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“Schedule for what?” Her eyebrow jerked upwards. “Schedule for what, Jamie?” Sensing blood in the water, Millie became a shark, seeking its prey. “Do you have a boinking schedule?”

“Orgasm…” I croaked out, then drank down the rest of my drink in a hurry.

Heather opened Millie’s old bedroom door, appearing just in time to save me from having to explain further. That was OK, my big-mouth best friend did it for me.

“Mum, do you know the boys are working out a schedule for Jamie’s orgasms…?”

Fuck. You could’ve heard a pin drop in that moment, as I sank down in my chair and Millie realised she’d gobbed off at exactly the wrong moment. She blinked, started to say something to deflect her mother’s attention, but that just came out as a choked off sound, because how did she excuse that.

“Sorry,” Millie told me, flushing about as red as my cheeks were right now.

“The boys filled your father and me in. Well, not that far.” Heather blinked. “Come out and have some nibbles. This affects the family so we need to talk it through as one.”

Did people facing a firing squad feel the same way I did? Dragging their feet, feeling a growing sense of trepidation as they approached their executioners. I had to remind myself that that’s not what this was. The guys were all seated around the table, Heather and Angus at the head, watching us approach.

“Hello, love,” Angus said, but there was a tightening around his eyes that was never there before. He walked around the table and then placed his hands on my shoulders, the weight feeling so heavy. “How are you?”

He asked me the same thing, but it was usually in a light-hearted way, the man giving me his entire attention. That focus was usually a gift, but right now it felt like a liability. What would he think about this? I was kicking myself for not thinking about it before, my eyes seeking the guys’ on instinct. Each one looked concerned, which wasn’t helping me at all.

If Angus was my dad, if Heather was my mother, I’d have been concocting a lie as fast as I could. Creating a story they’d find palatable to explain the situation, anything to stop the axe from falling down on my bare neck. But Mum had none of Heather’s gentleness, and if Dad felt concern for me, he hid it well, so I reassured myself that I could do the one thing here I dared not in front of my own family.

Tell the truth.

“I’m good, Angus.” I covered his hand with mine and gave it a squeeze. “More than good. I’m happier than I’ve ever been.” Saying that made clear that it was true, a pleasure flushing through me as intense as we managed to conjure when we were naked, but somehow more because we weren’t. I faced my best friend’s father, my future father-in-law, down and tried to make that clear. “I don’t know how long that will last. I can’t make promises, but…”

My words were choked off as he dragged me closer, grabbing me in a rough hug.

“You were always my second daughter.” I heard the waver in his voice and that had me hugging him right back. “I can’t say I understand how this kind of relationship works, but…” He held me at arm’s length now. “You were always a part of this family, Jamie, and now that’s getting formalised.”

Tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t keep them back, because out of all the sweet things people said to me, somehow that was the sweetest. Heather rose then, grabbing me a paper serviette.

“We just worry,” she said in a soft voice. “That’s what parents do, but if you’re all fine with this, well… We’ll work out a way to understand this.” Her eyes narrowed as she took in her sons. “You better treat Jamie right, though.”

“I can and will infest your bedding with pubic lice,” Millie growled. “Slash your tyres?—”

“No need.” Brock pulled me down onto his lap and my arm went around his shoulders on automatic. “We’d never do anything to hurt Jamie.” His golden eyes met mine, staring for what felt like a second or eternity, I couldn’t work out which. “We love her.”

“I…” It was always hard for me to say, and in front of an audience? I wanted to hide my face in his chest, but that would never do. “I love you too.” I turned to face the twins. “All of you.”

“Of course you do, we’re awesome,” Hunter said, reaching over to pluck me from Brock’s grip. He grinned as his brother scowled at us.

“You are not fighting over Jamie like a pack of dogs and one bone,” Heather said. “I remember what you lot were like with LEGO.”

“I nut punched Hunter when he tried to take my Batman LEGO,” Millie said with a grin.

“That was me,” Hayden said, shifting uncomfortably.

“No squabbling.” Heather ticked off one finger. “No pushing, shoving?—”

“You don’t have to worry, Mum.” Hayden stared at me as Hunter’s arms wrapped tighter around me. “I didn’t love Batman LEGO, but Jamie…” He nodded slowly. “I’d never do a thing to hurt her.”

“Well, thank god for that,” Angus sighed. “I thought I was gonna have to get my belt out.”

“You never smacked us, Dad,” Millie said.

“No, but I could start.” Angus winked at me. “They mess you around, you just come and talk to me.”

“Or me.” Millie scratched at her hair, then her pubic area dramatically. “I know people.”