the door at that exact moment with Lily clinging to his back like a monkey. “Who’s in love?”

“Reed’s in love with your sister!” Monroe yells, and my jaw drops. Where the hell is the finesse? I’m concerned being a dad has made him lose every single brain cell he possessed, because who in their right mind would think this is the right time?

Lettie and Kait round the corner with shopping bags in their hands, coming to a halt when they see Sammy and me locked in a stare-off. His jaw is clenched so tight I fear he may snap it clean off his face.

“Markus,” Cecy whispers, coming to stand at my side. Though I don’t miss that she positions herself slightly in front of me.

Kait’s hand slides up the back of his arm, wrapping over the top of his shoulder while Lettie shoots her husband a look as if to say, really?

My sentiments exactly. I grab Cecilia’s hand, pulling her back toward me so that if things start to go flying, I can move her out of the way. But to my surprise, she wraps her free hand around my bicep the way she used to do when we first started dating. Her nails immediately start tracing the vein that cuts through the middle of it, and I fight a shiver, unwilling to show even the slightest hint of vulnerability in this situation.

“What does he mean you’re in love with my sister? And why the hell are you holding hands?” he seethes.