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In the phone’s web browser, I brought up a forum for missed connections. Typed out a message that she’d recognize if she saw it, but no one else would understand.
For the skating angel I met at the crossroads, I heard that there’s a lot of cheap equipment at the outlet store on Pine Street. Looking forward to shopping with you there if you’re up for it — how’s 6 o’clock Thursday night sound?
I hit the post button and sagged back in the seat. Now all I could do was wait and see.
* * *
“You sure she’s coming?” Quentin asked for what had to be the twelfth time that night. He shifted on his feet, glancing around the abandoned outlet store at the few empty racks that’d been left behind when the last tenants had vacated it. A few lonely shirts hung dejectedly from their hangers. “You’re sure she’d ever think we’re going to meet herhere?”
My voice came out in a growl. “She and I know each other well enough to understand this kind of thing.”
The bastard had been getting on my nerves all day. The worst part was that his impatient skepticism was starting to infect the two men who should have trusted me more.
Jasper paced a few steps across the worn linoleum before returning to us, raking his hand through his shaggy hair. “What if shedoesn’tcome? What would our next option be?”
“We’ll figure that out if we need to,” I said. “It’s still a couple of minutes before six. She isn’t even late.”
Niko swiped his hand across his mouth and pushed his lips into a smile I could see was tense. “There’ve got to be other ways to get in contact with her, right?”
I restrained a glower. “If she doesn’t come tonight, then we try again tomorrow, and the next night. She might not see the message right away, but she’ll give it a shot when she does.”
And if it went on for more than a few days without Lou turning up… Yeah, then we’d have a problem. One I’d rather not think about.
Niko glanced at his phone and typed out a message that was quickly answered with a cheery ping. I suspected he was talking with his little sister again.
Jasper sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. And Quentin started prowling through the back of the store, wrinkling his nose at the discarded clothing. His mouth twisted into a sour expression.
If he made one more snarky remark, I was going to—
Thankfully for both of us, I never needed to complete that thought. Because just then the door I’d picked the lock on and left ajar eased open, and Lou darted inside.
Her new bangs, redyed to her previous dark brown, drooped across her face, and her shoulders were furtively hunched, but my heart leapt at the sight of her all the same. And when she raised her head and caught sight of the three of us in our cluster in the middle of the room, the smile that lit her face flooded me with the sweetest relief.
No, not just relief. Love. As I hurried to meet her, my chest swelled with the emotion I hadn’t known I would ever feel. Hadn’t known it was possible to feel this strongly.
But as I tucked my arms around her slender frame, a pang that was more bittersweet shot through my joy.
I loved this woman, sure—but even if she was with me now, I couldn’t be there for her anywhere near as much as I wanted to. Not while she was still tangled in her mother’s snare.
EIGHT
Luciana
I wasn’t normallythe most emotionally expressive person in the world. Mom had taught me to hold my cards close and reveal my feelings cautiously.
But seeing my three men in front of me for the first time in over a week, I couldn’t hold back the joyful tears that sprang into my eyes.
I threw myself at Rafael first, mainly because he was closest. As I wrapped him in the tightest hug I could offer, he chuckled, sounding just a tad choked up himself, and hugged me back with his chin tucking over my head.
“Glad you got the message.”
“Glad you thought of using the forum,” I replied. I’d cycled through our planned covert methods of communications a few times since Mom had dragged me back to Austin, but my hopes hadn’t been high.
I forced myself to ease back from Rafael, but only so that I could grab the guy next to him in an equally emphatic embrace.
Jasper’s brawny arms encircled me, and he planted a lingering kiss on my forehead. “It’s good to see you’ve survived so far, Punk,” he said, the gruffness of his voice not quite hiding the rasp of emotion.
His words brought a prickle of fear into my gut, but I ignored it for the moment. “It’s so good to see you too. Even if you’re still a grouch.”
