Len takes the other bottle from my hands as I stand there, frozen in place, certain my mother has never been this disappointed in me before. “Sit down, Lindy.” She pulls out one of the counter stools and pushes me into it, then pours me a glass of wine.
“That’s it, Len. Reward her with more alcohol. Because I’m sure she didn’t have enough last night when she married Easton in a dirty chapel in Las Vegas,” Scarlet taunts and yanks the bottle out of Lenny’s hands, then sets her sights on me. “If you’d at least warned me, I could have gotten in front of this with the press. Haven’t we taught you anything?”
“The press?” I squeak. Then I think about the Philly Press and ESPN articles I saw earlier. Son of a bitch. If there’s already two, there’s bound to be more.
“Yes, Madeline,” Mom snaps like one of those dragons from Game of Thrones before it opens its mouth and decimates an entire city with one fiery breath. “The press. You are one of the wealthiest heiresses in the entire country. An Olympic gold medalist. You have how many million social-media followers? Did you think the press wouldn’t take notice when you married the boy who saved your life? The one who happens to be one of the top goalies in the entire hockey league and whose social-media presence rivals yours?”
Lenny sips her wine. “Maybe if Everly hadn’t posted a picture.”
“Maybe if that stupid Kroydon Kronicles column wasn’t obsessed with the whole group of you . . .” Juliette adds.
“Or maybe if you had behaved like an adult instead of a reckless, irresponsible child.” My mother levels me with a hard stare.
“You know what?” I slowly stand, attempting to hide my rapidly shredding confidence. I should tell them to back off. That I’m twenty-three and have never given them a reason not to trust me or my judgment. Remind them that it’s Easton, and he’d never do anything to hurt me. But I can’t.
Although, I think I needed that last reminder myself.
For a hot second, I think about telling them all to shut up.
But that’s not going to fix anything.
My family doesn’t know how to shut up.
I’m not even sure it would make me feel better.
Instead, I decide to tuck my tail between my legs and act like their version of the adult they want me to be. “I’m sorry I let you down. I’ll talk to Easton, and we’ll get this taken care of.”
I move to leave the kitchen but stop without turning around when my mom calls out my name. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To kiss Brandon and Raven goodbye and grab my dog. I’m exhausted.”
“You’re just going to leave?” Mom’s tone wavers for the first time tonight, and I almost feel bad for what I’ve put her through. Almost. But I don’t. Because this is my life. And not a single person in this room bothered to ask me if I wanted to marry Easton Hayes.
No one asked me if I loved him, or if he loved me.
They’ve all just assumed I was a drunken idiot.
Which, okay, so maybe I was.
But for my entire life, I’ve been the good girl. The smart girl. The girl who trained harder, longer, and more often than anyone else. I’ve been the perfect daughter. Perfect partner. And the perfect Kingston. What I’ve never been is irresponsible.
I deserved more from them than this tonight. But I’m not going to waste my breath trying to argue that point because everyone in this room still sees a baby instead of a grown woman. And married or not, that’s not going to change.
I walk out of the kitchen and find Brandon leaning against the wall at the end of the hall, silently listening. His strong arms are crossed over his chest, but when he sees me, he immediately opens them and pulls me in for a hug. “Hey, shortcake. How are you feeling?”
“Like I just got run over by a stampede of wild horses.” I bury my face against him and somehow manage not to cry. “I’ve never seen her so mad before.”
“Your mom’s just worried about you. This isn’t like you, Lindy. Hell, it’s not like Easton either. What’s going on?”
I close my eyes and soak in my stepfather’s strength. “I’m not actually sure yet.”
Brandon kisses the top of my head, then rests his chin there.
My lip trembles while I fight back the tears.
“Guess you better figure that out then, shouldn’t you?”
I nod. “Yeah. I guess I should.”
The apartment is dark and quiet when Myrtle and I get home later that night. My lazy little bulldog moves surprisingly fast when she runs into our living room, sticks her fat face in her toy basket, pulls out her favorite stuffed dinosaur dressed in a Kings jersey, then settles on her fluffy bed in front of the fireplace, and starts snoring within seconds. She was never a super-active dog, but she’s definitely slowed down a bit this year. She and I have been together since I was fifteen, and I may actually love her more than a few members of my family.
Okay, well, maybe just Maddox.
I grab a bottle of water out of the kitchen and make sure the place is locked up before heading to my room. Judging by the lights out, I guess everyone crashed early, which sounds pretty good to me. “Lindy . . .” I stop at Kenzie’s door. It’s cracked open with a soft glow coming through.
“Hey.”
She closes her laptop and makes room for me next to her. “How were the moms?”
“Even Juliette was there.” I pull back her blanket and crawl into bed next to her. “They’re all so mad at me, Kenz.”
“Kinda like you were with Easton earlier?”
“Touché.” I link my pinky with hers and lay my head on her pillow. “I’m sorry. I know I put you in a funky spot. I just wish I could remember last night. He remembered everything but refused to tell me any of it. Then told me he wouldn’t give me an annulment. I was just so mad. I still am. But I’m not sure if I’m mad at him or at myself.”
She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t need to. The look on her face is enough.
“I know I didn’t handle it well. But Kenz, it’s Easton. Easton,” I plead and hope she understands what I’m saying.
It’s easy to close my eyes and go right back to that night.
To the way he held me while that psychotic man held a gun to my head.
The way he kept us both safe.
To all the phone calls all the nights since.
“It’s Easton, Kenz,” I plead again. “There’s no playbook for this. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
She shoves a hand under her face and shocks me when she smiles.
“Why are you smiling?”
She rolls her lips together, then smiles again. “Because, Linds. It’s like you said. It’s Easton. Easton and you. Technically, we’re sisters now.”
“Yeah.” I tug the blanket up higher. “I guess we are.” I cringe because I always wanted this. But never this way.
“Just try to keep an open mind when you talk to him. If I know my brother, there’s more to it. But you need to talk to him to get the answers you want.” She rolls over and clicks off the light on the nightstand. “Go to sleep, Linds.”
“How am I supposed to sleep when I’ve got the distinct impression you know more than you’re telling me?” I toe off my fuzzy socks under the blanket, then pull my hoodie over my head and toss it to the floor. “I really wish one of you Hayes siblings would fill me in.”
“Try calling him tomorrow. Maybe you’ll get your answers.”
Yeah. Maybe I will.