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What David is doing with Maddie is no different from what I’m doing with Brianna. Except that I have feelings for her, and I did the whole time, even though I refused to admit it to myself.
And for all their other faults, Donny and Brock both have serious feelings for my other two sisters. But David Simpson is just getting his rocks off.
And Maddie is better than that.
“You’re a lying son of a bitch,” I say to Dave.
Dave steps toward me, puffing out his chest, which really doesn’t work in that robe. “We’ve been through this before. I needed a vacation. I didn’t come here to seduce your sister. This?” He gestures to Maddie. “It just happened. And for God’s sake, Pike. Your sister’s a beautiful woman. I’ve known her for a long time.”
“Are you going to take her on a date?”
“From what I hear, you didn’t take Brianna on a date.”
God, he’s right, and I hate it. I’m just so fucking mad. So fucking mad at the Steels. All the resentment I’ve carried inside me for so long—all the resentment I swore to Brianna I was letting go. Every time I think I’m done dealing with it, it creeps back to me.
“He’s right,” Maddie says, “and you know it.”
Yeah, I know it. Doesn’t make it any easier to bear. Doesn’t make any of this any easier.
Then I realize something.
I was attracted to Brianna Steel. I’ve been attracted to her for a long time. I just kept myself in check, didn’t let those feelings grow, and not just because she was ten years my junior.
No. Because she was a Steel.
Then my two sisters had to fall for Steels.
And I started looking at Brianna a bit differently.
Falling into bed with her that first time was no accident. In retrospect, I had been hoping for it to happen.
I draw in one more breath, and this time I count to ten silently.
A little bit of tension fades from my body—but only a little bit.
This will take time. I can say the words I want to say. I can say that I’m over my resentment of the Steels, and I can even truly believe that.
But the feelings? These feelings I’ve harbored for almost all my thirty-two years? They will take a little while longer.
“What are your intentions?” I ask David.
“I don’t have to answer that.”
“I think you just did.” I gaze at my sister. “I’ll leave you now. I’ll accept that you’re an adult and that you can do what you want. But you deserve better than a quick fuck. Or a fuck that lasts the entire tour. You deserve something more, Maddie. You deserve someone’s love.”
“I appreciate that,” she says, “but I just want to have some fun on this trip, Jess. I’m not looking to fall in love any more than Dave is.”
“Maddie and I are both pretty young,” Dave says. “She’s twenty-two, and I’m twenty-four?—”
I open my mouth, but Dave raises a hand.
“Before you say anything, I know she’s the same age as Brianna. But you and Brianna aren’t Maddie and me. We’re our own people.”
One more deep breath. Yeah, not helping.
Maddie rubs her face. “Please just go, Jesse. I promise if I need you, I’ll come to you.”
“And I shouldn’t have to say this,” Dave says, “but I promise I won’t do anything to hurt her.”
