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Ricky crossed his arms over his chest. “No? I know him?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe? I either know him, or I don’t. Which is it?”
“Okay!” I said, exasperated. “It’s Hawk.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “What’s Hawk?”
“I’m going to the wedding with Hawk?”
“You’re going to the wedding... with Hawk?” His voice slowly rose toward the end of the sentence.
“That’s what I said.”
Ricky considered me for a moment lost in thought. I stood, anxiously waiting for the reprimand, but instead, Ricky smiled, wide and pleased.
“Good,” he exclaimed. “Maybe Hawk can drown Roman in his own piss when he’s there.”
“You’re not mad?”
“Why would I be mad? It’s not like you’re fucking him.”
No... not yet.
I shifted uncomfortably at the direction the conversation was going.
“What do you have against Hawk, anyway?”
“I love the guy. He’s an awesome guy. Doesn’t mean I think he’s worthy of my sister.”
I walked past Ricky and back into the kitchen. Suddenly I’d lost my appetite. “I think you’re being really hard on him. Hawk would move the earth for any one of us Valentinos.”
“And we would do the same for him. But Britta, I know Hawk. I know what he’s like when he has his eyes on something. He zeros in just like a hawk and toys with his prey. He’s no different with women.”
I didn’t want to hear about his other women. The jealous side of me would rear its ugly head. I was unjustifiably jealous. Hawk wasn’t even mine.
“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it,” I said, wanting to change the topic.
“Truth is, sis,” Ricky wasn’t relenting, “I hope someday you’ll find someone with Hawk’s qualities. Just not Hawk. Besides what I’ve already mentioned, he’s a good friend, and if anything were to ever go sour with you two it affects us all.”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about. There’s nothing between Hawk and me. He’s just joining me at the wedding, so I don’t look like a complete knob.”
I couldn’t reveal that the man in question had just molested my mouth. And I certainly couldn’t mention that I had enjoyed every microsecond of it.
“Geez, don’t get so defensive. What’s for dinner? It looks like you’re not planning on going anywhere now.”
I shrugged. “The usual... pizza?”
“You order pizza, and I’ll ring Slate.”
I nodded and placed the order, and then as I waited for Ricky to finish, I replied to a text my mom sent earlier in the morning asking if I was going to join the family for Sunday dinner. My mom especially was still coming to terms with me moving out. It’d become a novelty for her when I re-inhabited my old room after I split with Roman. While I’d been broken-hearted and somewhat embarrassed, I was returning home to my parents, and my mother had rejoiced. I was her only daughter, and she often complained she never saw me. It was true. Not that I wanted it that way. It’d been months already since I found my own place and every week Mom texted to see if I’d join them. Roman had fucked my life up so thoroughly, I’d effectively lost my future husband and my best friend all in one go. Not only that but my sanity, confidence, and trust. He’d been sleeping with Rebekah for months before I found out. It broke me. Shattered my soul.
When my brothers found out, each and every one of them rose to the occasion. They all wanted a piece of him and often created new ways of torture. And then they showed me how empathetic they could be. The day I was barricaded in my room by the four of them, they demanded to know the truth. When I revealed the reason for my constant flow of tears, they brought in mattresses from the spare room, and together we camped out and watched horror movies until the waterworks stopped.
I loved them all, but sometimes, just sometimes, their love was too much.
There was a warning knock on the door before Harry walked in carrying a six-pack of beers.
“Has Ricky laid down the law?” he asked, no doubt referring to the wedding. He placed the beers on the counter, pecked my cheek in greeting, and opened a can.
“Yeah, we’ve talked.” I smiled, not at all interested in discussing Hawk.
I needed a night off from... everything.
“You can burn the invitation.”
Another knock at the door and Harry made his way down the hall.
I started to massage my neck, feeling the tension of the day taking hold.
At the door, I heard a rumble. It was a familiar rumble. One that struck fear in my soul and a throb between my legs. I froze, my eyes looking to Hawk standing on the threshold. He was dressed in dark blue jeans and a hoodie, his eyes traveling the length of my body as he followed Harry into the kitchen.
