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“Yes.”
I shift my body slightly, so I can look directly into his eyes. “Of course I meant it. I never stopped, Shane.”
His eyes narrow as they search my face. He opens his mouth to speak but then he closes it again.
“It’s okay,” I say as I brush his hair from his face. “You don’t have to say it back.” I am so desperate to hear the words, but even if he is not ready to say them, I feel it anyway.
“Those three words,” he breathes, and my racing heart stops beating.
Please don’t fuck this up after what we just did, Shane!
He brushes his fingertips over my cheeks. “They don’t feel like enough. For this. For you.”
“But they are.”
“Then I love you, Jessie Ryan,” he whispers.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
LIAM
As I reach for the jar of peanut butter on the top shelf, the pain shoots through my neck and shoulders. “Fuck,” I hiss as I pull my hand back and rub the back of my neck. “Why the fuck do we put this shit up so high?” I snap.
“Erm. Because we’re all like six foot two. Except Jessie, obviously, and I like to watch her stretching for things,” Mikey chuckles as he sits at the kitchen island behind me. “And I told you I would make your sandwich, bro.”
“I can make it myself,” I snap at him, frustrated by the pain and the limits it places on my body. I wince as I roll my shoulder. I probably shouldn’t have pushed myself so much in the gym earlier, but as soon as the doctor approved me for some light cardio, I couldn’t wait to get back in there. Like I had some point to prove, if only to myself. I shake my head in annoyance. I only did a one-mile walk at the pace of a fucking limp tortoise.
“Suit yourself,” Mikey snaps.
“Are you boys fighting again?” Shane says from behind us and I spin around as fast as my body allows to see my oldest brother walking into the kitchen with the biggest smile I have ever seen on his face. We all figured he was home when we saw his bags in the hallway, and when we couldn’t find Jessie, well it wasn’t hard to figure out where the two of them were. I for one, am relieved that they have sorted their shit out, and from the expression on his face, they have been doing it all afternoon.
“Shane!” I say with a grin as Mikey jumps up from his stool and wraps him in a giant bear hug.
“Okay. I was only gone a week,” Shane laughs but he hugs Mikey back just as fiercely. We have all been through so much these past few months, it has seemed like a lifetime. Now that we are all back under the same roof, and things are good with him and Jessie, maybe things can start getting back to some sort of normal around here.
When Mikey finally lets Shane go, our oldest brother walks over to me. “You’re looking great, kid,” he says with a twinkle in his eye.
“Feeling great,” I nod.
“You weren’t saying that when you couldn’t reach the peanut butter ten seconds ago,” Mikey laughs.
“Asshole!”
Shane laughs and then he wraps his arms around me too, making sure not to squeeze me too hard. “It’s good to have you back, bro,” I say in his ear.
“It’s good to be back,” he replies as he takes a step back. “You making PB and jelly sandwiches?”
“No. Mikey is,” I wink at my twin who rolls his eyes and walks over to us.
“Out of my way then,” he says, and I shuffle over to the kitchen island.
“So, where is Jessie, Shane?” Mikey asks as Shane takes a stool beside me.
“Power napping,” he replies.
Mikey spins around and grins widely at him. “Fuck! You wore her out already?”
