With Abandon: With or Without, Book 4

Logan nodded but didn’t say anything for several seconds. His hand
    squeezed Matt’s shoulder, kneading it. “I hate her. I really do. I’m glad she’s gone.”
    In some ways Matt agreed, but she was his mom. “I kind of feel sorry for her. She was forced to get married.”
    “Oh bullshit. You don’t believe that, do you? And how the hell do you explain the rest of us? Nine
    kids doesn’t sound like force to me.”
    “Aubrey said the same thing.”
    “I like him already.”
    “I don’t know what to think. I guess I feel rejected.” Matt blinked back tears. In little ways his mother had always rejected him. Now Aubrey was rejecting him too.

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    “Don’t take it personal, bro. We’re better off without her. Don’t compare your mate to her. By doing
    so you’re doing yourself and him a disservice. You can find similarities for anything if you look hard
    enough, but it doesn’t make it so.”
    Wow. That was profound, and it made sense. Was Matt looking too hard for similarities? Deep down he knew Aubrey was nothing like his mother, because Aubrey had a sense of responsibility that Matt’s
    mother had never had. Ironically, it was that responsibility that caused all their problems. “How’d you get so smart?”
    “I have a really cool older brother who has always encouraged me in whatever I do.” Logan gathered
    Scott in his arms and stood. “Let’s get these guys to bed. I’ll come back for Darren.”
    If there was one thing Matt was good at, it was being a big brother. Matt gently lowered Darren to the
    swing and hauled Eddie up with him. “Yeah, let’s get these rascals to bed.” He’d figure out what to do about his mate later.

    The clock on the nightstand between his and Logan’s bed read 12:46 a.m. He’d been staring at it since
    11:55. Matt sighed. He should just get up. Obviously he wasn’t going to go back to sleep. Something
    moved around his feet, drawing his attention away from the clock.
    Eddie lay diagonal across the foot of the bed with one pajama-clad leg hanging off the edge. Matt
    grinned despite his mood. The kid slept like a wild man. It wasn’t unusual to put him in bed at night and find him on the floor the next morning. Matt had gotten used to sleeping with Aubrey who stayed perfectly still in sleep.
    Matt groaned. He didn’t want to think about Aubrey, but he couldn’t stop. His mind was all over the
    place. He’d finally decided his mom leaving was for the best, even if he was hurt by it, but he was no closer to figuring out what to do about Aubrey. He’d gone from hating him, to pitying him, to wanting to hit him, and now…well now he kind of missed him. Yeah right. There is no kind of about it. He glanced at his phone lying on the nightstand. Had Aubrey called again? Or maybe he left a text?
    Carefully extracting himself from bed, Matt swung his legs out of the covers. He sat on the edge of
    the mattress for a moment and ran his hands over his face. Why was it that when something went wrong
    everything seemed to pile together and bombard you?
    Shoving to his feet, he took a deep breath. He needed something to drink. After rescuing his baby
    brother from an imminent fall off the bed and putting him in the middle of it, Matt stood staring down at his phone. He shouldn’t care if Aubrey called again. Before he could talk himself out of it, he grabbed his phone and went downstairs.
    All the lights were off, and his father no longer decorated the couch in a drunken sprawl. Apparently
    Bambi had managed to usher him up to bed. Good. Bambi had been a lifesaver today. He’d been the first to get to Eddie. Matt was glad Bambi had finally moved back home.
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    With Abandon
    Bambi had been a fixture in Matt’s youth. He’d been around nearly as much as Dad. It had sucked
    when he’d moved to California four years ago. Matt had more or less taken Bambi’s place as his dad’s
    right-hand man, but today Bambi had taken that position back.
    Matt grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and headed to the back door. As he unlocked the
    sliding glass door it struck him how different things were when no one else was awake. He left the door cracked open so he could hear if anyone got up, and made his way to the swing. It was funny how things
    changed. He used to love to be able to sit on the swing when everyone was asleep. It was the only time he could think here at home.
    He took a swig of