Page 79 of My Three Hometown Alphas

“It’s okay to be sad that she’s gone,” Owen says.

“I am sad,” I say, all the air whooshing out of my lungs.

He shakes his head, his hands falling from my arms. “That’s not what I meant. I know you’re sad, obviously.” He takes a deep breath. “I just mean… it’s okay for you to act like you’re sad. You don’t always have to be the ray of sunshine for everyone else. You deserve to have rainy days, too.”

“That was very poetic of you, Mr. Shakespeare,” I say with a half-laugh.

He raises his eyebrows, seeming to sayexactly my point.I sigh, resisting the urge to let my eyes roll all the way back into my head.

“Why do you think you can’t grieve like the rest of us?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

I debate telling him something that will placate him enough to get him off my case, but I’m too drained to come up with a decent lie right now. “I don’t have the right to.”

“What the hell do you mean?” Owen asks, clearly confused.

“Losing her wasn’t the same for me as it was for you or Lyla or Mom and Dad,” I say. “Losing a parent, a child, a twin is way heavier than losing just your sister.”

He stands there frozen for what feels like forever. “Liv and I might have come into this world on the same day, but she was just as much your sister as she was mine. You deserve to grieve her out loud if that’s what you want. You don’t have to hide it from any of us.”

I blink a few times because this is the most words I’ve heard Owen say at one time in years.

“All of us lost a piece of our hearts the day she left this world, and we’ve all been dealing with it every day since then.” He takes a deep breath, tears springing to his eyes. “I know I haven’t handled things very well. I’m sorry if the way I coped made you feel like you couldn’t openly process your feelings.”

A small smile crosses his face. “I love your weird sense of humor, but it’s okay to not use it all the time.”

I take a deep breath, letting the impact of his words hit me. Then Owen wraps his arms around me, and I can’t hold it back anymore.

I bury my face in his shoulder, letting out all the emotions I’ve attempted to hold back. I can’t tell for sure, but I think he’s crying, too.

We stand like that for so long my shoulders start to ache from how tightly I’m hugging him. With a deep breath, I step back.

My watery eyes meet his. “I miss her.”

“I do, too,” he says, nodding.

“This fucking sucks.”

He huffs out a sad laugh. “Yeah, it fucking does.” He shakes his head, running his fingers through his tousled hair.

Another tear falls down my cheek. “I’m glad you and Will are still here, though,” I say, meaning every fucking word.

I miss Liv so much, but I am beyond grateful to still have my two brothers in my life.

“Same,” Owen says on a shaky exhale.

“Thanks for tracking me down,” I say.

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m your big brother. It’s my job.” He slings his arm around my shoulders as we start to walk toward the back door. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Will

“Lyla,”I yell across the dirt parking lot.

She spins around just before she gets to the field. “What?” she asks, tossing her hands out beside her.