Always Only You by Chloe Liese (z-lib.org).epub

then finally says, “Do you know if she’s into you?”
“Well, I didn’t think so. But something she said the other night made me
think maybe? At least maybe she’d be open to it?”
I tell them about our conversation over takeout at her place, and when I
finish, they’re all staring at me with these wide grins.
“What?” I ask.
Ryder slaps his hands together and rubs them in excitement. “Okay, we’ve
got lots to work with here.”
Oliver and Viggo start talking over each other, clamoring to share their two
cents.
Axel holds up a hand, silencing everyone. “Before we form a plan of attack,
I have to ask. Have you told us everything we need to know?”
“Well, I guess there’s one part I forgot to mention. She’s living with me
temporarily.”
Ryder’s jaw drops. Axel’s eyes widen. Viggo and Oliver blink at me in
shock. And then all four of them explode with advice, frantically yelling over
each other. I open up my phone’s notepad. Make them take turns. Break up six
different fights when they disagree on tactic.
As Ax predicted, it’s anything but brief, and by the time I’m jotting down
Axel’s tenth point, while cross-referencing it to Ryder’s somewhat conflicting
advice, the noise of a car pulling in front of my house makes all of us freeze.
“Dewberries!” I hiss.
Oliver snorts. “Did you just say—”
“That’s her!”
I slap the computer shut on Ryder and Axel. Oliver and Viggo stand,
clumsily bumping fronts as they try to escape their chairs. They stumble over
each other, down the stairs to the sand and around the side of the house just as
Frankie walks into the kitchen. Her eyes travel to the deck, taking in the giant
pile of food my brothers left on the table. She raises an eyebrow, but before I can
so much as wave hello, she’s gone, out of sight.
I stare after her, like a dumbstruck idiot, hearing all my brothers’ thoughts
ricocheting in my head, their voices warring with each other about what I should
do next. Anxiety and nerves tighten my stomach. What do I do? Which move is
the right one to make?
Frankie tugs open the sliding door, and Pazza bounds out, sprinting toward
the shore. She smiles up at me, starlight dancing over her skin.
My brothers’ voices die away. The ocean breeze wraps around us. And the
answer is crystal clear. “How about a moonlit stroll, Francesca?”
Her smile deepens as she slips her arm through mine, without saying a word.