Page 8 of Rejected Heart (The Westwoods #5)

“I assume your sister will be here tonight.”

“Both of them will be. My whole family doesn’t miss this.”

“Your whole family? How many of you are there?”

Laughter spilled out of him. “I guess that depends on what you want to know. There’s my immediate family, which includes my parents and my five brothers and sisters.

I’ve got three older brothers, one older sister, and one younger sister.

But there’s also my grandparents, my aunt, her husband, and their five kids, too. ”

My brows shot up in surprise. I hadn’t realized Liam came from such a big family. I guessed it was just one more way that he and I were so different. “So, there should be a lot of people here, then?”

“I guess. I mean, that’s only the blood relatives I mentioned. A large portion of the Westwood’s family will be here tonight, too. And that’s a much bigger family.” He tugged on my hand. “Come on. You’ll see.”

With his hand holding mine, it was no surprise I easily became unstuck. If there was one thing that seemed capable of getting me to react, it was Liam’s touch. And with my hand being held in his, I realized I’d be hard pressed to want to be anywhere else but wherever he wanted me to go.

We made it to the ballroom, where I found myself even more stunned than I’d been when we first stepped foot into the hotel. Liam’s sister was responsible for the way this place looked? It was on another level of grand. It was breathtaking.

“Wow,” I marveled, taking in the lights, flowers, and holiday-themed décor. “This is exquisite.”

“Yeah, they do a good job with it every year. Oh, look, there’s Ivy.” Liam held up his free hand, waved at who I could only assume was his sister, and led us in that direction. “Ivy, I have someone I want you to meet. This is Layla. Layla, this is my sister, Ivy.”

Though she had the same blue eyes as her dad and Liam, she wore her mom’s bright smile. It made meeting Ivy far less intimidating to meet than Liam’s parents. “Hey. It’s cool to meet you finally. I’m so glad you’re here. Now our older brothers can stop giving Liam a bunch of crap.”

When my brows shot up, silently questioning her, Liam explained, “Wyatt, Cooper, and Tate have been making jokes, claiming I made you up.”

Understanding dawned. “Oh, I see. ”

But I wasn’t quite sure I did see. I mean, I understood his brothers teasing him.

I didn’t have any siblings, but I was relatively certain it was a rite of passage to deal with teasing.

That made complete sense. It was that there had been enough discussion about me for all of them to even have a discussion surrounding my existence that had me feeling so surprised.

“Speaking of our brothers, any clue where they are? Or Jules?”

Ivy turned her body slightly, giving me the opportunity to take in her gown.

Even if she was still only a senior in high school, she had such an elegance about her, that made it seem like she was years older, far more mature.

Maybe I’d have been able to appear that way if I’d grown up in a family like this.

They’d had so much practice around such large crowds and upscale events.

“I’m not sure where Jules is, but our brothers are all sitting at the table we’re going to be seated at tonight for dinner.”

Liam and I followed her finger in the direction she indicated.

It took me a moment, but I quickly discerned who Liam’s brothers were.

Not only could I note some of the similarities between them, but their table was the only one with four younger guys seated at it who looked like they were in cahoots.

I thought there were only three brothers, but maybe I’d gotten it wrong.

“I’m going to take her over and introduce her,” Liam told Ivy.

“Okay. I’ll be over soon to join you. It was nice to meet you, Layla. ”

“You, too.”

Liam tugged on my hand and led me toward the table where his brothers were seated.

Where I wasn’t the least bit intimidated to meet Ivy, I definitely felt a level of uncertainty about his brothers.

Not only were they older, but they’d doubted I even existed.

Would they get on Liam’s case with me standing right there?

We came to a stop beside the table, but it took a few additional seconds for anyone to notice we were there. But once one of them did, he elbowed the brother on the left, who then reached out a hand to the brother to the left of him.

Stunned eyes stared at us, darting between Liam and me. I couldn’t miss the sound of pride in Liam’s voice when he declared, “This is the moment all of you can admit defeat. Guys, this is Layla.”

One brother blinked several times, as though he believed he was making this up, while the other two couldn’t manage to keep their jaws from falling open.

I quickly realized the fourth guy wasn’t a brother.

Although he seemed just as comfortable around the rest of them, he didn’t have that look about him that indicated he was a Westwood.

I pressed my lips together to stifle a grin. I didn’t know the dynamics of this family well enough yet, but I loved this for Liam. It was clear he got along with his brothers, even if they’d teased him for a while about me, and this was the perfect revenge for him.

Pointing to each of them as he introduced them, he said, “Layla, this is Cooper, his best friend, Marco, my oldest brother, Wyatt, and Tate.”

My nerves melted away as I smiled at them. “Hello.”

I received various greetings in response—all pleasant—but it was clear the brothers were too stunned to speak beyond that.

But it wasn’t as though they needed to, because barely thirty seconds later, a young girl bounded over to us. “Is this her?”

The girl’s attention was on Liam, so I could only assume it was his other sister. Sure enough, a moment later, he said, “Yes, she is. Layla, this is my baby sister, Jules.”

I parted my lips to speak, but she beat me to it. “I knew you were real. Wyatt, Cooper, and Tate doubted Liam, but I trusted him. I knew he wouldn’t make you up, and I stuck up for you every single time.”

I beamed at her. “I appreciate your confidence. Thank you for doing that.”

“Come on, you can sit with us.”

Liam pulled out the chair that was one away from Cooper.

He urged me to sit, and I couldn’t get over it.

Liam must have learned well from his father, because I hadn’t ever witnessed anything like it from any of the other boys at school who had girlfriends.

Was he just a chivalrous guy by nature, or did Liam have an advantage that other kids didn’t?

I didn’t seek to find an answer to that question, because I realized it didn’t really matter much to me at that point anyway.

Liam sat down between Cooper and me, and Jules sat on my opposite side.

Jules leaned toward me and whispered, “I’m so glad you’re here.

I’ve been dying to meet you ever since Liam started talking about you.

He’s never been one to get upset about things as it is, but I swear, I’ve never seen him looking so happy as he is when he talks about you. ”

My heart squeezed. It was clear Liam had made mention of me to his family, but I wondered what he could have said about me. I tried not to dwell too much on it, because even if I didn’t know the specifics, it was clear it had all been positive.

“Thank you. I’ll admit, I didn’t know there were so many of you, but I’m so happy to have met you, too.”

A moment later, Ivy approached the table and sat with us, introducing me to her best friend, Ava. And the next thing I knew, dinner was being served.

I thought it was possible things would get awkward at that point for me, but the Westwood children didn’t allow that to happen.

There was plenty of conversation and friendly banter throughout dinner, and whenever they were discussing something that I didn’t understand, it was usually Liam or Jules that would fill me in on the backstory to bring me up to speed.

From the moment I’d stepped foot in the ballroom and all throughout dinner, there had been soft Christmas instrumentals playing. But after dinner, it all changed. The atmosphere of the party had turned into just that—a party.

Except for Liam and the members of his immediate family that I’d just been introduced to, as well as Marco and Ava, I didn’t know a single person in attendance.

There was nothing to indicate who might have been extended blood relatives or simply the work family.

But it was clear they all felt great being part of such a celebration.

And they took pride in doing the celebrating part of it right.

Folks had made their way out to the dance floor while others had moved toward the bar. In other instances, I watched as some had taken the liberty to peruse and enjoy the dessert selection set up across the room in a stunning display.

No matter where people were or what they were doing, one thing was clear. They were happy and having a great time. I couldn’t say I didn’t understand the sentiment. It was the same for me.

But it was at that moment when Ivy, Jules, and Ava stood from the table. Ivy tugged on my wrist and said, “Let’s go.”

“Go? Where?”

Ava looked like she was about to embark on the delight of a lifetime. “We’re heading out there to dance.”

My eyes widened. “Oh, I couldn’t?—”

“Come on,” Jules urged me. “It’ll be fun.”

I glanced at Liam. “Go. Have a good time. I’ll be here.”

Feeling the nerves wash over me, I bit my lip. I didn’t dance. I’d never been to a dance. What if I made a fool of myself? Oh, this was going to be humiliating.

I reached for his hand. “Please don’t make me go out there alone. ”

His eyes roamed over my face for two beats before he stood and said, “Okay, I’ll come with you.”

Relief swept through me as the five of us made our way out to the dance floor. And with Liam’s help, I didn’t feel so foolish once we were there.