“There’s nothing with Leigh.” The lie tasted like ash. “We just met wrong. It’s awkward.”
“How did you meet wrong?”
I scrambled for something believable. “At the bar. She was... we just got off on the wrong foot. That’s all.”
Xander studied me for a long moment, and I knew he didn’t believe me. But mercifully, he let it go.
“Just be careful,” he said finally. “This whole situation is… a lot. It’s a complicated thing to navigate and the last thing she needs is more complications.”
The words were like a punch to the gut. “I know.”
“Do you?” He looked at me intently. “Because you’re looking at her like…”
“Like what?” I snapped, unable to help myself.
“Like she matters. Like she already matters.”
I forced myself to look away from her, to focus on Xander. “She’s your sister. Of course, she matters.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I knew what he meant. Could hear it in his voice. The concern, the warning, the unspoken question about what had really happened between us.
“I’ll stay away from her,” I said quietly. “I promise. I won’t make things complicated.”
Xander’s hand landed on my shoulder, squeezing gently. “That’s not what I meant either. Just... be careful. For both of your sakes.”
He walked away, leaving me alone on the periphery while the family embraced their newest member.
I stayed for another hour because leaving sooner would have been too obvious. Stayed and watched her bloom under their attention, watched her find her place, watched her become part of something I’d always been adjacent to but never truly inside. There was a time when I’d thought I was, when I assumed I was one of them. But now I saw it for what it was. I was their guardian angel and not the brother they all called me. Not really.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I made my excuses, blaming work at the garage, things to finish, and then headed for the door before any of them could stop me.
I didn’t look at her on my way out. Couldn’t bear to see the cold dismissal in her eyes again.
But I felt her watching me leave. Felt the weight of her gaze on my back.
I drove home in silence, my mind racing.
This was my life now. Watching her fit into my family while knowing I’d destroyed any chance of something between us before it even started. Seeing her at every gathering, every dinner, every celebration.
Always there. Always close. Always completely out of reach.
And I deserved every second of torture.
Because I was the asshole who’d made her feel unwanted. Who’d treated her like a complication instead of the incredible woman she was. Who’d let his own fear and guilt ruin something that could have been real.
I pulled into my driveway and sat in the truck, staring at the empty house.
Maybe I should sell this place. Sell the garage. Leave Willowbrook and start over somewhere where I wasn’t constantly reminded of everything I couldn’t have.
But even as I thought it, I knew I wouldn’t. Couldn’t. This was my home. These were my people.
Even if I was slowly disappearing into the background of their happiness.
Even if the only woman who’d made me feel alive in months hated me.
Even if I’d destroyed my one chance at something real.
