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“Uh, yeah, got in a bit early,” Bru stated, stepping back, but when he did, he was right in line with Fawn. He stood beside her, with her, and unreasonable agitation unfurled inside of me. I didn’t forget how he put his hand on her before, and although it might not mean anything at all, I was always territorial when it came to Red. I obviously fucking loved my brother, but it didn’t matter who was close to Red. This was Red.
My Red.
Of course, this was unreasonable, and once more, I didn’t care. Regardless, acting on anything other than standing here wasn’t a good idea. At least, not until I knew what all this was.
Bru gestured to Fawn. “I ran into Fawn at the airport.”
“Wait. You two know each other?” Thatcher asked that, and ironically had already gotten more information than I’d been able to. The kid wouldn’t answer me when I’d asked, and Fawn definitely hadn’t.
She stood there, shifting in her snow boots. Wrestling with her hands, she had her sight on nothing but the door when earlier all she’d wanted to do was call me on my shit.
“We do.” Bru gazed down at her. “We went to school together briefly. High school.”
What. The. Fuck.
I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience right now because what were the fucking odds that my little brother went to school with my ex-fake girlfriend? What were the odds that they’d run into each other and that meeting would result in this?
This…
I didn’t know what this was, but I assumed this was all Fawn. This was her trying to teach me a lesson for breaking things off with her. I’d done that when shit got too real for her during our fake relationship and the lines got blurred. I’d wanted to spare her.
I’d wanted to save her.
I’d needed to get her away from me, and it was the only thing I’d ever done right for her. She and I didn’t belong together, point-blank. I wasn’t the good guy. I was the one dads had shotguns for to protect their daughters from. I’d used Fawn. I used her.
Then had the nerve to fall for her.
The sins didn’t even end there. In fact, they were so fucking evil and sick that most days, I had a hard time even looking at myself in the mirror. I kept seeing the monster that did that to her, the selfish prick who’d done it for his own gain.
No matter the severity of the reason.
As far as I was concerned, I’d allowed Fawn Greenfield to go on and live her life, but now here she was about to decimate my already fragile life. This almost seemed like poetic justice. Fitting.
But that didn’t mean I was going to allow it.
My brothers, Dorian, Thatcher, and Wells, didn’t need all this shit to air. It would just fuck them up and be unnecessarily cruel on an already bullshit situation. Bru clearly already knew something, but he didn’t know everything.
It wasn’t possible.
Fact of the matter was, I had strong reasons for getting into a fake relationship with Fawn. They were messed up, fucked up, but the kid would hear me out if I just got a second with him. He’d be pissed at me and probably wouldn’t understand, but he’d hear me out. He’d give me time and more than I seemed to have in this moment.
I started to step forward and take Bru aside. I just needed that second with him and would do anything for it.
“Yeah, Bru brought me over for dinner, but I obviously didn’t know he was Wolf’s brother.”
I paused after what Fawn said, but mostly because the kid did. His attention made a beeline for her, his brow jumping, and mine did too.
She didn’t know…
I found that hard to believe. She’d been angry before she even walked through the door. I knew because I’d seen that as she’d entered. Bru had also said he’d brought her here to spend Christmas break with us, not just dinner.
“Fawn?” Bru started to say, but Red cut him off. She physically got in front of him, standing between him and the guys.
“I, uh… I came over for dinner and had no idea.” She placed a hand on her head, laughing when a second ago, Red wasn’t laughing. She’d been pissed at me and handing me my shit, but she hadn’t been laughing.
She appeared to be now.
“Obviously, I realized the connection when I got here,” she continued, putting her hands out toward Bru, then me. Her smile escaped during the latter, but she didn’t scowl at me like she had been. She put off indifference. Like it didn’t matter that I was standing here before her.
