Page 26 of Liam (Preston Brothers #4)

Addie

The first thought that grabs me when we pull up to the Preston house is that I’ve been here before.

I can’t recall how, when, or why. I just can’t escape the familiarity that settles deep in my chest. I was happy here once; I’m sure of it.

I was surrounded by red and blue streamers—a birthday party?

Fourth of July, maybe? I could ask Roman, and I’m sure he’d know, but I don’t want him to know how fractured my memories are.

As soon as the front door opens, I’m met with Tom Preston, beaming down at me, his smile almost hidden by his beard.

“Addie!” I’ve seen Tom before, but only through a screen.

He sat between his twin sons while they rattled off random facts and events, and he had to guess which of the brothers they pertained to.

He got every one of them right. “Roman’s told me so much about you! ”

“I hope they’re all good things,” I say, my voice weak.

Sweat pools at the base of my neck, and I hope he doesn’t pick up on how nervous I am.

Or how annoyed I am that I’m even nervous at all.

But… he’s Liam’s dad , and for reasons I’m not yet ready to admit, I want him to not hate me.

Hence, why I’m clearly overdressed for the occasion.

Roman warned me I would be, but I didn’t listen to him.

I should have.

I took the day off and caught the bus a few towns over to shop for clothes—dresses to be specific and ribbons to match them.

Yes, it was insane, and completely over the top, but I wanted to make a good first impression on “Papa Preston.” Why?

Because he gave me a chance without knowing a thing about me.

He also gave Roman a chance while knowing everything about him.

“Nothing but good things,” Tom assures, urging us farther into his home. “I’m sorry I haven’t come by yet. I’ve wanted to, but I didn’t want it to seem like I was checking in, you know? I figured this way was better.”

“Well, I’m glad to finally meet you,” I respond, just as I catch the wall of photos beside the staircase. It’s a gallery of all the Preston kids, lined up from what I assume is the oldest to the youngest, showcasing them all as they get older.

The front door bursts open behind us, and Logan and Lucas are physically fighting over who walks through first. They’re laughing, the kind of childish, playful laughter that only forms in siblings or lifelong friends.

Logan pushes through, his eyes immediately finding mine.

“Mini Roman!” He hugs me the same way he did the first time we met. “Have you met Luke yet?”

I shake my head. “Hi.”

Logan releases me just as Lucas smiles, says, “Hey, Addie.”

Two girls walk through behind them, and Logan introduces them, too. Laney, with dark hair and glasses, is Luke’s girlfriend, and Aubrey, with fiery red hair, is “his” girl.

“Pleasure to meet you,” I say, and dammit, I may as well throw in a curtsy at how ridiculous I’m being. Also… where is Liam?

Lachlan comes flying down the stairs next, grinning wide. “Mini Roman!”

My smile falters, and I don’t face him directly. I can’t. I’m still too embarrassed about what happened out on the lake. Thankfully, Tom is urging everyone toward the back of the house, so I barely have time to acknowledge him at all.

I follow Roman’s lead and walk beside him. “You good?” he asks.

I peer up at him, nodding. “I’m fine.”

The Preston kitchen is enormous and appears newly renovated. It’s not luxurious at all, just… roomy. The large, clearly custom-made dining table is off to the side, and Logan tells me, “Sit anywhere.”

So I do.

Lachlan sits opposite me, on his phone, and the two girls sit to the side next to each other.

“The twins are picking up the food,” Tom announces to anyone who’s listening. “They should be back soon.”

Roman, Logan and Lucas stand behind the girls, talking about work.

Logan drops his arm over Aubrey’s shoulder, almost as if he needs to be touching her.

Anyhow. Any way. She’s quick to link their fingers and kiss his hand.

It’s incredibly intimate and sweet , and I find myself smiling.

So does Aubrey, who’s obviously caught me watching them.

She doesn’t call me out on it, though. Instead, she says, “Logan tells me you have the most boring job in the world.”

“It’s not so bad.”

“Well, if you do get bored, you should come by the bookstore, get yourself something to read while you wait for all those pages to scan.”

“Oh, you should come to the book club!” Laney offers.

“It’s not really a book club,” Lucas chimes in. “They just sit around talking shit about us while devouring cheese and wine.”

“How do you know?” Laney asks.

He shrugs. “Because Lucy runs it.”

“We read the books!” Laney scolds.

“Sometimes,” Aubrey murmurs. Then to me, “You should come.”

It’s a straight up invitation, and I don’t really see why I can’t. Besides, it might be nice to do something other than ride around in Wyatt’s truck trying to find something to do. “I like cheese.”

“Finally,” Lachlan exclaims, dropping his phone on the table. I follow his gaze to the kitchen, where the twins are heading toward us, both carrying a stack of pizza boxes too many to count. Liam smiles when he sees me. “Hi,” he says, stopping beside me.

I push down the onset of flutters suddenly buzzing inside me. “Hi.”

He grabs the pizza from the top of his stack and sets it in front of me. “That one’s for you.”

“She gets one to herself?” Lachlan whines.

Liam raises his eyebrows at his younger brother. “Unless you like vegetarian?”

“Gross.”

I snicker. It’s the same reaction Liam had when I told him.

“You’re vegetarian?” Lucas asks.

“No, I just likes vegetables.” I nod toward Roman. “ Someone used to force them down my throat when I was a kid.”

Roman grins at that.

“Awww,” Laney coos. “We love a caring brother.”

Lachlan scoffs. “Yeah, the only thing my brothers forced down my throat was a live frog.”

The room goes silent.

One second.

Two.

Then Logan busts out a laugh. “I forgot about that!”

“You did not,” Laney gasps.

“They took me on a camping trip when Luke first got his license.”

“You were, like, five,” Laney says, back-handing Lucas’s stomach.

Lucas chuckles, turns to Logan. “Remember how every time he would speak after, we pretended like the only thing we could hear was?—”

“ Ribbit, ribbit, ” Logan finishes for him.

Now everyone’s laughing. Everyone but Lachlan. “And you wouldn’t let me call Dad to save me.”

“We had no service,” Lucas says through breaths of laughter.

Lachlan slams his fist on the table. “We were a mile up the road!”

“You didn’t know that!” the twins say in unison.

Lachlan shakes his head, shoves a slice of pizza into his mouth, and mutters, “How am I even alive right now?”

Next to me, Liam checks his watch. “I gotta go.”

“Thanks for getting these,” Tom calls out.

Liam doesn’t acknowledge him, or me , before exiting the room.

Then the house.

My spine straightens as I stare down at the pizza in front of me, the sudden confusion causing an ache in my chest.

The conversation around the table continues, and I try to keep up, but it’s so much of everything, all at once. I’m sad that Liam isn’t here. Disappointed, really. I force myself to eat two slices of pizza before turning to Roman. “Where’s the bathroom?”

Nothing says pathetic like hiding out in the bathroom while the world goes on around you. I really don’t know what I was thinking—going out and buying dresses, as if what ? Looking a certain way would impress Liam’s family, so that maybe… maybe it would impress him, too?

Like I said, pathetic.

And it’s not as if I want the boy to fall head over heels for me, but I don’t want him—or anyone associated with him—to hate me the way he does. Has. Used to. Whatever.

He bought vegetarian pizza just for me.

I thought it meant something, but no. He just knows what I like because he simply asked.

I shift my gaze away from my reflection, done with the self-deprecation, and run a hand over my new dress.

Thankfully, I kept the tags on the others, and I’ll be sure to return them the next chance I get.

When I open the bathroom door, the chatter coming from the kitchen intensifies tenfold.

I take a moment to listen in, and I picture them all there, sitting around a table full of conversation, memories, and laughter and?—

Longing blooms in my chest, and I imagine life back home, Dayna, Griffin, and the boys, and suddenly, I’m missing them more than ever.

I don’t go back to the table—not quite ready.

Instead, my feet lead me back to the entrance, back to the framed photos by the staircase.

It’s strange—how I spent so much of my childhood being jealous of the Prestons, and now I’m here, standing in their home, wanting nothing more than to be accepted by them.

The photographs all start the same, the siblings as newborns, and then through their younger years, where you can see their tiny little faces form into who they are now, what makes them different from the rest. Besides the twins, of course.

I focus on Liam. Even as toddlers I can tell them apart.

Their hair is the same. Their noses. Their smiles. But their eyes…

I slowly climb the stairs, watching them grow with every step, until…

I check the next year’s picture, just to be sure. Then the one after, and the one after that. Then I go back to the beginning, counting the photographs, counting the years…

I stop when I get to it and sit down slowly, my legs no longer strong enough to keep me upright.

With my back against the rails, I stare at the single picture. Then stare at it some more.

Ocean-blue eyes stare back at me.