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“Hey,” Liam said from the gap in the screens that formed the wall to her bedroom. “You okay?”
She shook her head and bit her lip. Kneading her hands together, she responded, “Not really, no. I’m freaking out.”
“C’mere.” He held his arms out and she stepped into his hug. It was times like this that Adelaide was grateful they’d known each other for so long. He knew exactly what she needed. King would too—they were the same like that. “We’re in it together. No matter what happens, we’ll get through it.”
“I don’t want to fight with anyone,” she mumbled against his chest.
Liam ran his fingers through her hair, tugging it gently until she tipped her head up. He pressed a lingering kiss to her lips. “It won’t come to that. They’ll probably be shocked—mostly at me—but they won’t fight us.” Adelaide hoped he was right. More than anything. Her family were everything to her. They’d been together through thick and thin, and Adelaide couldn’t imagine fighting with them. “C’mon, let’s go downstairs.”
They walked hand in hand down the stairs, but she pulled away before they got to the kitchen where everyone was gathered around the table. Laughter floated in through the open windows—Liam’s parents, sister, and her husband playing bocce and croquet in the front yard. Adelaide ground her teeth together, ready to go over there and give them a piece of her mind. She hated them. Despised them. They were shitty people who’d hurt a good man. Her man. Liam paused, his shoulders slumping when he heard the tinkling sound. She gripped his hand again, sliding her palm into his, and shot him a smile. “Fuck them. We’ve got each other.”
Liam’s responding grin was wide, happiness radiating from him. It was as if he was saying a giant fuck you to his parents. “We do, don’t we.”
She led him through the doorway and the voices stopped, silence immediately blanketing the room. “So, um, yeah.” Adelaide huffed out a nervous laugh and looked to King for help. What did she say? She’d had a whole week to prepare how to tell them, and she still had nothing.
“What’s going on?” Eli asked, his eyes narrowing on their joined hands. King stood, moving around the table to join them. He wrapped his arm around Adelaide’s shoulder and his other around Liam’s waist presenting a united front.
“Adds, Liam, and I are dating. We wanted you to know.” Simple, direct, and leaving no room for dispute. King had nailed it. She threaded her fingers through his and smiled up at Liam. They’d done it.
The scrape of a chair.
Wordlessly Eli walked out.
Slammed his door.
The lump in Adelaide’s throat was hard to swallow around. Her guys squeezed her hands, grounding her. Wide-eyed, she turned to her mum. Disappointment radiated from her in the shake of her head and her turned-down lips. Adelaide’s breath caught and tears stung her eyes. No, they weren’t fighting, but they weren’t happy either. “Mum?” Adelaide whispered, her voice breaking.
“Adelaide, honey, did you not know, or didn’t you care?”
“What?” she asked, horrified, reeling back like her mum had slapped her. “What are you talking about?”
“Liam was your brother’s first love. It’s taken him years to get over him.”
“I… I had no idea.” Anguish stole her breath, her knees buckling. King steadied her, taking her weight until she found her footing again. Her heart broke as she thought about Eli having to watch them together. She knew exactly what he was going through, except there was one difference. Adelaide had never gotten over Liam. “Go check on him. Please,” she begged. Her mum nodded, giving her a tight smile, and followed Eli out.
Pop sat there, leaning back against the chair. His arms crossed, legs spread in a deceptively relaxed pose, he assessed them.
“Say something,” Adelaide begged.
“Hmm.” He lifted his chin and Adelaide turned into her guys, unable to stop the flow of tears. Her heart was being ripped in two. She’d broken her brother’s heart, and her mum had actually thought her capable of not caring about her brother’s feelings. “What do you want me to say, love?”
Adelaide shook her head. She didn’t know what she needed to hear from him.
“The truth is that you don’t need me to say anything. You want me to tell you I’m happy for you. That we can’t wait to spend the holidays together and we’re thrilled you’ve found love.”
“But?” King asked as he ran his hand up and down her back.
“Eli loved Liam, but he never acted on it because he was too afraid to lose his friendship. What will it do to their relationship if you don’t stay together? You’re asking him to choose between his best friend and his sister.”
Adelaide shook her head, her jaw clenching. Every muscle in her body was tense, trying desperately to stop her heart from shattering. “No, that’s not fair,” she whispered. “How about you ask how long I’ve loved Liam for? You’re assuming this is new, and yes us being together is new, but I’ve loved him for as long as I’ve known him. And unlike Eli, I never fell out of love with him.”
"And what if Eli was still in love with him? Would you walk away?”
“Pop,” Liam and King warned simultaneously. King continued, “Adds hasn’t done this out of spite. She was prepared to sacrifice her happiness for both Liam’s and mine. That says more about her personality than you’re giving her credit for.”
Liam spoke, his words quiet, but their force packed a punch. “Lij is my brother. He’s my person. He’s the sibling I always dreamed of having. I’ll never give him up. But in answer to your question, no, Addy wouldn’t walk away, because I wouldn’t let her. Neither would King. But the ball is in Lij’s court here. The only way he’ll lose my friendship is if he pushes me away. I don’t want to hurt him, I never have, but I won’t let him try to break us up either.”
Adelaide lifted her chin and looked to her men, both of them meeting her gaze with steely determination in theirs. “The brother I know would never ask me to choose, because he’d know that I respected him far too much to risk their friendship unless I was serious. He’d trust me. He’d trust his best friend. He’d know that I’d never ask him to choose between us. I love him too much to do that."
