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“What’s goin’ on, beautiful?” I asked. “Talk to me.”
“This gesture is so… it’s just so much,” she said.
I held her tighter to me, trying to relieve her of all the stress she was currently experiencing. It’s been a whirlwind of a holiday for her. She came home broken up and she had a wonderful encounter with all of us. Then her ex came flooding back into town and wanted to try and win her back for his own selfish reasons. Then we were all upset with one another and then her father had his stroke and now she was standing in a home with all of us asking her to move in.
I could easily see how she was overwhelmed with everything.
She shook in my arms and I tried to get her to settle down. I rubbed her back and whispered sweet nothings in her ear. I pressed kiss after kiss into the top of her head while I swayed her body side to side. The sun had set below the trees of the mountain, illuminating the darkness that was now surrounding the house. I felt her smile fall further and further from her face and I knew before she said the words that we were headed for a world of hurt.
“I have no idea how something like this could work,” she said.
The worried smiles on my brother’s faces dropped to stoic looks. I closed my eyes and tucked her head underneath my chin while I tried to gather my thoughts. We were stepping into very shaky territory and we were losing the battle. This Christmas gift we wanted to bestow upon the woman we loved was quickly becoming a point of contention and I was desperate to try and make it right.
“Why do you believe that?” I asked.
“Someone’s bound to get jealous,” she said as she pushed away from me. “Someone’s bound to end up in a fight.”
“I made you that promise,” Ethan said.
“And so did I,” Chance said.
“But it doesn’t matter,” she said. “You’re gonna fight anyway. You’re guys. Guys fight. They get jealous and protective of what’s theirs. It’s just what you guys are programmed to do. I’m going to end up ruining your family. I’m going to end up being the reason you guys are torn apart.”
“Kyra, none of that is goin’ to happen,” I said. “If anything, you’re what brings this family together.”
“What?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Owen said. “This is the first time we’ve ever removed ourselves from tradition. You know, since everything happened.”
The conversation got somber and I could’ve sworn I saw tears sparkling in Kyra’s eyes.
“We all need fresh starts,” Rowan said. “Every single one of us. Your father needs you to take care of him and we need you in our lives.”
“You’ve always been the glue that brought us together,” I said. “You’re our Tinkerbell and there’s a reason for that. It’s because you’re the one common thing between all of us that we can always agree on. You are the one thing that strums at our heartstrings. You are the one person we’ve been in love with for years.”
I could see Kyra shaking and I quickly drew her back into my arms.
“While we might not have admitted it to each other, each of us have loved you for years,” I said. “We didn’t just cram ourselves into our parents’ old house to be reminded of them and feel closer to them. We crammed ourselves in there to be closer to you.”
I felt her shoulders shaking with her silent tears and that was when I held her out and crooked her gaze up to meet mine.
“Kyra, when you got engaged, we were all devastated,” I said. “We fuckin’ talked about that shit for months.”
“We really did,” Owen said.
“I had to admit, I was pretty pissed,” Ethan said.
“And I couldn’t believe I wasn’t going to get a chance to be with you,” Harper said.
“We were happy for you because you were happy, but not because we were happy about your decision,” I said. “And all I’ve done since you came into town was thank my stars that we were all given another chance with you. The chance to explore this newfound territory with you.”
“We’re not wasting this opportunity,” Chance said. “Not by a longshot.”
Kyra was looking around the room at all of us, slowly trying to process the words that were pouring from my lips. My glasses were sliding down my face, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want to break my hold on Kyra’s body. I didn’t want to move from this spot until I knew she felt safe in her vulnerability again. I held onto her hand tightly while she looked around the room, her e
yes closing and her chest intentionally breathing deep in an attempt to quell her shaking form.
When she turned back toward me and opened her eyes, I lowered my lips to hers for a kiss.
