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“Twenty-four hours, El. I want an update tomorrow, because I’m not keeping this from James. We don’t lie. We don’t keep secrets. I won’t tell him tonight, but if he puts it together somehow—if he asks me?—”
“You won’t lie for us,” I surmised. She shook her head, eyes somehow heavier for it. “That’s totally fair. I’m not asking you to lie for me. I’m just asking for more time.”
“You both deserve each other. Seriously. One—” she held up a finger, “I called it. Two—” her voice lowered when that second digit went up. “Our family deserves the truth. Let them make their own beds, and deal with it then.”
“We will. I promise, we will.”
“James and Rhyett have been my ride-or-dies since we were kids,” Broderick added. “I swear, we’ll tell them everything.”
Noel sucked in a pained sounding breath before giving us a blunt nod and turning for the door.
Only… when she opened it, Jameson and Rhyett were both standing outside like a couple of predators about to pounce. Noel startled back a step, her hand flying to her chest. Broderick automatically positioned himself between my body and their looming frames. A muscle in Jameson’s jaw flexed as Rhyett leaned forward to brace a forearm on the doorframe, lips rolled between his teeth. It was Rhyett to break the loaded silence.
“Uh… You got something to share with the class, teach?”
Broderick
“Tell us what?” Jameson demanded through a stiff jaw. And here it was. The reason I hadn’t wanted to keep this to myself in the first place. If a man could light another on fire with his eyes, Jameson would have turned me into a kabob on the spot.
“Don’t be mad,” El said from where she wrapped her hands around my bicep. ‘Don’t be mad’ was basically the male equivalent of ‘calm down’. Light a match and pour some kerosene because shit’s about to go up in flames. I didn’t miss how quickly Noel skirted out of the space to stand behind Jameson’s back, her allegiance in this firmly established.
“Tell us what?” Jameson repeated.
“Look, you guys were never supposed to find out like this,” I hedged, not sure where to look. At Jameson, whose face looked dauntingly like it had before he beat Noel’s ex within an inch of his life. Or at Rhyett, who looked…rocked. “We planned to sit you down and talk to you tonight, so we could do it with the whole family.”
“Alright, so let’s talk,” Rhyett instructed.
To my chagrin, Axel’s bulky form appeared behind his brothers, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, looking particularly displeased. “I’d kinda like to hear this conversation myself,” he added.
Oh good, because the two of them weren’t enough.
“What the fuck did Noel just stumble in on?” Jameson demanded. “It takes a lot to rile my girl up like that.”
“We’ll explain everything,” I reassured, pointing back toward the main living area. “Can we go sit down?”
“Hey, guys! What are we—” Maverick’s lanky frame appeared beside Axel, peering around Rhyett’s shoulder but hesitating as he read the space. “Uh. Who died?”
The guys’ stern gazes all landed firmly on me.
Swallowing, I repeated, “Let’s go talk. Might as well head to the living room.”
“I think this is as good a spot as any,” James countered, grinding his teeth as he leaned back into the wall. Like he wanted us caged in. Noel turned into his side, looking torn as her eyes darted between all of ours. Deciding it was Jameson’s gaze I needed to meet, I lifted my chin and held it, reaching down to grab El’s hand. Was he pissed? Yeah. But the part that sent my gut churning was the pain there. Honesty had always been our number one.
“El and I are seeing each other,” I announced softly.
“When?” Jameson demanded, not dropping his gaze.
I felt El shift uneasily behind me but held his stare. “We kicked things off at the conference.”
“Last month?” Rhyett asked, his even voice drawing my attention. Where Axel and Jameson’s anger rolled off them in waves, only his pinched brow gave away his frustration. I nodded.
“Oh shit,” Mav said before skirting away from the impending storm. Smart kid.
“This whole time?” Jameson growled, looking past me to his sister. “He’s why you came back. For Thanksgiving. You didn’t want to leave.”
“Yeah,” El said softly. “Long distance isn’t easy.”
“No shit,” Jameson said, pushing off the wall and beginning to pace in the tight space. I couldn’t help but think of a prowling lion before they struck. “So, you’ve been lying to me for what—six weeks?”
