Page 36 of Liam (Preston Brothers #4)

Liam

Whenever we’re all at the lake, my brothers like to play this game called “blind dive.” Linc and I are the only players, and the specifics of the game go like this: One of us stands at the end of the dock while the other stays a short distance away with their back turned.

Twin one dives into the water however they want—backflips, cannonballs, etc.

And once they’re done, the other twin takes their turn.

If I go first, nine times out of ten, Linc will replicate my actions to a T.

If he goes first, there’s a seventy-ish percent chance I’ll get it right.

When we were kids, my older brothers used to tell Lachlan we were made of magic and, for the longest time, he believed it.

I’d love to find out exactly what happened to make him realize we weren’t.

Now, I face away from the lake and wait for Lincoln to create his splash .

The grandparents offered to take the grandkids for the night, so all the girls are at Lucy’s for what she refers to as “high tea” aka food, booze and a yap, yap, yapitty-yap.

Leo’s setting up the jet skis. Lucas, Logan and Cameron are already in the water, and Lachlan’s standing in front of me, his arms crossed, eyes narrowed, assessing my every move. He does this sometimes—tries to catch me and Linc “cheating.”

Lachy says, raising his chin, “Did you just receive Linc’s message via that fake-ass twin telepathy bullshit?”

I chuckle.

“Why is your goofy ass smiling like that?”

“I’m just happy.”

“I’ve never seen you this happy.”

I walk backwards, away from Lachlan, and toward the end of the dock, where I lazily fall backward until I’m submerged in the water. Even beneath the surface, I can hear Lachlan yell, “How the fuck do they do that?”

I take my time swimming to the part of the dock where the cooler is and pull myself up and out.

I’ve barely even made it to the cooler before Leo asks, “So, what’s the deal with you and Addie?

” His police cruiser is parked by the fire pit, but he’s stripped out of his uniform and changed into board shorts.

I grab a soda, sit down and take a sip, then shrug. “Nothing.”

“That hug sure didn’t look like nothing,” Lucas teases, and, obviously, I knew this was coming. If a simple hug can bring this on, imagine what a kiss would’ve done.

Linc’s back is to me, feet in the water, and he twists at the waist to glare at me. “What hug?” he asks, looking up from his phone. He’s still pissed at me about the whole firing Knox thing. To be fair, he’s still dealing with the cleanup.

I shake my head, don’t respond.

“Wait.” Leo again. “What kind of hug?”

I scoff. “Does it matter? ”

“Oh, it matters,” Logan pipes up.

Lachlan climbs out of the water and onto the dock, sitting right opposite me.

Now I have all sets of eyes on me, waiting for… I don’t even know.

Logan sighs. “Did she have her arms around your middle or your neck?”

I stay quiet, so Lucas answers for me. “Neck.”

“Hell yeah,” Logan says, offering a fist bump. I bat his hand away. Linc’s already focused on his phone again, and Lucas and Leo stand, facing each other, mimicking Benny’s dance moves from earlier.

Lachlan looks just as confused as I feel, and I ask him, “What the fuck is happening right now?”

“She’s flirting , Liam,” Logan says.

I think we’re beyond that, but that’s not the point. My eyebrows pinch. “You can tell all that from a hug?”

Logan grabs Luke’s arm and forces him to be his demo dummy.

“Arms around the waist before you’re together,” he explains, doing exactly that with Lucas.

“It’s cutesy. Screams friends. Now, arms around the neck—” He doesn’t get far in demonstrating this version before Luke pushes him away.

He waves a hand over his chest. “Titties are the focus. She wants you to know they’re there. ”

I roll my eyes. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Maybe so,” Linc chimes in. I’m surprised he was listening at all. “But those neck hugs are the best kind.”

“False,” Logan says. “I mean, correct when you’re at the flirty stage, like Liam and Addie.”

“We’re not flirty,” I convince no one.

Logan clucks his tongue. “Man, shut your big booty ass up!”

I chuckle. “Has everyone been talking to Lucy?”

“It’s her phrase of the month,” Leo informs. “Benny said it the other night.”

“Anyway…” Logan continues. “Flirty stage, neck hugs, great . But after that, the best ones are around the waist, and they want you to hold their little head while they rest it on your chest.”

“Oh, my God, the chest lay,” Luke groans, eying the sky, as if praising the heavens.

“Especially after they have a bad day,” Logan continues, “and it’s their way of seeking comfort.”

Lucas adds, “It’s the best feeling in the world, boys—knowing that you’re their safe space.”

“Or that they come to you when they need saving…” Logan says.

“What if you can’t save them?” Lachlan asks, chin tilted up, giving our older brothers his full attention.

“They don’t actually want you to save them. They just want to know that you will if you have to,” Luke offers.

“You guys are so fucking whipped,” Lincoln murmurs.

Leo ignores him. We all do. “The best hugs are the early morning ones… when I have to leave for work, but Mia won’t just stay in bed.

She’ll come out to the door to say goodbye, and she’s still half asleep, and her legs don’t work yet, and she shuffles her tiny little feet to get to me.

Doesn’t even raise her arms. Just nuzzles in real close. ”

“The fucking nuzzle!” Luke growls.

“It’s too much,” Logan agrees, holding a hand to his chest and falling back into the water, too overwhelmed by his emotions.

I laugh lightly, shaking my head.

Lincoln turns to Leo, his eyebrows drawn. “You realize you could’ve had, like, ten extra years of that, but instead, you dipped and punked out and?—”

“I got it,” Lachlan cuts in, slamming both feet directly in the center of Lincoln’s back, literally kicking him into the lake.

Logan pulls himself up on the side of the dock, asking, “Was I that much of an asshole at his age?”

“Worse,” says everyone else.

Lincoln comes up for air. “Fuck all y’all!”

Leo holds on to Lucas’s arm as an anchor while he presses his foot down on Lincoln’s head until he’s beneath the surface again. Lucas tells Logan, “I think he’s collected all that shitty attitude you left behind.”

“What are we talking about?” All of us turn to Roman as he makes his way up the dock. He grabs a beer from the cooler and sits next to Lachy.

“Hugs,” I tell him, at the same time everyone else says, “Addie and Liam.”

He flicks his gaze to mine. “Really?”

I press my lips together, shake my head.

“You think they’d make a good couple?” Logan asks him, getting out of the lake completely.

Roman hasn’t taken his eyes off me. “I think you’re great,” he says, and a knot unfurls in the space between my shoulder blades. “But you should probably ask her boyfriend what he thinks.”

“Oh, shit,” Luke murmurs.

“Who?” Lincoln asks, gripping the edge of the dock, his fingers caught beneath Leo’s foot. “That fucking Wyatt guy?”

“No,” Roman answers, then takes a swig of his beer. “Some guy back in Raleigh. Pierson, I think. They’ve been together for years.”