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Emmie and I talk for a few more minutes before I make my way back out to the deck, all the guys are standing nearby, anxiously waiting for news. Between the anxiety rolling off them both and their pacing, they could easily be cast in any medical show as a family waiting for news.

“She’s alive,” I joke.

Ronan stops dead in his tracks, staring at me with wide eyes. “Was there ever a question about that?”

I shake my head. The joke went right over his tall head. “She’s not quitting; she’s going to be here tomorrow and will want to work extra hard to prove her dedication to you.” Ronan immediately starts arguing, so I hold a hand up. “That’s between the two of you. I told her she doesn’t have to do it, and that you wouldn’t like it.”

“Did she say why she even thought about quitting?”

I bite my lip, wondering how much I want to tell them. Of course, they need to know some of it in case it comes up again, but she confided a lot in me, and I don’t want to disrespect that bond. “She’s falling into old habits. I don’t think she knows what stability looks like and keeps waiting for her homelife to blow up in her face.”

“But things are good, right?” Bryce asks. “I thought Liam got a job working for Kat. They worked together at Dalton Enterprises, right?”

Carter nods. “She’s been wanting to expand her business, but needed an architect for it. His timing was kind of perfect. It doesn’t match what he made at Dalton Enterprises, but it’s more than enough.”

“Things at home are fine,” I assure them. “She just doesn’t trust when things are going well, and I don’t blame her. She’s worried Liam will end up resenting her for making him give up his life. She was thinking about getting a job to help with the bills or help around the apartment by spending less time at the pool. Basically, she wantsto prove to him that she’s capable of taking care of herself and he can go on living his life.”

“That’s not why he came down here, though,” Ronan says. “Liam wants her to be a kid; he doesn’t want her doing what she had to do when it was only her and her mom.”

“I’m sure that’s been communicated to her, but she’s not getting it yet.”

Ronan fishes his phone out of his pocket and starts scrolling through his contacts. “I’m going to give him a heads-up before she gets home.”

“Good idea.” I watch him walk away, then turn to the other two. “She’s in a position none of us have ever been in and she’s going to respond to things the way she thinks is best. It’s our job, and Liam’s, to show her supportive environments.”

Bryce and Carter both agree, and we hang back until Ronan is done with his phone call, and heads back over to us.

“Well?” I ask.

“Liam thanked me for the heads-up. He’d been worried something like this might happen. Apparently, she was acting distant. He assured me that their financial situation is fine—there’s no need for her to get a job or give up swimming, especially with the scholarship. He’s going to talk to her again, find out what he needs to do to make her understand her only job is being a fifteen-year-old.”

I nod, relieved to know Liam is falling back into the role of big brother so easily. That was my piece of advice to him that night at Kat and Carter’s, to trust his instincts and not be afraid to reach out to us. While none of us know anything about raising a child, we all know what it was like to be a teenager. We can help him figure out the best moves. Plus, if asked, I don’t think Emmie has any problem telling people what she needs.

“Will you tell me what you said to her?”

Ronan and I are walking across the parking lot, his arm draped over my shoulder, and the summer night air is practically suffocating with its humidity. “I told her about how I put too much pressure on myself to grow up when I was her age—how it led to panic attacks and, eventually, me not wanting to swim competitively anymore.”

He turns to face me when he reaches his car and leans against the SUV. “You never told me that.”

I shrug, reaching for his hand. “It’s not something I like talking about. I wasn’t good enough to get a scholarship, or a full ride, so I ran myself ragged in high school. When it came time to make the decision about swimming in college, I decided not to. I was worried it would happen again and, as much as I loved the sport, I didn’t love it the way you or Emmie do. I didn’t need to be in the water to be part of it.”

“Which is what led to you and Josie starting Adair.”

“Which led me to meeting some pretty amazing people.” I grin at him. “That blog changed my life in ways I’m still figuring out. Most importantly, it brought me Josie. She’s always going to be my person, even when I find my one. But it also gave me an incredible family, even if we had to do some falling apart before coming back together.”

“Watching you and Josie together is something I don’t have words for—your friendship is literally like fireworks. You could take over the world and I think the world would let you.”

I bite my lip to keep my wide grin from bursting any bigger. “Those sound like pretty good words to me.”

He laughs, raising our joint hands to kiss my knuckles. “And this finding your one? Is that something you’re actively looking for?”

“Maybe.” I shrug shyly. “I don’t know if it’s on my radar right now.”

“Is it because you’re tired of looking, or could it be because you found something?”

“I’m pan, Ronan. The entire world is my oyster when it comes to potential love interests,” I tease. “Besides, I’m still in the middle of my story. You never know who gets the happy ending.”

“What if the story never ends?”