Page 41 of Sold to the Single Daddies (Southern Heat Reverse Harems #4)

Tate

I stared at the staircase with a deep scowl on my face.

It’d taken Mills less than two hours to somehow ruin what we’d established with Reagan.

She was closed away in her room and she wasn’t coming out.

She’d been kind enough to our feelings to lie and say she just didn’t feel well but it didn’t take much to hear the tears in her voice and to understand that she was hiding from all of us. Not just Mills.

I blew out a deep breath and glared over at Mills.

“Tell me again what happened.”

He sat forward and rubbed his hands over his face.

“No. I’ve already told you three times. I’m not repeating it again.”

West walked over from the kitchen with a glass of whiskey.

“Why the fuck were you touching Melanie?”

Mills growled and shoved off the couch to go face to face with him.

“I hugged her back. I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. How the hell was I supposed to know that touching her would set Reagan off?”

“How would you feel if you walked up on someone shoving their hand down Reagan’s pants? While she held them?” I stood up and walked over to the stairs. I just wanted to go up and force my way into her room so I could hold her. “I fucking know how I’d feel. I would’ve ripped the guys’ arms off.”

“I fucked up! I get it. I fucked up in multiple ways. I don’t know what to do. I tried to apologize.” He tugged at his hair and paced. “I don’t know how to fix this. She won’t even talk to me.”

“Try harder! Go up there right now and make it right.” I heard the knock at the front door and glared at it. We didn’t need company right then. We needed time alone with Reagan to make shit better. Before I could yell at them to go away, the door swung open and Maxie let herself in.

She looked at us, standing at the bottom of the stairs like a bunch of kicked puppies, and put her hands on her hips.

“What happened?”

A sinking feeling washed over me. Had Reagan already called our sisters to tell them about Mills’ fuck up?

I was feeling as sensitive about our sisters as Mills lately and I wasn’t sure how I felt about the idea of them hearing bad shit about us from Reagan.

The relationships with them were already strained.

They already didn’t seem to care for us all that much.

If we ever hoped to repair those relationships, Reagan couldn’t tell them every single fuck up we made.

Movement at the top of the stairs caught my attention and I looked up to see Reagan standing there with a forced smile on her face and a scowling Lucky in her arms. She let out a fake laugh and rolled her eyes.

“Nothing happened. I’m just pms-ing and I think your brothers were debating how to approach the dragon lady upstairs.”

She was lying. I wasn’t sure why, but she was.

Maxie laughed easily and hurried over to take Lucky from her as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“All of our brothers used to disappear when one of us got our period. I thought they’d grow out of it.”

“Are you going somewhere?” Mills subtly moved closer to Reagan but she was so closed off that it was useless. With her arms wrapped tightly around her midsection, she was blocking all of us out.

She looked uncomfortable at his question and cleared her throat. Before she could answer, though, Maxie jumped in.

“Actually, yeah. She’s coming with me to dinner with Nellie and Vera.” Maxie bounced Lucky against her hip and grinned when he glared at her. “She tried to get out of it but no one can say no to chicken pot pie night at the diner.”

Reagan shifted from foot to foot and stared at the floor.

“I’ll just grab his bag and we can go.”

“Is everyone going?” West’s quiet question made Reagan’s shoulders stiffen but Maxie was so busy playing with Lucky that it didn’t seem to register to her that West sounded upset.

“Um, I don’t know. Maybe?” Maxie laughed at Lucky’s grunt of disapproval and finally looked up at us. She waved us off as she backed away. “Should we send some pie back home to you?”

Reagan cleared her throat again.

“Actually, Vera asked me to stay over at her place tonight so I’m not coming back here. If y’all want chicken pot pie, you should probably come to the diner.”

Maxie shrugged.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you want. Come on, Rea. Let’s get there before all the good tables are taken.”

I was still trying to process that Reagan wasn’t planning on coming home that night when she slipped past us and left without another word.

The sound of the front door shutting was loud in the suddenly silent house.

I felt like I was being hit from multiple sides as I walked over to the couch and sank into it.

Mills pulled his fist back and slammed it forward into the wall, cracking the wood plank he’d struck and leaving his knuckles bleeding.

“I can’t do this.”

West grabbed his shoulders and steered him into the kitchen to shove his hand under the faucet.

“What? What can’t you do?”

“I know I’ve been a shitty brother. I missed things I should’ve seen.

I judged our sisters too harshly. I wasn’t always here for them.

But goddammit, I’ve apologized and I’ve tried.

I can’t fix it if they aren’t willing to give me a chance.

They act like we aren’t part of this fucking family, and maybe that’s the way they’d prefer it, but we’re a fucking part of it. ”

I hung my head and blew out a deep breath.

“You’re right.”

“I feel the same way. We all messed up but they aren’t giving us room to make it right.

They’re shutting us out. Just like Reagan.

” West grabbed a handful of paper towels and held them to Mills’ fist. “And if she goes to them to tell them all of her grievances with us, things are just going to get worse. We’re never going to have a relationship with our sisters.

They’re going to invite Reagan and our son to their homes and events and eventually Lucky will be old enough to wonder why his aunts hate us. ”

I shuddered. “No. This shit has to end.”

“And Reagan?” Mills looked between us. “How do we fix that?”

I didn’t know. It was clear none of us knew what to do. We were in over our heads. Reagan was important to us but I wasn’t sure any of us were ready to label just how important she was. It still felt so new. I wasn’t willing to lose her, though. She was meant to be with us, with Lucky.

“We just have to make it clear to all of them that Reagan is ours and that we’re human.

We make mistakes but that’s no excuse to get together and shut us out.

If we’re willing to talk about shit, they should be, too.

Things have to change. With all of us.” West shot Mills a look.

“You need to apologize again for the stupid shit you said. And then we need to make it clear to Reagan and our sisters that we’re fucking trying.

That deserves a little effort from them, too. ”

“So, we’re going to the diner?” Mills grabbed a kitchen towel and tied it around his knuckles. “I’m not going to make a scene this time.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” I smirked at the dirty look Mills shot my way. “Let’s go get our family.”