Page 243 of Second Sets Omnibus

“Oh, no, you won’t. You and I are going to enjoy some sweet tea on the porch.” I suppress my snort when Korrine gives him aI’m not taking no for an answerlook.

“Oh, shit. She’s breaking out the sweet tea,” Ode hisses, pulling on my arm. “We better get before she breaks out the vanilla wafers and wants to have the sex talk again.” Ode snickers under her breath when Korrine side-eyes us with a knowing smirk.

Yeah. I don’t want to have that talk again.

“Y’all go inside. Asher and I will sit out here and enjoy the sun and conversation.” Asher’s eyes scream for help, silently begging me not to leave him in the clutches of Korrine.

“Okay. Have fun,” I snort when Asher swallows hard, sitting beside Korrine in a second rocking chair.

“All right, you’re coming with me. We’ve got lots of tea to devour ourselves.” Ode grins at me, pulling me along. “Come inside, Lyric, my love! Alma would love to play!”

“Okay, Auntie Ode,” she says, hopping off Korrine’s lap and running inside without looking back.

“Is he going to be okay?” I murmur as she pulls me through the large living room littered with toys. The TV screams, but not over the squeals of Lyric and Alma, Ode’s three-year-old daughter and Ly’s long-distance best friend, hugging amid chaos.

“Bitch, please. Mama is going to eat him alive. Maybe he’ll be a changed man by the time she’s done with him. Converted and everything,” she snorts, plopping my ass in front of the dining room table. “Now, how about some drinks?” she asks, setting down a large bottle of tequila in front of me.

“Ew. Why tequila? And it’s only like eleven.”

“Pfft. Bitch, this is the only alcohol that makes you talk. And it’s five o’clock somewhere. Now, explain why douchebag number one is sitting on my porch like a domesticated dog,” she says, pouring a tall shot of tequila.

“No lime? Salt?”

“No fucking lime for you, Missy. Take your shot and tell your bestie everything,” she demands, pointing to the shot with her brow raised.

“Fine,” I grimace, tossing back the shot. “Jesus,” I croak through the burning sensation tingling down my throat.

“Out with it!” Ode says, pouring another shot. “I need all the dirty deets.”

So, I tell her everything that’s happened since we last spoke on the phone, starting with the fights, the revelations, and everything in between. I’ve texted her updates here and there in our daily messages but being in her presence hits differently.

“I just…don’t know how I feel about it, Ode. I’m so fucking conflicted about everything,” I murmur at the last of it, drowning myself in another shot of tequila.

“Wow,” Ode says, drinking a shot, too.

“Yeah…”

“So, they volunteered to follow you here to protect you and Lyric. They’ve stepped up.”

“Massively. Asher makes her breakfast every morning, even before all this. He wants to be her father. Rad’s teaching her the drums. Callum tries to read to her every night. And Kieran is bonding with her like he never left her side. They’re all trying as dads and—” I look out the window, examining the bright blue, cloudless sky as I gather my thoughts.

“And with you?” she asks, pouring two more shots for each of us.

I lick my lips. “That’s the part that scares me, Ode. What if…”

“What if they break your heart? What if they walk away? What if… What if…” she trails off, shaking her head. “I saw how much it broke your heart when they fucked you over like that. Seeing you so damn sad and mad at the entire world broke my heart, too. You were ready to burn their entire existence down. But hearing that bitch Gloria was the one who did most of it.” She grimaces as she downs another shot, sticking her tongue out and making a face when she sets the glass down.

“But Asher orchestrated it with her help. He made this entire thing happen.”

“Yeah? And what’s he doing now, bitch? He’s sitting on the porch with Mama, probably getting ripped into through polite words. He drove you here?”

“He insisted.”

Ode nods wistfully, taking another shot. “This could be the tequila fogging my thinking skills. When I saw him outside my house, I wanted to slice his balls open and shove them up his ass.The fucker deserved it. But the way I see it and from what you’ve told me, they’re trying. With you. With her. With every fucking thing. Three of them walked away because they thought you broke their heart. One walked away because his fucking dreams depended on it. They were fucking idiots. So fucking stupid. God! Who put these men on this earth?” she slurs, covering her mouth.

“Way beyond idiots,” I snort, taking a deep breath after I force another burning shot down my gullet. “Am I fucking crazy for even contemplating this?”

“Were you contemplating it when Kieran’s fingers were in your–” I grunt, slamming a hand over her mouth.