RAMSAY.

Scout was waiting for us on a dock outside the most magnificent log building I’d ever seen. There were punching bags outside and weights, so I figured this was the gym his uncle had built for him. There were a bunch of cars in a small parking lot and some guys outside jumping rope, but Scout looked freshly showered in swim shorts, a muscle tee, and a bag over his shoulder.

Another man was walking toward the building, and when we pulled up, I got another surprise.

My uncle and aunt loved him—like, loved, loved him. Each hugged him as if he were a lost-long son. Uncle Nick was asking how his fight went the night before and looking as if he were a teenager. I’d never seen him like that.

My mom shot me a look, her eyebrows up, and I only shrugged. She didn’t need to know this guy reminded me of Max and that was what had sent me home from school early on my first day. I knew my mom. The mama bear claws would come out, and she’d make my aunt choose: her niece or her sons’s friend. After the year we had, Mom didn’t bullshit around anymore.

“Scout, you hungry, honey?” My aunt had returned to the table and was unwrapping some of the food.

He grinned an almost lopsided grin, stepping toward her. “I mean, I did eat, but . . .”

She laughed. “Okay. You sit. I’m assuming you’ve met my niece. And this is my sister, Christina. We’ll get some food for you.”

He shot me a look, his face blank and his eyes guarded. When he turned to my mom, he gave her an almost shy nod with a small smile. “Hello, Mrs. Williams.”

“Oh goodness. Just Chris, how about?”

The shy look had worked on my mom. I could see her melting, and she stepped forward, giving him a small hug before indicating their couches. “Sit, sit, sit. You want a sandwich?” She raised her voice. “Anyone else want a sandwich?” “Uh . . .” Trenton stepped over to his dad, throwing his arm around my uncle’s shoulders. “Pops, Mom.” He gave them a disarming smile. “I know we ate, but we were thinking since we’ve been swimming and being active and—”

Alex stepped forward. “Pike’s Pizza is like five miles from here.”

“What’s Pike’s Pizza?” I asked Cohen, my voice low.

“It’s a local pizza and barbeque spot on the river,” he explained. “A lot of boaters like stopping by. They bring the food out to you. Also great for bathroom breaks.” I nodded. Score. I was sold. I shot my hand up. “I gotta pee.”

There was a smattering of choked laughter, and my uncle blinked, gripping the steering wheel for a second. Jesus. He was weirded out by that?

I snorted. “Be thankful you don’t have a daughter or that I’m not bleeding right now.”

“Ramsay!” came swiftly from my mother, but she was grinning.

My aunt was laughing.

My uncle looked like he wished a wormhole would open and swallow him, but he nodded. “We can make a stop. That’s fine.” Trenton shot a fist in the air. “Yes! Score one for the Pussy Republic.” He winked and snapped his fingers at me.

I didn’t care. I really did have to go to the bathroom. Alex and Trenton got up to sit in the back section with Scout.

Cohen seemed to be dozing off next to me, so I moved over to where Alex had been sitting.

Clint turned my way. “What was that about before?”

I’d been hoping to put this off and have no drama until—I didn’t know, when I wasn’t around? But that was the coward’s way out.

I sighed and told him. Everything.

“Are you kidding me?” His eyes were stormy and dark, violence seeping from them. He glared toward the back of the boat. “I’m going to fuck him up.”

“Cohen said Scout felt bad about what he said, that he’d never do it. What I said was messed up too. I mean, think about it, Clint. I was going to toy with Cohen’s sister. You know me. I’d never do that either.” “That dickhead needs to stay away from you. How about that? That’s what I’m thinking.”

“What’s going on?”

Cohen had woken up. He turned to me, and those eyes went on alert. “What’d you do?”

I sat up because screw him if he was going to blame me for this. “You talked to me and my cousin noticed. Just like you’re not going to lie for your ‘brother’, I’m not going to lie to my cousin.”

He scowled, scooting forward, his arms loose at his sides. “You told him? Everything?”

“Yep.”

“He was going to fuck me up or one of my brothers?” Clint asked Cohen, slowly standing though our boat was still moving over the water. Cohen stood too, his hands flexing into fists. “It wasn’t like that. He was talking shit.”

“He was talking shit to my cousin about me and my brothers. How’s that okay with you?”

Cohen lowered his head, a flush working its way up his neck. This one wasn’t from the sun or the rum.

“He was nervous. She saw what I did—”

“And my telling both of you that she was cool wasn’t good enough? That’s where he messed up. He didn’t need to go to her or say what he did. He started this, not her.”

“What’s going on?”

Lovely. Stupendous. Scout had joined the conversation. The pontoon slowed. We were nearing a bank, but all eyes and ears were on Clint, who didn’t waste his words. “You threatened my cousin, and when she didn’t fall in line, you doubled down and threatened me and Trent. That’s what’s going on.”

“What the fuck?” Alex joined the conversation, coming up from behind Scout. He moved to stand next to Clint. “That true?”

Scout opened his mouth.

My cousin beat him to it. “I said it. You know it’s true.” Scout closed his mouth, but his dark gaze found me.

I felt punched by his look. The anger made his eyes glitter. Then Alex moved forward, blocking his view. “You don’t need to look her way. Ever.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Fuck, it’s not like that. I saw the way you looked at her,” Alex countered.

“Come on, guys,” Cohen pleaded.

“He threatened her, and then he threatened us. How are you okay with that?”

“She threatened my sister.”

I jumped to my feet.

“I told him she was cool,” Clint argued. “It didn’t need to go there. He fucked that up, not her.”

“What are you all talking about?” That was my uncle.

We had parked at a dock, and it was obvious something was going down. Alex spoke up, his voice sounding strained and unnatural, “It’s nothing. Just . . . high school friendship shit.”

“It sounds like more than that,” my mother said.

“It’s really stupid petty high school stuff, Aunt Chris,” Trenton said. “Let us all sort it out and everything will be fine.”

“Off the boat,” Clint added, through gritted teeth.

Scout led the way, brushing past me, his gaze ominous as he caught the side of the boat and launched himself over. I ignored the shiver that went down my spine and moved to follow because I wasn’t going to get blamed for this whole thing. Clint stopped me with a hand on my stomach so he could go next. Instead of jumping over the side, he went through the gate and stepped off the boat like a normal person. Alex was next, giving me a look. “Let us handle this.”

I opened my mouth, but Trenton cut me off. “This is more between us because we’re all friends. That’s all.”

I closed my mouth.

Cohen brought up the rear, and all five guys headed down the dock and up a small hill, disappearing behind a row of trees.

“Ramsay?” My uncle’s voice was serious.

I turned slowly. He glanced to where the guys had gone. “Is that a situation I need to interrupt?” Oh man. That’d be the icing on the cake—my sending an adult. I shook my head quickly. “No. It’s not like that. They’ll figure it out. It’s just a situation where someone should’ve listened and they didn’t. That’s all.” I tried to tell myself that was all it was.

My aunt and mom shared a look, and my mom came toward me, her arms open. I went to her side and burrowed into her. She nuzzled my ear. “How about us girls go get a table? And I’m going to ignore how I know you kids have been sneaking drinks. That sound like a plan?”

That sounded wonderful. I could do with some aunt-and-mother-daughter bonding time, at least until I saw the fallout from what was going on behind those trees. I wrapped an arm around my mom’s waist and hugged her tight. “That sounds great, Mom.”

I felt her lips move up in a smile as she pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I love you, honey. Don’t ever forget that.”

I wouldn’t. “I love you too.”

Aunt Aileen joined the hug, coming up from behind to put an arm around both of us. “Don’t leave the only other girl out here. I need some sisterly-niece lovey times too.” We laughed and opened up. Aunt Ailes snuggled right into the middle. As we walked up the dock, my mom’s hand found mine. She gave me a gentle smile.

In a way, this was a perfect ending right here. Then we walked into Pike’s Pizza, and that moment came to an abrupt stop.

My aunt Aileen froze as we stepped inside. “Oh no.”

“What?” My mom took a small step backward. “Oh no.”

This sent alarm signals through my body, but there wasn’t anyone or anything out of the ordinary that I could see . . . families sitting and eating. Some little kids running around. There were other teenagers in the back, and I frowned, wondering if I knew them from school?

Aunt Ailes whispered, almost to herself, “I can’t believe she’s here.”

She? What?

My mom glanced my way but spoke to her sister. “Ailes, Ramsay.” My aunt sucked in a breath, blinking back sudden tears. She reached up, pressing her fingers to the corner of her eyes and nodding. “Yes. You’re right, but Chris . . .” Her whisper was agonizing to hear. “I can’t be here. I can’t . . . see her. I can’t. Oh God. Nick is coming in too. This is going to be a disaster.”

The door opened at the end of her statement. Nick came inside, and the door shut behind him. In the back was a woman at a table with a man who was probably her husband. They had a teenage girl with them and two little boys. No one but the older woman reacted when they saw Nick. She froze, her eyes getting big, and the blood drained from her face. Her husband was laughing at something one of the little boys said when he noticed his wife’s reaction.

His gaze followed hers, and in seeing Nick, he jerked upright in his chair. The girl noticed her parents and frowned, confused. She started looking around. Seeing us at the door, she said something to her mom.

Mom’s hand touched my arm. “Honey, let’s go to the back patio.”

I didn’t move. “What’s going on?” I pulled my gaze away from the family and focused on my mom, then my aunt and uncle.

Uncle Nick’s eyes were riveted to that table, and he cursed, stepping back. The husband was coming toward us.

Uncle Nick growled, “I don’t need this right now. Get her out of here.” My mom and I stiffened, but neither of us responded to the order.

But the guy was on us now, and Nick held up a hand. “My family is here—”

The guy’s voice was harsh, almost shrill. “So’s mine. We were here first. You leave.”

“What?” Uncle Nick looked ready to stand his ground.

The guy swung his gaze around, skimming over my mom and me, and landed on my aunt. “How can you be okay with this? What he did—” My uncle surged forward. “I said I have family with me.”

The husband jerked back, getting right in his face. “And I said so do I. We were here first.”

“So you can finish and leave early. Makes more sense than my turning around and telling my three teenage sons and their two friends that suddenly we’re not getting pizza here.”

“Okay.” Aunt Aileen stepped between them. She touched my uncle’s stomach, though she was mostly turned toward the husband. “If we leave, it’ll raise questions. We’ll go to the back patio. Let’s all try to ignore each other, okay?”

Uncle Nick shook his head and cursed once more before swinging around. “I can’t do this.” He went back outside.

The wife came to a stop just short of our group. Aunt Aileen paled and her mouth trembled. My mom took charge, grabbing my arm in a firm hold and reaching for her sister as well. “Okay. Enough of this. I’ve got a very curious and intelligent daughter, so prepare for this to get out. In the meantime, you guys go to your table. We’ll go outside, and let’s all pretend none of us is here.”

The husband seemed flustered, his chest rising. “We were here fir—” My mom whirled on him. “Your wife cheated too. There are guilty parties on both sides, and hurt parties right next to them. Play your part and ignore us. We’ll do the same.”

My mom ushered my aunt and me past the hostess and out to the patio. I felt the floor tilting under me as I walked. What? There was a large empty table on the patio, so that was where we went. A waitress tried to intervene, but my mom had words with her. Aunt Aileen took my hand and led me the rest of the way to the table.

There were still dishes on it, so my aunt started clearing them. Two girls hurried over and began cleaning around us.

“You guys didn’t totally come out here because of what happened to your father,” she told me. “It was for me too.” She watched the back door of the restaurant, a haunted look in her eyes. “Nick had an affair. I found out six months ago, and that woman isn’t even supposed to be here. She and her husband live in the city. They work together, she and Nick. I thought . . . Why is she here? This is where we live. Why?”

I reached over, taking her hand and holding it tight.

She moved her other hand on top of mine, grasping like I was a lifeline. Tears filled her eyes and she shook her head, talking to herself. “It doesn’t make sense that she’d be here. Unless . . . Oh God, unless she was hoping to see him again. But . . .” Suddenly, she jerked and went stiff. She looked me in the eyes. “The boys don’t know.”

My stomach tightened, and so did my hand between hers.

She shook her head, patting my hand. “Don’t worry. You’ve had too much to shoulder over the last year. I won’t ask you to keep this from them. I think it’s time it got out anyway. The boys have started noticing things. Clint asked the other day why his father was sleeping in the guest house. I told him it was because he snored, but he’s too smart of a boy. I’m sure he has suspicions.” Her voice broke, and she took a deep breath. “My boys. They’re going to be so angry. They always rally. They’re going to rally all over again. They shouldn’t have to. I was hoping this wouldn’t get out, and they go to college next year.”

I was speechless, but my hand in hers seemed to be helping more than any words possibly could. She stopped crying. They finished cleaning the table around us, and I wasn’t even going to think about what they thought or might have overheard. My mom came to the table with a pitcher of margaritas. The waitress she’d been talking to followed with water and a basket of something. Bread, maybe?

Mom put the pitcher down and sat directly across from us. Her eyes questioned me, wondering how I was. I gave her a small smile because, what else was there to do? “We need to do this more,” I told them.

Both my aunt and mom frowned at me.

“Us three ladies,” I explained. “I think we need some girls’ nights.” My aunt started laughing, and my mom grinned back at me. “We’ll do it next Saturday night at our house. The boys can fend for themselves for a night.”

“I’m not going to say anything today.” I looked at both of them. “There’s enough drama going on.”

They both nodded, seeming relieved. We sat and sipped our drinks, but Uncle Nick never came to the table. No one asked where he went. The guys joined us thirty minutes later. They sat at the end of the table, and I didn’t look at them. After finding out about my uncle’s affair, Scout’s hatred seemed petty.

Everything seemed petty.

A family was almost ripped apart.

Just like mine.