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“Yes! It hurts them. Whether you want to see it, or not, your brothers are like little boys when it comes to their sisters. They know they fucked up and they just want to be invited to the family again. They think you hate them, that the ways they failed you are too big for you to move past. Yet you accepted me with open arms. I was a stranger. They watched you treat a stranger so much better than you’ve treated them. It’s not right.” I groaned as tears burned my eyes and slipped free. “Jesus. What a mess. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being blunt about it but I need y’all to see your brothers through a different lens.”

Vera crossed her arms and frowned.

“Well, tell it like it is, why don’t you?”

“Maybe we haven’t been fair.” Maxie blew out a deep breath. “They just come across as jerks so often. Like with you. We all heard how they spoke to you.”

“And that’s an issue for them to work out withme. They’re flawed men, I’ll give you that. I’m so angry at Mills right now that I could strangle him. They make mistakes. I’m pretty sure your husbands do, too, though. Men are dumb. It is what it is. Intention matters. Your brothers love y’all. They’re desperate to have a relationship with each of you.” I clutched my napkin tight in my lap. “Can’t you try for them?”

“I didn’t know it meant so much to them.” Maxie sighed. “Of course, we can try. They’re our brothers and we love them.”

“We just don’t always show it…” Vera groaned. “I don’t have to apologize to them or anything, do I?”

I couldn’t help laughing.

“I think just inviting them to a family event would be enough.”

“Wait. Why are you mad at Mills?” Nellie wagged her brows. “The honeymoon stage can’t be over that fast.”

“And how much do you love him if you’re mad at him and you’re still down here fighting for them?” Vera leaned across the table to playfully slap my arm. “A lot, clearly.”

I scowled at Nellie. “You told them?!”

She cackled. “No! You just did.”

“You love them?” Maxie wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight. “I should’ve known. You’re protecting their feelings way more than we ever have.”

We were all so huddled together that the rest of the world had fallen away.

“We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about me being mad, them being sad, and you three being nicer.”

“So, are you going to tell us why you’re mad?” Vera rubbed her hands together. “Even if we’re nicer to them and start inviting them places, we still want the gossip.”

I took a long drink of my tea and thought about it. It didn’t take me long to come to my answer. No. If I needed to complain about Mills, I could call Harley.

“Nope.”

“At least tell us if we need to knock some sense into him.” Nellie looked over my shoulder and then back at me. “Or all three of them.”

“They’re stupid men. Of course you could always knock some sense into them.” I rolled my eyes, clearly joking, and then jumped about a foot in the air when Mills spoke from directly behind me.

“Telling our sisters all the bad shit about me that you can, Reagan?” Mills sounded hurt but he also sounded furious. “Did you tell them I cheated? Or that I called you desperate?”

Turning to face him, I saw Tate and West at his side, looking just as frustrated as him. They were all mad at me, that much was clear. They all clearly thought the worst of me. They thought I was ranting to their sisters about them.

“Because they don’t hate us enough as it is.” Tate scowled around the table. “Why not add to it?”

Their sisters were in as much shock as I was. After fighting for them, to have them show up and act like a bunch of assholes was just…terrible.

“Maybe we should all carry this to one of our homes so we aren’t fighting in front of the whole town?” Arlo stood up with Lucky and gently handed him to me. “Our house?”

“Oh, are we invited there? Maybe check with your wife because I’m not sure we are.” Mills turned his glare back to me. “Instead of talking to me, you had to come to my sisters? Do you hate me so much that you want to keep our family apart?”

I realized two things in that moment. The first being that Mills was unfairly beautiful when he was furious. The second, and most important, being that no matter what I did, they’d never trust me. If Mills could accuse me of trying to keep his family apart after everything I’d told him, he didn’t know me and he never would because he didn’t want to.

I used their sisters’ justified outbursts to silently slip away.

CHAPTER 43