He shut his eyes tight as his brother drove them to town.
A girl had come between them once before, but not in the typical sense.
“She’s good for you,” Ryker said, breaking the silence.
Jacob refused to comment. He already knew where this was going. Ryker had been the first to change when they were younger and he’d walked down another path. Jacob wasn’t goingto be influenced to do the same no matter how intrigued he might have become.
“I noticed it the moment she came back with dinner. You’re more relaxed around her.” He chuckled. “Maybe relaxed isn’t the right word. It’s…” Ryker tilted his head, though he kept his eyes on the road. “It’s like the way I think I might have looked when I realized I cared for Mackenzie.”
Jacob scoffed, forcing his brother to look over at him briefly.
“What?” Ryker laughed. “You disagree?”
“I told you my best friend was off limits and what did you do? You went behind my back and started dating her anyway.”
The temperature in the cab dropped several degrees. This was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the problems he had with his brother. But right now, it seemed like the biggest unresolved issue.
Jacob continued to look out the window, ignoring the way his brother’s eyes drilled into him. He could feel it, the judgment. Years later and he hadn’t been able to come to terms with the fact that his older brother had stolen the only other important person in Jacob’s life.
In the beginning, Ryker had accused Jacob of harboring feelings for Mackenzie because why else would he have been so upset?
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
There was nothing romantic at all between them. Mackenzie was like a sister to him. She was his confidant when Jacob couldn’t go to his brother about something. Granted that wasn’t often, but she was his other person. When they’d been kids, they were inseparable.
Then Ryker had to ruin everything. He’d stopped seeing Mackenzie as his little brother’s friend and started seeing her as the woman of his dreams.
Jacob should have seen the signs. He should have realized that when Mackenzie asked about his brother, it wasn’t out of mere curiosity. She cared about him too. He could still feel the betrayal as if it were fresh. As if it had happened only yesterday.
His brother sighed. “You can’t tell me that you cut us out of your life because I married her. Have you forgotten that I know you? There’s more to this than you’re willing to admit.”
Jacob’s whole body seemed to itch. He didn’t like the fact that his brother was right. He was always right. Not only that, but Ryker Hines was a good man. He was smart, respectful, moral. He was the kind of guy everyone liked. It was no wonder that Mackenzie had fallen in love with him. And that was the worst part, wasn’t it?
Because as much as Jacob wanted to keep hating his brother for the way things had turned out, he couldn’t deny that Ryker didn’t deserve Jacob’s wrath. No one deserved to find happiness more than Ryker.
“You know I love her, right? She’s everything to me.”
Jacob winced. “Once upon a time, I was everything to you.” He regretted the words the second they escaped his lips. It was selfish. He knew that and maybe that was why he contemplated opening the door and attempting a tuck-and-roll just to escape this conversation. He expected to hear his brother’s irritated response then, but that wasn’t what he got.
Ryker chuckled. “You’re my brother, Jacob. You always have meant more to me than my own life.”
Slowly, Jacob turned to look at his brother. Their parents had died when Jacob was still a minor. Ryker had taken responsibility for both of them. He’d ensured they didn’t get separated. He gave them both a purpose.
In the rodeo.
Their parents hadn’t even been great parents. Their father was abusive. Their mother was mentally absent most of the time. They had their vices which were ultimately the reason they passed away.
Ryker tossed him a look that bordered on anguished. “We’re still brothers. Always brothers. No matter what happens. No matter how long this fight lasts, that will never change.”
Jacob didn’t realize a tear had spilled free until it reached the edge of his mouth. He hadn’t realized just how much he needed to hear Ryker say those words. He looked away and blinked several times. “You abandoned me.”
His brother was quiet for a moment. “I’m not going to regret falling in love. I’m not going to regret starting a family with the love of my life. I will never regret my kids.”
“And what about the promises you made me?” Jacob’s voice broke. He couldn’t meet his brother’s eyes anymore. “What about the dreams we built together? What about competing in the finals?” They were supposed to be the Hines brothers who reached the finish line together. That had been their plan since he was fifteen and his brother had been seventeen.
The landscape flew by the windows as they drove in silence. Then Ryker blew out a long breath. “So that’s the reason.”
Jacob couldn’t exactly shrug. He couldn’t really nod. But he also couldn’t trust his voice right now. So he did nothing.
