Hero (The Morgan Brothers, #1)

by Lauren Rowe

And then I lean forward, press Darren’s muscled forearm between my two slender ones, and proceed to tell him The Story of Darren and Lydia.

I begin my story at the beginning, of course—the moment I first laid eyes on Darren in chemistry class at age seventeen. “I felt like I’d been struck by a thunderbolt,” I whisper, smiling through my tears. “It was love at first sight.”

“We both just knew, didn’t we?” I whisper. “One glance and that was it for both of us.”

“You’ve been the best husband and father and protector a man could ever be, Darren Decker.”

“You’re the silver lining to the worst storm cloud of my life, Lydia.

I feel instantly dizzy. Sick to my stomach. And sick to my heart. “Lydia,” I breathe. Every cell in my body has instantly awakened with a ferocious urge to comfort and protect her. To love her.

Ahhhhhh

“That beautiful woman’s been through fucking hell—the worst hell imaginable—and all this time, I had absolutely no idea.”

There are five hearts on the line here: yours, Lydia’s, and those three kids’. If anyone’s heart is going to get broken, then be the Morgan man we’ve raised you to be and make sure the only heart that gets broken is yours.”

“Seeing what I wrote on the white board made me realize that with full clarity. I’ve loved her since I saw her. And now that I’ve met her kids, I know I could love them, too. I know it in my bones we could have it all, if she’d give me a real shot.

love you, Lydia. At some point, you’re going to have to figure out how to take a leap of faith. Because love doesn’t come tied up in a nice little box with a ribbon around it. Love is messy and scary and full of risk. Love is risk.

love is watching the one you love walk out the door and knowing he might never come home again because it’s who he is—but you’re willing to love him anyway.”

again. She’s the air I breathe. My port in the storm. She’s the beat of my heart. And those amazing kids only serve to amplify the love I feel for Lydia threefold.

“Colby is everyone’s. Yours, Beatrice’s, Theo’s, and mine. He loves us all and we love him. He’s belongs to all of us.”