Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
“Kayla,” Mom scolds.
“Too soon?” I say innocently.
But really, it’s not. We’ve all grown, each of us individually and as a family, in the best possible ways and we each have things happening, some good and some bad. That’s how it goes. No matter how you plan or prepare for it, life happens.
Seemingly struck by the sudden changes coming at us from every direction, Mom whispers, “My babies are all growing up.”
“Yes, they are,” Dad replies, looking around the table proudly. “But I think they’re all going to be alright.” Dad’s eyes land on Mom, looking at her like she’s the one who got us all here, not to the finish line, but to the starting line of a new phase in the Harrington legacy.
On the way home, I joke, “So, that’s my family.”
“You warned us and yet, it was somehow still more overwhelming than you said it would be,” Maddox teases, “but you were amazing.”
The praise feels good, not because I need their validation but because I respect their opinions.
“I nearly killed your brother,” Riggs grunts.
“Which one?”
“All of them at one point or another,” he answers, a devious glint in his eyes. “But mostly Chance. It wasn’t until he said he didn’t want you to get hurt that I understood where he was coming from. I’d do stupid things to protect my sister too.” The declaration is said with all seriousness and I don’t doubt that he means it.
Riggs doesn’t talk about his sister a lot, but everything he has said about her leads me to believe that he loves her deeply. Given I’ve felt the intensity of how he loves, I imagine he would do a lot more than ‘stupid things’ to protect her. He’d do literally anything.
Much like my own brother would do for me.
While our conversation tonight was difficult, I was confident Chance would eventually concede. He respects me enough to push back when he feels it’s warranted, but his intrinsic sense of right and wrong means that he would never truly abandon any of us. Me especially.
And it means a lot to me that Riggs understands why Chance reacted the way he did, because between Riggs and Maddox, Riggs is the one who will hold the grudge against my brother longer. He’s like me in that way—wary after being hurt. But Riggs doesn’t need to worry about Chance. He and I will be okay now, and I hope that one day, Riggs is okay with him too.
“And now, we’ll do crazy things to you…” Maddox’s eyes drip over me, so heavy with intention I can feel the caress like a physical touch before he grins and corrects himself. “I mean, for you. Like family dinners, weddings, baby showers.”
He watches my face as he lists out all the upcoming events that were planned out tonight. I see how he moves now… poking here, prodding there, and all the while smiling and laughing like he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
But I know exactly what he’s doing, so I answer the question he’s really asking. “I’m happy for them all. I still would’ve been even if I were alone, but admittedly, feeling like I’m not being left behind helps.”
“You were never behind,” Maddox says. “There’s no race, no deadline, no pressure from anyone but yourself. You’re doing things in your own time and in your own way, the same as everything else in your life, which if you haven’t noticed, seems to be working out pretty fucking well.”
I laugh at the blunt assessment. He’s right, of course. I am doing well for myself. No disclaimers needed. Not well for a woman, or for a Harrington, or for my age, or compared to anyone else.
I’m doing my best.
I’m happy with Riggs and Maddox.
I’m excited to experience our next steps together, whether it’s an evening at home, a night out, a weekend in the woods, or… I can’t believe I’m saying this, a hockey game.
I give Maddox a pointed look. “Seems like that doesn’t only apply to me, Mr. Pro Hockey Player. You’re doing okay too.”
Riggs grumbles something that sounds like ‘most of the time’, and Maddox chuckles. “It’s okay, big guy. She likes you too.”
Riggs’s grumpiness starts to turn, his lips tilting up. “Yeah, she does. More than you.”
“Holy fuck, was that a joke?” Maddox moans fearfully. Looking at me in mock terror, he says, “He’s joking again. I don’t like it. Make it stop.”
I hope it never stops. I hope we spend the rest of our days talking and laughing and loving. And not caring whether other people understand our relationship.
We understand, and that’s all that matters.
MADDOX
I’ve done the math and there’s approximately forty gazillion ways this could go wrong. It’s gonna have to be one of those ‘fake it till you make it’ type deals, for both me and Riggs. But especially for Riggs.