Page 30 of Rhett (The Swift Brothers #3)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Rhett

T he day has finally arrived when Morgan, East, and I are going to have a session with East’s therapist. Talia and I have been talking about it too because I can’t pretend I’m not nervous about it, can’t pretend that my head isn’t a mess and my stomach in knots.

Tripp and I had a good day at work yesterday, which helped, and then I stayed at his place last night. It’s only been a week since we told Meadow, and she’s still teasing us about being boyfriends . I must admit I enjoy it. This is what being a family is all about, and with them, I feel like I have one, while at the same time, I’m getting my Swift family too: me, Morgan, and East.

I arrive twenty minutes before the appointment because really, I don’t have any choice in the matter. That’s how I work. I sit in my truck, chest tight, though logically, I know this will be okay. All the changes lately, our conversations, sharing stories about El, the hugs and laughs and barstools and revealed secrets, all of it led to this moment where everything is on the table and we can finally let go of the past.

I jump when there’s a knock at my window and turn to see East standing there. He frowns, then walks around to the other side and gets in.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Freaking out,” I admit.

His frown deepens. “You don’t have to do that.”

“It’s impossible for me not to do that.”

“It’ll be okay, Rhett,” he says, and I look down to see he’s folding a paper butterfly. When he finishes, he holds it out for me.

“I…thank you.”

“Should we go inside? Or should I see if my therapist and Morgan will meet us in your truck?”

I can’t help but snicker. “Asshole.”

“It’s why you love me.” He shrugs, then opens the door.

“I do. Love you. I haven’t always been good at showing you, and I never told you enough.”

“I think you showed it in ways I didn’t allow myself to see at the time. I think you showed it to Morgan in ways he didn’t see either. And now we’re here, confronting it all. Let’s save the emotional stuff for inside, yeah?”

I chuckle. “Yeah. You’re right.”

We get out of the truck and head for the door. Just as we get there, Morgan approaches.

“Did I miss a Swift brothers pre-game meet-up?” he teases.

“No,” East says. “I found Rhett hiding in his truck.”

“I wasn’t hiding ,” I reply, but really, I kind of was.

“This is fun. We get to banter now. I’m liking it.” Morgan pulls open the door, and East walks in, then me. We check in at the reception desk, then have a seat in the waiting room.

Before I know it, a woman comes out to get us. “Hi,” she says, then once we’re in the room, continues, “I’m Amelia.” She holds out her hand.

“Rhett,” I answer.

To Morgan, she says, “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too.”

From what I understand, she’s not the therapist East worked with in his inpatient program, but she must be good, since he’s still working with her.

The room we’re in is bigger than the one I’m used to with Talia but decorated in similar ways.

“Thanks for coming. East has been doing a lot of hard work the past few months. We talked, and he thought it would be a good idea for all of you to come.”

It was East’s idea? I’m pretty sure before he made it sound like it was hers. I clear my throat. “I agree. I want…I want us to heal. I want to be the brother they deserve.”

“You don’t think you are?” Morgan asks, the focus already on me.

“I didn’t mean to make this about myself. That’s not why we’re here.”

“All of it is why we’re here,” East says. “I want to hear what you have to say. Is this like how we all blamed ourselves for Ella?”

“Yes and no.” I run a hand through my hair. “I should have protected you, both of you, from him. Sometimes I tried, attempted to get him to focus on me, but it wasn’t enough.”

“That’s what you were doing?” Morgan asks. “I thought you just chose him, loved him more than us.”

It makes my heart ache to hear him say that, to know how far apart we ended up. “I’m not a martyr. Sometimes I did it all for me. I needed his approval, needed his love so much because I didn’t know who I was without being exactly who Dad wanted me to be. Sometimes I did it for selfish reasons, and sometimes because I didn’t want the two of you to turn out like me.” I fidget in my seat, wring my hands. “I never loved him more than the two of you. I loved him more than me.”

“Jesus, Rhett,” Morgan says. “I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t…” He shakes his head.

“None of us could have known how the others were feeling because we didn’t talk, and Dad wanted it that way. It was how he controlled us.”

“That’s partly why I needed Ella so much,” East says. “I loved her, so fucking much, because he taught us to feel alone in the world, even though we had each other. I needed her. Morgan needed Dusty.”

Their gazes hold fast on me.

Morgan’s voice is so soft, so emotional when he says, “And you were alone, weren’t you, Rhett? You were alone, which made you cling to him more.”

My eyes pool with tears, and for once, I let them fall freely. “I’m not alone anymore. None of us are.” We have Dusty, Archer, and Tripp. We have Meadow, Tripp’s family, Archer’s, and Dusty’s. And we have each other. We will always have each other, and we’ll always hold Ella with us. She helped bring us together, and she’ll always be a part of us.

“We’ll never be alone again,” East adds, and as we look at each other, it’s clear we’re on the same page on this. It might have taken us too damn long to get here, but we’re here now.

The session is longer than the typical hour. We talk about everything—the past, the present, the future. I tell them about Dad showing up the other day and how I walked away from him for the last time. East talks to us about Ella and the pain he’s lived with, and we even discuss the anger we’ve had at each other. There’s no getting around it, and like Amelia tells us, the only way to make it to the other side is to confront all our struggles.

It’s painful and beautiful, hard and perfect, and when we walk out of the building, we’re better for it, and I know we’ll have more sessions like this together in the future.

“I’m glad we did this,” I tell them.

“It happened because of East,” Morgan says, and I nod because he’s right. Our youngest brother brought us together in ways he’ll never see.

“Because of Ella.” East looks up at the sky.

“Because of both of you,” I reply, then do the same. Without looking, I know Morgan is glancing upward too.

“You should have us over for dinner later this week, East,” Morgan says.

“Oh, should I?”

“I mean, I think it’s a good idea. The dogs probably miss me…and don’t forget to invite Rhett’s boyfriend.”

I roll my eyes. “You sound like Meadow. She keeps teasing us.”

“Smart girl,” East says. “Sounds good on dinner, and now I’m out of here. I’ve seen the two of you enough for one day.”

We all laugh and say our goodbyes. As soon as I get into the truck, I check my phone and find a text waiting for me.

Tripp: Thinking about you. Come over after? We have the house to ourselves…love you.

And that’s exactly what I want, what I need right now. Tripp Cassidy.

I start my truck and head straight to his house. The second I climb up the porch stairs, he’s opening the door, concern on his face. “Did it go okay?”

“It was everything, and now I need you.” I rip my coat off and tug my shoes off before we’re on each other, kissing and touching.

Tripp pulls me to the bedroom, stripping us both.

“What do you want, baby?”

“Make it last,” I tell him, and he does, stroking me and sucking me until I’m about to lose control, and then he reels me in again. Over and over and over until I’m panting and sweating and dying for more. “Fuck me. Please, fuck me,” I beg when I can’t take it anymore.

We’ve done this one other time, and I loved it just as much as the first. There’s something about having Tripp inside me, about giving myself to him that way.

“Always, baby. Hands and knees on the side of the bed for me.”

Tripp grabs the lube, starts out with one finger, and my body is nearly melting with the simple feel of him pushing inside me. He goes from one to two, fucking me and stretching me, getting my body ready to take him. I move against his hand, needing more.

“You’re hungry for it, aren’t you? You’re so sexy like this, so needy for my cock.”

“Yes. God yes.”

“I need you too. I’ll always need you.” He pulls his fingers out, and I groan at the loss of feeling full. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here,” he tells me, and then I feel the fat head of his cock pushing against my rim.

Tripp slides inside me, inch after inch, taking me, filling me, connecting us on this level that goes deeper than physical. As soon as he’s buried inside me, he pauses, leaning forward and kissing my shoulder blade. “You feel so good.”

“You too. Fuck me.”

He pulls back and pumps into me again. His hands are firm on my hips, my cock hard and aching, moving with each of Tripp’s thrusts. My balls are already tight and incredibly full from all the teasing Tripp gave me. I spit in my hand, wrap it around my cock, and stroke myself while he takes what I freely give him.

“I’m gonna come. Jesus, Tripp, I’m already gonna come.”

“Do it. Give it to me. I want you to shoot before I fill you up.”

Colors dance in my vision, my body shaking and coming apart as I lose myself to the pleasure only he can give me. I feel my body tightening. Tripp squeezes me tighter, and I know he’s unloading, his release filling me as we lose ourselves to pleasure.

I fall to the bed, crawl up while Tripp goes to get a cloth. I know he’s cleaning up the mess because I prefer it that way, and when he’s done, he gets into bed with me, tugging me close.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Yes.”

I tell him about it, and I’m sure East is doing the same with Archer and Morgan with Dusty. Tripp kisses me, strokes my skin while he listens and offers comfort.

Afterward, we take a nap, then clean up and go pick up Meadow.

“Hey, Dad. Hey, Rhett,” she says, jumping into the truck. “I was thinking we could make pizza from scratch for dinner tonight and then watch a family movie.”

A family movie. Family because that’s what we are. “Let’s do it,” I say.

Tripp gives me a big smile, then puts his hand on my thigh. “Sounds like the perfect night to me.”