Page 45 of My Three Hometown Hard Hats

But they both told me they weren’t going to be home for a while, if they came home at all.Whatever the hell that means.

My phone dings in the cupholder as I pull the truck in front of the house.

Brooks:We aren’t coming home, so use your time wisely.

Conrad:What he means to say is that we’re going to give you two some space tonight to figure things out. Whatever happens, happens. You know where we stand with all of this, but you have to figure out if this is what you want, too.

Brooks:Yeah, we love you and aren’t going to force you into this.

Conrad:Spend the night with her and talk to her. We’ll be here in the morning, brother.

My fingers hover over the keypad.

Me:I love you both, too. I’ll talk to you in the morning.

With the text message sent, I make my way into the house.

It’s quiet other than the credits playing on the television. Evelyn and Hadley are lying on the couch under a mountain of blankets and pillows.

They’re both passed out.

Seeing the two of them like this makes my heart ache from how much I want this for Evelyn on a daily basis. The mom she never got to have.

I can’t thrust that on Hadley, though.

I carefully peel the blankets away from Evelyn until I can pick her up in my arms. In her room, I lay her on her bed and get her cozy with the pillow and blanket I brought upstairs with us.

“Good night,” I whisper as I kiss her forehead and sneak out of the room.

Back downstairs, I find Hadley is still fast asleep. I pull all the blankets off her, setting them to the side.

When I slide my hands under her, she wakes up a little but snuggles into my shoulder as I carry her into my room.

I lay her down on the pillows and pull the comforter up over her. Her eyes blink open, focusing on me.

I’m still leaning on the bed beside her, so our faces are only a foot apart.

“Hey,” she whispers.

“Hey,” I whisper back because using my normal voice seems wrong in the moment.

Her eyes dart around, realizing she’s not still on the couch in the living room. “Where am I?”

“In my bed.”

“Did you want to sleep with me, Austin?” she asks, giving me a sleepy smirk as she winds her arms around my neck.

“I was going to sleep on the couch.”

“Oh.” Her hands slide back down to the bed at her sides.

Fuck. I’m already fucking this up.

“I should go,” she says, starting to scooch up the bed.

Alarm bells start going off in my head. Somehow, I know if I let her walk out that door, that’s it. Any hope of us will be gone for good.

“No, no. Sorry, that came out wrong,” I say, sitting on the side of the bed, grabbing both of her hands in mine.