“That’s it?” Avery asks. “Now we just wait?”
I nod once. “Now, we wait.”
“Where is he?”
I yank Stephen by his arm and close the front door behind him. “He locked himself in his room, and he won’t talk to me. I don’t know what happened.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead, and turns for the stairs. “I’ll try to get him to open up.”
I shoot a warning glare at Alyssa, who’s practically buzzing around me like a neurotic bird. “Keep it together,” I whisper.
“I’m trying!” she whisper-yells back. “Youkeep it together.”
God, I am so bad at this.But my plan seems to be working. All I need is for Chance to get here so this can come to a head.
While Stephen is upstairs trying to coax Avery to open his bedroom door, Chance pulls up to the house.
Show time.
My heart is in my throat as he barrels through the door. “He’s here? Is he okay?”
I nod. “He’s upstairs, but?—”
Chance takes off up the stairs, and I run after him. He stops short when he gets to the top step, and his hand tightens around the banister.
Stephen’s head whips around, and his jaw clenches. “He won’t open the door.”
“So, we’ll break it down.” Chance rolls up his sleeves. “Avery, we’re coming in one way or another. You can open this door right now, or I will take it off the damn hinges.”
The door flies open, and Avery’s wide eyes meet mine. “Tell him, Aunt Presley!”
Stephen and Chance flick their gazes to me, and I swallow the dry lump in my throat.
“Surprise!” Alyssa shouts.
Oh, God.
Stephen tilts his head. “Huh?”
Chance pinches the bridge of his nose. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What?” Stephen glances between the two of us. “What’s going on?”
“We tricked you!” Alyssa squeezes past me and stands in the middle of my two men. “We hate that you’re fighting, and we knew we couldn’t get you to talk to each other, so we came up with a plan to get you both here at the same time.”
Stephen arches a brow at me. “You lied to us?”
I give him a sheepish smile. “I call itstrategic persuasion.”
Chance grunts. “That’s messed up. You used the kid against us.”
Avery holds up his index finger. “I gave my consent. Come on, hasn’t this gone on long enough? You guys need to talk it out.”
Chance glares at me. “I’ve been wanting to talk. It’s not me you had to persuade. It’s him. And tricking him isn’t the way to do that.”
He turns and heads back downstairs, and my heart drops to the floor. “Stephen, please. Stop him. Talk to him.”
But his phone goes off in his pocket, and he pulls it out to glance at the screen. “Fuck, it’s Aarya.”