Page 85 of The Best I Never Had

A little sob escapes her. “Yeah. I’m so certain of him, but what about the rest of them? No one else wants me in this family. His opinion should be the only one that matters, but I don’t know how to stop caring about them liking me. I don’t know if I can handle spending my life as an outsider in my own family.”

“Why do you think you’re an outsider?”

“They want nothing to do with me. I try, but I can’t keep up. It’s like a constant battle of wits and teasing, and by the time I get up the nerve to say something, they’ve already moved on to a different topic. I can tell they think I’m boring, and that only makes me more nervous. How do I ever break out of that cycle?”

Addy’s not boring, but she is closed off to new people. If it was hard to break the perfect facade with our foster siblings who she knew were going to be out of our lives in a handful of months, it probably feels impossible to break it with Harrison’s family—her dream materialized as flesh and blood. But those who are patient with her find the most precious jewel.

“Give it time,” I say, twisting her on my lap so she can see me. “You love this man. Don’t give him up because his family takes some time to warm up.”

“I wish I was more like you,” she says, eyes trained on the comforter.

I guffaw. “Oh yeah, who wouldn’t want to be a mess who constantly screws up and embarrasses themselves in front of the family.”

Addy’s body tenses. “Of course you see it that way.”

The words are quiet, almost incomprehensible. I open my mouth to ask what she means when a knock interrupts us. Camila is there when I open the door.

“Hey! We never got to talk yesterday. You free?” She looks over my shoulder, her posture stiffening. Addy’s at the mirror, frantically wiping away the mascara streaked down her face. “I can come back later.”

Addy sighs. “Might as well come in. Everyone’s already seen me at my worst.”

Camila slips inside, walking over to Addy and pulling her into a hug. Addy’s eyes are wide when they meet mine over her shoulder.

“Your sister was missing,” Cami says. “I’d think worse of you if you weren’t a mess.”

The tension in Addy’s body releases, and she relaxes into the hug. “Thank you.”

Camila holds on for a few more seconds before letting her go.

“What’s up, Cami?” I ask.

She shoots a furtive glance at Addy. “Can we talk, just the two of us?”

Addy scoffs, looking up to the ceiling and shaking her head. “Yup. I’ll go.”

“Addy,” I call, following behind her as she walks for the door. “I can talk to Cami later. We should finish our conversation.”

Her fist closes around the door handle. “It’s fine. You talk. I need to shower anyway.”

She’s gone before I can say anything else.

“Is she okay?” Camila asks behind me, and I spin on her.

“No, she’s not okay. Can’t you make even the smallest bit of effort to get to know her?”

Cami’s eyes widen at my tone. “Can she make an effort to get to know me? You think we haven’t tried to talk to her? She’s not like you. She just stands there and smiles. This is the first real emotion I’ve seen from her.”

“Because she’s anxious as fuck that you all won’t accept her,” I spit out. “And you telling her to leave so you can talk to me only makes it worse.”

Camila’s body deflates, and she drops onto the bed. “Shit, I didn’t think about it like that.”

No one in this family thinks about it. It’s a sign of just how secure their relationships were growing up.

“Yeah, well, now you should,” I say, the last of my anger seeping out.

Camila nudges me with her foot. “I’ll work on it.”

I drop into the chair, propping my feet on the bed next to her. “Now, can you please tell me why you’ve stalked me for the past two days?”