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"Look at me,” Daddy said. JJ did. Barely. "You did not force Max into that scene." JJ's breath hitched. I felt pretty sorry for him. "He negotiated with Bella. She gave him choices. He said yes. He used his words. Those things matter." JJ stared at him through wet lashes. "But so does everything around the yes," Daddy continued. "Especially with someone inexperienced. Especially when someone wants badly to make the people they care about happy."

JJ's shoulders shook. "I should've seen it that he might have felt pressured and unable to say no."

"Yes." Daddy didn't soften that one. "You normally do," Daddy said. "That's what's bothering me most. You are usually the first person in the room to notice when Max is overwhelmed. You noticed at the open house before any of us did." JJ nodded miserably. "But tonight you wanted your plan to work so badly that you kept interpreting every nervous reaction as something he needed help pushing through."

A tear dropped off JJ's chin. "I fucked up."

"Yes."

Mikey started crying too. Quietly. Of course he did. JJ looked over immediately. "No, Mikey."

Mikey's face scrunched. "I knew about the plan."

"You didn't know this was going to happen."

"I knew you wanted to help him," he said.

"That's not doing anything wrong."

Daddy looked at Mikey. "JJ's right. You did nothing wrong tonight, sweetheart." Mikey's shoulders dropped slightly. Then Daddy looked at me. My stomach sank.

"And you."

I swallowed. "I should've stopped it," I said, ready for the scolding.

"No." The answer came so quickly that I actually looked up. Daddy uncrossed his arms. "Sawyer, you are not responsible for stopping every decision your brothers make."

"But—"

"No," he said it in that tone. I closed my mouth. "You raised your concerns with JJ before the scene. You made him clarify Max's consent. You watched. And when you saw Max stop responding, what did you do?"

"I called you. But it still feels like I should've done more."

Daddy came closer to me. His hand settled on the back of my neck. The tension in my shoulders cracked almost instantly. "You're his brother, Soy." I swallowed. "Not his keeper. I am responsible for him, not you."

That hit harder than I wanted it to. "I know."

His fingers tightened slightly against the back of my neck. "Your responsibility is to speak when something feels wrong. You did. Your responsibility is not to predict every possible mistake JJ might make and prevent it before it happens."

From beside me, JJ sniffed. "Good luck with that anyway." I looked at him. He was still crying. Still managed to be a little shit. Daddy looked like he was fighting the smallest smile. Then he turned serious again.

"JJ." Daddy’s tone could make anybody freeze. JJ straightened. "You are done with scenes and activities tonight."

His face fell. He didn't argue. "Okay, Daddy."

"You will stay with me. No organizing anything. No matchmaking. No 'helping' anybody into anything. You can talk to your friends. You can have candy. You can watch. But tonight you're keeping your hands off everyone else's decisions."

JJ nodded. "Yes, Daddy."

"I'm not deciding anything else while we're all upset."

JJ wiped his face.

"Am I grounded from The Hearth?"

"Not tonight."

JJ's mouth trembled. Daddy reached up and wiped beneath one of his eyes with his thumb. "We're going to talk about consequences tomorrow, after we've spoken to Max and everyone has slept."