“We can watch films with our mums and eat ice cream when we go home. Will that help?”
I forgot about everything.
My sore head.
My aching chest.
Drew.
Kale calling her beautiful, smiling at her and acting so differently around her.
I focused on thoughts of playing with Kale and watching films for the rest of the day. I leaned into him and smiled, making everyone chuckle. He knew my response was a silent whopping yes.
“Come on then, let’s go.” He beamed and removed his arm from around my shoulder only to reach down and grasp my hand with his. “We have films to watch, Laney Baby.”
I held onto Kale’s hand tightly and smiled with delight as we left our school. I loved spending time with him, and I loved when he called me Laney Baby. I loved everything about Kale, and I knew that I always would.
He was my best friend, my best not-really big brother and my best protector. He was my best everything. He was mine.
CHAPTER THREE
Day one in York
My heart was pounding against my chest, and my hands got sticky with sweat.
He called me Laney Baby, my mind whispered. Kale Hunt is standing in front of me in the flesh, and he called me Laney Baby.
I felt like I was thrust back into my early years when things were okay with us, when things weren’t . . . arduous. I forced that knowledge to the very back of my mind and willed myself to calm down. I refused to appear as flustered and unprepared for this meeting as I truly was. I knew coming back here heightened the possibilities of running into Kale; I just hadn’t realised it would happen ten minutes after I stepped foot through my parents’ front door.
“How are you?” I asked after a long stretch of silence, my voice formal.
Kale’s lips thinned to a line. “I’m good, kid. You?”
Kid. I wanted to growl that I wasn’t a damn kid any more, but I didn’t. I somehow kept my composure.
“I’ve” – I glanced at my uncle’s coffin, then back to Kale – “been better.”
He frowned and nodded in understanding. “It’s good to have you home.”
Was it? a voice in my head taunted.
“Thanks,” I replied, then lied through my teeth. “It’s good to be back.”
It wasn’t good to be back.
It was absolute torture standing here and acting like I wasn’t hurting all over again. Like my heart didn’t kick into overdrive at the mere sight of him, like my palms didn’t itch as they ached to touch him, like my knees didn’t shake to keep from walking to him, like shivers didn’t dance up and down my spine upon hearing his husky voice, like my lips didn’t want to fucking devour his until there was nothing left in existence but the two of us.
It’s only for a few days, I quickly reminded myself. You can do this.
I remained mute as my family suggested we go into the sitting room so we could “talk”. I went with them because I needed to be away from my uncle for a few moments to gather my thoughts. I was devastated over him, and ripped apart at seeing Kale, and if I didn’t leave the room soon and refocus, I feared I would have a nervous breakdown.
I was the last to enter the sitting room, so I sat on the lounge chair across from everyone else on the huge L-shaped sofa where Lochlan already sat, scowling at me. I pretended not to notice him, even though I was hyper aware of his gaze on me.
My brothers, like my mum and uncle, were fraternal twins, and they had a similar close bond, though they were the polar opposites of one another. Lochlan was temperamental, whereas Layton was calm-headed; their differences balanced them out. I greatly appreciated Layton when Lochlan got angry with me because the thing about my brother was that I could never ignore him when he was mad with me, mainly because he never let me get away with anything, which apparently had followed us into adulthood.
Everyone sat on that sofa with my pissed-off brother except Layton. He slid onto the lounge chair next to me and put his arm around me. I smiled because he was big with muscle, and his sharing the chair with me just squashed my body into his. I didn’t complain, though, I loved the closeness. I had missed this. I had missed him.
Layton was the true peacekeeper in our family, and the only reason I didn’t