Page 81 of Come Back To Me

Jackson must have told her because I hadn’t brought it up yet. “Yeah. I don’t know why I did that.”

“It’s okay to admit that you care about him, Kenzi.”

“But I feel like I don’t know him.”

And yet my reaction to him was always so impulsive.

“Then get to know him.” Maddy made it sound so simple, and maybe she was right. Maybe I was the one overcomplicating things. Me and my need to figure everything out all at once.

“Something happened between us last year, didn’t it?”

Maddy wasn’t taken aback by my question. In fact, she looked relived that I’d finally asked her.

“I think you should find out for yourself.”

Talk about helpful.

“How am I supposed to do that when I don’t remember a damn thing, Maddy?”

“Get to know him,” she repeated. “Maybe you’ll find the answers you’re looking for.”

“Why won’t you just tell me?”

“Because it’s not my story to share, babe. It’s yours.”

“And Vaughan’s,” I added. When Maddy didn’t refute it I felt a small sense of victory, a step in the right direction. Since it was obvious that Maddy wasn’t going elaborate any further, I changed the topic.

“So, how are things with you and Jackson?”

Her face lit up. “They’re really good, actually. He has his moments, and I know I have mine, but we’ve become better at communicating this time around.”

“So more sex then?” I teased.

“It’s so much more this time,” she replied quietly. “Before, I was pretty sure I was the one who felt more than just the need to rip each other’s clothes off all the time. Jackson was happy to fool around and leave it at that. But now, it’s like we’re both on the same page and we both want the same thing.”

“I’m happy for you,” I told her. “You’re a saint for willingly putting up with him.” It was no secret that the men in my family could be difficult, and I thought any woman brave enough to get involved with a Davis man deserved a medal.

“You’d be surprised by what you’d do for someone you love.”

I wanted to say ‘I wouldn’t know’ but for whatever reason it felt like I’d be lying.

Maddy and I chatted for a while longer, and I was about ready to collapse face first on top of my bed when there was a knock at the front door. Maddy appeared in the doorway of her bedroom, but I told her to go back to bed. When I opened the door, I saw it was Liam. His lip was swollen from the knock head taken from Aiden earlier that morning, but he was sporting a black eye and a bruised cheek too.

“I know it’s late, Squirt…”

I held the door open for him and shut it when he walked in.

“Can I make you some coffee?”

I had a feeling it was going to be a long night. Liam hardly ever came to me for anything so the fact that he was here meant he needed to talk.

He nodded and fell on to the sofa with a tired huff while I busied myself in the kitchen. I passed him a mug of coffee and then sat down beside him, crossing my legs as I faced him. I sipped my own java, watching Liam closely. He was an identical twin but he had a spitfire personality, always going with the flow, never allowing anything to get him down. Out of all of us, he was the most free-spirited and between him and Aiden my Dad had his fair share of meetings with the principle during their high school years. But right now, my carefree brother looked troubled, the world weighing heavy on his broad shoulders.

“It was the first time I’d ever hit Aiden and actually meant it,” he started. His shoulders were hunched forward, his body rigid with contained frustration. Being the youngest, no one ever expected me to pay attention to much, but after a lifetime of being on the sidelines of a man-dominated household I’d learned to read my siblings. Between Liam and Aiden, Liam was the hothead.

“You’re angry with him,” I murmured, watching him. “You feel like he’s leaving you out because he’s got Staci.”

He turned his head, watching me with eyes like our Dad’s. “Can you suddenly read minds?”