Swink (Landry Family 5)

“How many of our things did our parents miss? None. See my point?”

“I guess.”

“You’re just loving the way you know how to love. It’s just, with Dominic, he does things that aren’t as . . . normal, maybe, as the rest of the world we’re used to. And he loves by keeping you from having to deal with a lot of things that are really present in his reality.”

Letting the blanket drop from my chin, I pick up a cucumber slice. “He always says we’re too different. That we’ll always face these problems. Maybe he’s right, Sienna.”

“Maybe that’s a whole bunch of bullshit.”

“What’s bullshit?”

I turn to see Ford standing in the doorway.

“I was just coming by to do some fishing and saw your car, Sienna. So,” he says, coming out and leaning on the rail, “what’s bullshit?” He eyes me suspiciously, his lips set in a thin, grim line.

“Cam thinks she should give up on Dominic because they’re not seeing eye-to-eye at the moment.”

“It’s not that,” I say, aggravated at my

sister. “I went to Dom’s fight last night.”

“You did?”

“He told me not to and I did it anyway. I’m fine, let’s let that be known before I go on,” I say. “Some chick shoved me and Dom got distracted and got hurt.”

“Is he okay?” Ford asks.

“Yeah. I think. Maybe a broken rib or something. I don’t know because he won’t talk to me.”

“Because you went?”

“Yeah. I should’ve listened and I didn’t. He’s furious . . . and he should be,” I say, wiping away a tear.

Ford takes me in and then surprises me. He smiles.

“Don’t smile,” I warn him. “This isn’t funny.”

“It is, kind of. I’m happy Dominic is standing his ground with you.”

“What?”

“I’m just saying it’s nice having someone look after you instead of us doing it for a change.” Ford stands up and looks at Sienna. “What happened when you moved to LA?”

She groans. “Lincoln went with me to get me settled. Graham called every fucking day, set a limit on my credit card, wouldn’t let me even pay my rent. The one night I stayed out to party, they called my landlord. Fucking idiots.”

“They did?” I laugh.

“She was nineteen,” Ford points out. “Do you guys have any idea how many times we’ve had to bail Lincoln out of things?”

“Yes,” Sienna and I say together. We all laugh.

“What about Barrett? Who do you think did his clean-up? Graham. My point is, we look out for each other. We’re all just . . . dumb . . . in different ways. You haven’t moved away or had a serious relationship or anything like that. So maybe it seems like we’re overprotective. We spend more time with you.”

“Maybe that’s the answer.” I stand up and look at Sienna. “Are you really going to Illinois?”

“I think so,” she says warily. “Why?”

“Maybe I should go with you. I can be your secretary,” I offer. “I just know I can’t stay here if Dom doesn’t want me.”