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“Thanks, man. See you soon.”
“See ya.” I end the call, slide my phone back into my pocket, and hug Alyssa tightly with both arms. “I’m sorry,” I tell her. Regret washes over me. “I know there’s something that you wanted to talk about or run by me. Want to tell me now, and I can run to check on Ryder and then come back, and we can talk it out?” I offer.
“What’s going on?” she asks.
I quickly explain my conversation with Maverick. “I have to go check on him.”
“Of course you do. He needs his brothers.”
“You need me too.”
Her smile is soft. “I promise what I have to talk about can wait. Ryder needs you. He really cared about her. And for what it’s worth, I think she really cared about him too.”
I nod. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
“Sterling, don’t worry about me. I’m sure you’ll all be there. I think I’ll call Palmer and see if she needs a nap or help with the baby or anything. Kristy is with her parents tonight.”
“I— Thank you, Tink. You’re the best.” I hug her one more time, kiss her temple, and release her. “I’ll call as soon as I can.” I just about told her that I loved her.
Fuck this. I’m not doing this anymore. I’m telling her.
I’m going to plan a night for us. I’m going to make it special, as it should be the first time you tell a woman that she’s the love of your life. I’m going to tell her, and I’m going to do whatever I have to do to convince her that us together makes sense.
“You don’t have to spend every minute of your life with me, Sterling. Go be with your brothers. I’ll be fine.”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to.” I want every day of forever with her.
Her entire body relaxes. I see her shoulders fall, and there is something in her eyes that I’d like to think is a hell of a lot more than friendship when she peers up at me. “Be safe. Call me if you need me.”
“I always need you.”
Her smile grows. “You know what I mean. Go. Be safe.”
I want to kiss the hell out of her and tell her that I love her and that I’ll be back home to her soon, but I can do none of those things. Instead, I settle for a soft press of my lips to her cheek, a wave, and then I’m back in my truck, headed to see my little brother who’s nursing a broken heart, and I’m sure is raging mad that Jordyn left without a goodbye.
As soon as I’m on the road, I start calling more of my brothers. Time to rally the troops.
* * *
By the time I get to Ryder’s, the twins are already there. Merrick meets me at the door, a somber look on his face.
“Well?” I ask, even though I can already guess how he’s feeling. I’d be fucking wrecked if Alyssa left me without a goodbye, even if I did know she was going. Hell, I struggled with leaving her on her front porch to come here.
“He’s already drinking.”
I nod. “The others are on their way.”
“Intervention?” Merrick asks.
“Nah, we’re going to let him scream and yell and get it out of his system and see what we can do to help him work through this.”
“How in the fuck do we do that?” Merrick asks.
“Just be here. There is nothing that we can say or do that’s going to make this easier on him. He just needs to know we’re here. He needs to know that his brothers have his back, always.”
Merrick nods. “Done.” He steps back, and I follow him inside.
In the living room, we find Ryder sitting with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s in his hands. Maverick’s sitting next to him. There’s not more than a couple of shots missing from the looks of the bottle. He looks up when we walk in and nods. No words are spoken as Merrick takes the empty space on the opposite side of Ryder. No one says a word as I take the recliner.
