Page 71

FIFTEEN

GAVIN

Beckett: Why the duck am I in a car with Aiden and you’re riding with Brooks?

Aiden: Duck you! I’m in this chat, you know.

Beckett: I’m aware. I was hoping you’d see it and stop singing for one ducking second.

Aiden: Finn happens to like my singing.

Beckett: Oh, because my five-year-old likes when you sing Disney songs at the top of your lungs in the car, you think that means the rest of the world isn’t suffering?

Brooks chuckles beside me as the computer in his truck reads us the text messages between my brothers in a monochromatic voice.

“You going to reply to them?” he asks as he pulls off the highway.

All four of us are headed to Ford’s house in Bristol for Daniel’s graduation party. Kid finally finished classes while playing for my hockey team and helping us win the cup. I’m proud of him.

“Nah. They can keep each other occupied.”

“So,” Brooks says, taking his eyes off the road for a moment,“last weekend…”

Affecting a placid expression, I meet his eye. “What about it?”

“We didn’t see you at any of the celebrations. It was like you vanished. What was that about?”

Every one of my brothers has asked, and I’ve been vague thus far. I’m not going to change tactics now, despite how much I hate lying to them. “Just needed to get away.”

Brooks sighs. “You okay?”

I turn to my window and scan the scenery as we pass. It doesn’t matter whether I’m focused on the ocean dotted with boats or the lighthouse in the distance, because all I see is her. In the week since I returned from Paris, I’ve spent every waking moment thinking about her, texting her, listening to her sleepy, raspy, sexy voices while she FaceTimes me from her bed after she gets home from work.

Not kissing her before I left Paris might have been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I kept that promise to myself. I can’t have only a part of her. A relationship based on sex alone would never be enough.

I hum, assuring Brooks that yes, I’m fine, and we continue the trip in silence.

As we pull up to the oversized white stone fortress that Ford calls his home, Brooks ducks low and takes it all in. “Place is sick.”

Again, I hum a response.

“Dude, seriously. Are you okay?”

Brooks has always been the most observant of my brothers. The most sensitive. Why did I think he wouldn’t pick up on this?

The truth is, I am okay. I get to spend the day with my brothers, celebrating my best friend’s son graduating from college. A kid who now plays for my team. A kid I watched grow up. For years, I’ve watched him playing hockey and listened to Ford go on about his talent and his drive. I scouted and drafted him.

But Millie? She’s a completely separate entity.

I didn’t watch her grow up. I saw Daniel at games in New Hampshire or Massachusetts when he was in high school, but I’d never met Millie before that fateful night. Sure, I’d ask Ford how his kids were doing, but the conversation was typically superficial, obligatory.

And now…fuck, now she’s the only thing I can think about.

I take a deep breath and climb out of Brooks’s truck. “I’m fine. Now let’s go get a drink in us before Aiden gets here and starts singing Moana songs.”

Brooks’s deep laugh has me smiling. It’s all going to be fine.

Everything is fine.

“Ah, the boys are here!” Ford croons as we step into the backyard.

The space is mostly covered by a large white tent and dotted with tables. Each one is decorated in Bolts blue and surrounded by gold chairs.

The crowd is already a decent size, though I don’t recognize many of them.

“Daniel has half the team in on a game of flip cup right now, Brooks,” Ford says, holding out his hand to shake my brother’s.

“Congrats.” Brooks slips his hands into his pockets. “I’ll go grab a drink and find the man of the hour.”

As my brother disappears, Ford tilts his head toward the bar. “Whiskey?”

“Place looks gorgeous,” I tell him as I follow him toward the bar. “I’m guessing Lake is due all the credit.”

Ford laughs and eyes me over his shoulder. “She and Kyla actually planned it together.”

I suck in a breath. Of course Daniel’s mom is here today. It’s a big day. But I never would have expected Ford’s ex-wife to get so chummy with his current one.

“Glad everyone is getting along.” Though I wonder what Millie must think of it all. According to her, Kyla is always grumbling about Lake and Ford. And she’s far from the most supportive mother, which is unsurprising. Ford has never had the best things to say about her.

“Thank god for that. Even if Kyla wasn’t on her best behavior, she couldn’t put me in a mood today. My youngest son finally graduated, my oldest son finally got a job, and my baby girl is home.”

My heart stops at his words, and as if on cue, Millie steps out of the house, a platter of food in her hands and a sundress hugging her frame.

When her golden eyes meet mine and light up as bright as this beautiful June day, I know that everything is so not fucking fine.