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“Thanks, Mom. We’ll be up in a second.”
She focused on my eyes for a moment before offering me an unconvincing smile as she left, shutting the door behind her.
“What were you going to say?” I asked Amber.
Amber chewed on her bottom lip as she stood. “I’m sorry for what I’ve said to you,” she finally said. “I just didn’t want you to change because of Bryce, and—and I’m just sorry.” She walked past me and opened the door. “Be whoever you want, and date whoever you want. I’ll love you the same.”
My shoulders sagged and stomach dipped when she walked out of the room, but I didn’t try to stop her.
I knew I shouldn’t have said what I did—I was just so damn tired of everyone trying to control who I was and how I lived.
Following behind her, I walked into the hall and up the stairs to find everyone already at the table. No one seemed surprised by my appearance the way Amber had been, but I was positive if their wives hadn’t been there, Craig and Sam would’ve been glaring at me the same as Dakota and Dylan were.
It’d been a long twenty-four hours of irritated stares and verbal warnings since Bryce showed up at the cabin, and from the heavy silence that fell over everyone when I entered the room, I had a feeling this dinner was about to be excruciating.
My suspicions were confirmed before I even sat.
Every time I went to sit in my chair, Dakota pulled it away from me until Dad smacked the back of his head. But instead of stopping, Dakota shoved the chair toward me hard enough that I fell onto my sister-in-law’s lap.
Good to know we’re still not over the whole Bryce thing.
“Dakota, that’s enough,” Dad chastised in that tone that always had the boys falling into line.
No one tried anything else or even spoke to me throughout the rest of dinner, but the glares continued. It wasn’t until I started standing to help my mom and sisters-in-law clear the table that Dakota grabbed my arm and yanked me back into my seat.
“You went a damn long time without telling us about Bryce. Enough that he still thinks he’s marrying you.”
“I’m not marrying Bryce.”
“You think we would let you?” he asked with a scoff. “That guy’s a tool.”
“Okay,” I muttered as I tried standing again, but he pulled me back.
“I get you think we’ve been stopping you from having a relationship to be mean or whatever. But I fucking promise we’re looking out for you. All we want is to protect you from assholes like us, and we can’t do that if you’re keeping these guys from us.”
I yanked my arm from his grasp and finally stood, but looked down at him to seethe, “Well, you really haven’t given me another option, have you?”
“Maci, who else have you been seeing?”
I didn’t bother answering as I grabbed my plate and his. Besides, there wasn’t a point in telling them about Connor.
But I’d only taken a few steps past him before turning to look at him, a sad huff leaving me when I met his expectant look. “The funny thing is you said you all want to protect me—that you’re looking out for me—but I’ve never felt like I could come to any of you if I needed protecting. You’re my brothers; I’m supposed to feel safe because of all of you. Instead, I feel like I need to hide everything about myself because you won’t approve or allow it. You four are the last people I would think to call if I was in trouble.”
I ignored everyone’s shocked expressions and hurried into the kitchen to put the dishes on the counter. But just as I turned to leave, my mom grabbed me in a hug and held tight.
“I’m sorry, my sweet girl. I’m so sorry you’re hurting.” Cupping my cheeks, she pulled away to study me and smiled sadly. “There’s something else, Maci. I can see it. It hurts that you feel like you can’t tell me, but maybe someday you will.”
My chest burned and my throat tightened as tears pricked the backs of my eyes.
I wasn’t sure this night could get worse. Yelling at my best friend, telling my brothers they pretty much sucked at being brothers, and knowing I was hurting my mom by being so closed off when I’d thought I was doing what was necessary to protect my life from my brothers.
I need to get out of here.
I squeezed my mom’s hands and removed them from my face before rushing out of the kitchen and through the house. Just before I reached the front door, I was turned around, and my body sagged in defeat when I saw Sam.
“Where are you going?”
“I just need to go,” I explained, exhaustion weighing down the words. “I need to get away from everything for a minute so I can just think.”
