Shit. I didn’t know how they knew, but they did.
I had very few options. After a brief assessment of them, I decided on honesty. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
“Jesus, Gene, my sister-in-law.” The corners of his mouth turned down and his upper lip curled. “It looks pretty fucking bad.”
His disgust was too heavy to bear, and my head wanted to fall, but my pride wouldn’t allow it. Even so, heat crawled up my neck as I stood to my full height. “It’s not like that.”
He snatched up a wooden chair and folded it with more force than was necessary before grabbing another. “Even if everything is casual between you two and you have an understanding, is it going to stay that way in the future? When this gets messy are you two going to be cool for birthdays and baby showers?”
“Why would you assume it’s going to go to shit?” I demanded, but he couldn’t hear me from his high horse.
Moving with quick agitated gestures, he piled one chair on top of another. It wasn’t technically his job but the resort employees gave him a wide berth, understanding that he needed to do anything but look at me. “I warned you about the guy she was seeing and how he strung her along. She puts on a brave face, but what she really wants is something real, and we both know she’s not going to get that from you.”
“You don’t know what’s going on.” My hands fisted at my sides resisting the urge to shove him in the shoulder—some leftover impulse from our childhood. It had been a long time since one of ourarguments had come to blows, but he was pushing his luck. “We have met before.”
He set a stack of chairs on the trolley with a bit too much force. Crossing his arms over his chest, he scowled in my direction. “Then why didn’t you say something?”
“She didn’t want to.”
He rolled his eyes so hard, his entire head rocked. “So, you hooked up with her before.”
“It really isn’t your business.”
“Generally, I would agree”—with a finger pointed toward my chest, he took a step closer—”except you’re bringing your bullshit into my wedding.”
I rocked back on my heels, not knowing what to say to that. There was no denying that he had a point, but Sadie and I weren’t the ones making a big deal of everything.
“I know I give you hard time about your casual hookups, but I don’t actually care about it.” Flicking the top button of his shirt open, he pulled the collar away from his neck as if he was suddenly suffocating. “Until this time.”
A couple of the waitstaff lingered by the opening of the tent, eavesdropping on the two arguments happening, ours inside and the sister’s about ten feet from the entrance. For the most part, I couldn’t hear much of what was being said on the beach just a word here or there.
“You can loosen up. It’s going to be fine.” I meant for it to come out more confident, more comforting, but as usual there was a shittiness to my tone, and I just sounded like an asshole.
“You’re right,” he sneered, “it’s probably love.”
My mouth flattened, and I narrowed my eyes, holding his gaze.
He glared back initially until understanding began to dawn on his face—a slow widening of his eyes, the muscles around his mouth loosened. “Bullshit.”
It was my turn to fix him with a disgusted look. “What the fuck, Mike?”
He gestured in my direction. “You?”
The space between our noses closed to less than a foot as I leaned forward, but he didn’t back down. Heaving out a deep breath, I paced a few feet away. Normally, he was the more level-headed between the two of us—the peacekeeper—but obviously it had to be me to keep a tight grasp on my temper this time. Letting the anger loose made too much room for hurt to take root in my chest.
“Yes, me.” I ran a hand through my hair, gripping the back of my neck.
“You cannot keep making her think that.”
“What does that mean?”
Studying me, he shook his head. “You know how you always intend to be clear about being casual and all that?”
I nodded, a sickening feeling twisting my guts. “Yeah.”
“I don’t know if you were as clear as you meant to be.”
For some reason, I thought back to seeing Sadie in the lobby a few days ago, and the confusing rage she’d felt toward me. My stomach dropped, even as I denied there could be truth to what he had said.
