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“But that didn’t change the fact that it was weird to you for a while,” she said.
“So, does that mean there’s a chance this won’t be weird? After some time has passed? You’re my best friend, Lauren. I don’t want to lose you over this.”
“Then you should’ve thought about that before you got drunk and slept with all of them,” she said.
I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to draw on a store of energy and strength I had depleted throughout all this. I loved my best friend. But I loved her brothers, too. And if she was going to make me prioritize and choose, then she would be sorely mistaken as the decision I would make. I wasn’t going to make a decision that would leave my child without a father. After everything I had endured with my parents growing up, the last thing I would do was put my child in a situation where they were already down for the count before he or she was born into this world.
“I have to go,” Lauren said.
“I really hope you’ll try to work this out with us,” I said.
She looked at me as she stood before she shook her head.
“I need some time,” she said. “This is all a little too much.”
Then I watched my best friend of over ten years walk out without even checking over her shoulder to see if I was okay.
CHAPTER 29
LIAM
“What do you want, Liam?” Lauren asked.
“Word around the block says you’ve talked with Samantha.”
“I’m a little tired. Can we do this later?” she asked.
“Samantha is distraught,” I said. “We’re going this now.”
“And what about me?”
“You aren’t being fair. Samantha is hurting.”
“And so am I, Liam. My best friend went to great lengths to hide this from me. After years of friendship and trust. And my brothers did, too. All of us used to be a family. And then Vegas changed all that. Sam lied to me about why she left a weekend we were all supposed to be celebrating like a family, you guys clammed up for Sam’s sake, and Sam didn’t once attempt to talk to me about anything. Now all of you are angry that I’m angry for being left in the dark?”
“Lauren.”
“No one told me the truth. My best friend was hurting and in pain and taking punches left and right, and no one told me. We’re family, Liam. You’re my brother. And Sam’s like a sister to me.”
“Then if she’s like a sister, why are you treating her like a pariah?” I asked.
“Because this is insane, Liam. All of it.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose as Lauren continued her breathless tirade.
“My best friend slept with all of my brothers. At once. She doesn’t know who she’s married to. She doesn’t know who knocked her up.”
“I’m sorry. Look—”
“No. For once, you look. Not all of you can love her. Not all of you can have her. That isn’t how this works. That’s ludicrous. Who does that, Liam?”
“I do. All of us do, actually.”
“Sam asked for my approval to be with all of you guys. And I can’t give it to her.”
I whipped my head up at her statement as my brow furrowed deeply.
“She asked for that?”
