“Change that shit,” Isaiah said as AJ walked into the kitchen from the patio. “I’m sick of hearing about that already.”

Nathan turned with a smile, but his smile waned when his eyes met with Isaiah’s, bounced off AJ’s, then turned back to the television, and he changed the channel.

“What shit?” Rage asked curiously after witnessing the strange exchange between his brothers.

“The same crap that’s been on every sports and tabloid channel since Clair was rushed to the hospital,” Isaiah said, staring into the fridge.

AJ frowned, nodding in agreement. He, too, was tired of seeing and hearing about it. He’d lived it. He didn’t need the constant reminder of that awful day or why his relationship with Addison had taken such a turn. Hearing all the intrusive speculation about who Clair’s dad really was didn’t help his already shitty mood. “Yeah, I’m sick of it too.”

Liv and Lorenzo arrived, and his sister waddled into the kitchen with her husband behind her, carrying little Enzo. “Still no baby?” Isaiah asked.

Liv groaned. “Oh my God, no. I still have at least three more weeks,” she said, holding her sides. “And it’s so hard to sleep now.”

She stopped at the center island, and AJ rubbed her shoulders. She looked positively miserable. Of course, even this made him think of Addison. His sister was surrounded by family who loved her, but there was nothing like having her husband there with her to live and forever share this profound experience of bringing a child into the world.

Addison may’ve had her parents there for her when Clair was born, but it made him sad that, aside from them, she’d been all alone. Little Enzo was born with a touch of jaundice. The doctors had both him and Liv stay an extra night just for observation. He remembered leaving the hospital, feeling glad that her husband stayed there with her both nights. Lorenzo refused to leave until morning when one of them could come and relieve him just long enough for him to go home and shower, but he was right back there with her the rest of the time.

Even if Addison had only had to stay the one night, she’d still likely have been there alone overnight. When Clair was first admitted to the hospital after her allergic reaction, AJ, too, refused to leave that first night and even the next day until Addison insisted he should get back to his team. But he’d been glad to have at least been there that first night with her. She’d had her parents too, and still AJ could feel how much she’d needed him there with her.

“So, it’s really true about you and Addison?” Lorenzo asked as Isaiah took little Enzo from him. “You two broke up?

AJ nodded then kissed his sister’s head. “For now,” he said, taking a deep breath. “She’s got a lot to deal with right now. And she wants to focus on getting Clair better. But it’s not for good. I have the playoffs I need to focus on too right now, so it sort of works out that we’re taking a breather.”

Fortunately, the subject was changed when Emi and Sydney arrived, and everyone oohed over her lime-cream cheese-and-pineapple Jell-O. It was everyone’s favorite. No sooner had she set it down on the counter than the forks were pulled out and they all started picking at it.

They all ended up outside eventually, where Isaiah manned the grill. It wasn’t until Vince and Rosie arrived that the subject of Addison was brought up again. Rosie wanted to know how Clair was doing.

“She’s not still blaming you, is she?” Emi asked with frown.

“She blamed you?” Liv asked, turning to AJ.

AJ could only conclude Emi, who typically shared everything with Liv, had kept this from her since he’d been so broken up when she’d called him and he told her about it. Emi probably didn’t want to upset Liv in her condition, and the day he’d spoken with Emi about it he’d been a fucking mess.

“I’m the one who let Clair have the ice cream they think caused the allergic reaction.”

“Think,” Emi said, lifting a brow. “They still don’t know for sure, but even if that was the case, it’s not like you did it on purpose. I can understand her being so upset and all, but I still think it sucks that she reacted that way.”

“How’d she react?” Liv asked as everyone’s eyes flicked back and forth from Emi’s to AJ’s.

Emi had been the only one who’d heard him so broken up that day Addison had told him to leave the hospital. He’d later spoken to his brothers, but he’d been much calmer, and Addison had already called to apologize for her reaction.

“Like a witch—”

“Hey!” AJ said before Emi could finish.

“No offense, AJ, but don’t tell me it doesn’t piss you off if anyone hurts or messes with one of your siblings.”

AJ stared at her for a moment, pressing his lips together, because there was no way he could argue with that. He turned to Liv. “She was upset and asked me to leave the hospital when I told her about it. But as soon as she calmed down, she called me to apologize, and it’s all good now.”

“Is it?” Emi asked, peering at him. “So why are you two still broken up?”

“Because she blames herself, Em.” AJ walked around the outside bar and opened up the fridge. “She thinks her social life distracted her from her number-one priority. So she wants to focus completely on Clair. She has no time for a social life right now. I have to respect her wishes on this.”

“I know half those stories on that tabloid show TNT are exaggerated if not completely false,” she said, holding her glass out for Sydney to pour her some lemonade, “but I’m curious. What did she have to say about the photos they keep talking about of her leaving the bar down at Gaslamp with that guy the other night?”

Isaiah groaned under his breath, but AJ heard it and turned to him then back at Emi. “What photos?”

“You haven’t seen them?” Emi asked, glancing at Isaiah then back at AJ “They’ve been all over—”

“I stopped watching that shit days ago,” he said, walking over to grab the remote to the outdoor TVs mounted in the bar area and flip through the channels. “They kept repeating the same shit. What channel is that damn show on?”

“I don’t know,” Isaiah said. “But who cares; it’s probably all bullshit anyway.”

AJ put the remote down when he couldn’t find anything and patted his pockets, searching for his phone. Then he remembered he’d left it inside. Knowing how unlikely it was that Addison would be calling him, he hadn’t given a shit about missing any calls or texts.

“I need my phone,” he said, setting his beer down and stalking around the bar.

“Em,” he heard Isaiah say, as he got further away from them, then something about AJ having a playoff game in just a few days and how he didn’t need to be thinking about this stuff. As soon as AJ had his phone in his hand, he tapped away at the screen. He was pretty sure he already knew who Addison might’ve met up with, but it still pissed him off that she’d keep it from him. Not that she’d been saying a whole lot to him these last couple of days, but still.

After entering the main key words—TNT, photos of Addison Lara, Gaslamp—he waited. The moment he saw the first photo he felt his insides light up. This was not what he was expecting. He’d expected to see an annoyed or even somber-looking Addison walking out very separately from whomever she was with. Instead, as grainy as the photos were, he could make out that she actually appeared to be laughing in a couple of them. They weren’t as separate as he expected them to be. The next two were worse. While her face was a bit shrouded and she wasn’t laughing anymore, in each one she was leaning in closer to him, their faces almost touching.

Isaiah and Emi walked in the back door as he’d begun to skim through the story attached to the photos. “AJ,” Emi began to say, but he held his hand up.

“Hold on,” he said as he skimmed the story.