“You already know what the problem is.”Louis leaned back, arms crossed.“We've let you do this for too long.Just admit who it is that you want.”
“I don't—”
“Thea.”Louis's voice was flat.“You're in love with her.You've been in love with her since before your father died.And you're going to die miserable and alone if you don't do something about it.”
Wesley's jaw tightened.Kit choked beside him, patting his chest.
“Louis—”
“No.I'm done watching you play the part of some scared fool.”Louis leaned forward.“You want her.That's been obvious for years.What's not obvious is why you're still sitting here, night after night, pining like a lovesick boy instead of just pursuing her.”
“It's ...that’s not ...”What could he even say to that?
“You are making this more difficult than it needs to be.”Max's voice was quieter than Louis's, but no less pointed.
“You don't understand.”Wesley stared at his cards.He couldn't look at either of them.“And what do you two know about courting a woman?Should we bring up the women you’ve dallied with?”
Louis laughed.“This isn’t about us.And if I thought wetting your wick would cure what ails you, we’d haul you off to a brothel right this instant.”
Kit’s cards slipped out of his hands, and he scurried to pick them.
“Are you all right?”Max asked.
“Yes.”He waved them off.“Don’t mind me.”
Max refocused his attention on Wesley.“What in the devil is holding you back?From where I sit, you can have what you want.”
“She was engaged to someone else.”The words come out bitter.“She chose another man when I was right there.She didn’t want me then, and she doesn’t want me now.”
Max clutched his shoulder.“She watches you.The same way you watch her.”
“We’re friends.And you’re right.I watched her get engaged to William.”His voice came out rough, and he didn't care anymore who heard.The whiskey, the exhaustion, and the weight of his mother's disappointment had stripped away the desire to play his part.“I stood there and watched her choose someone else, and I didn't say a word.Because I was drowning.I was drowning in my mother’s expectations and the fact that I will never be the duke or the man my father was.And how could I have given Thea what she deserved with all that hanging over me?And I thought—” He broke off, throat tight.
“What?”Louis prompted.“What did you think?”
“I thought she'd be happier without me.”Wesley laughed, a bitter sound.“Without the title, and the obligations, and everything that comes with being a duchess.I am still not certain I want to be a bloody duke, but there’s no changing it.”
Kit dealt another hand.His movements were careful, and Wesley noticed his fingers weren't quite steady.Strange.Kit's hands were always steady.
“And now?”Louis pressed, his stare burning into Wesley.
Wesley thought about all the times he’d been in her presence.The words had been right there, burning in his throat.It has always been her.
“Are we going to play cards?”Kit asked, but no one responded.
“I want her,” he ground out.“And I always will.Is that what you want me to say?”
The table was quiet.Kit studied his cards with unusual intensity, face shadowed beneath the cap's brim.
“Then there shouldn’t be anything holding you back,” Max said.“It's that simple.Either she loves you, or she doesn't, but at least you'll know.”
Wesley looked down at his cards.He couldn't remember what he was holding.
“I’m out.”He tossed the cards on the table.“I am no use to anyone here.I’m better off finding my bed.”
Louis and Max exchanged a glance but didn't try to stop him.They knew him well enough to recognize when pushing would only make things worse.And Wesley was too far in his cups to resist telling them to back off.
Kit looked up as Wesley stood.For a moment their eyes met, and Kit’s expression was unreadable.Then his gaze dropped back to the cards.The man probably didn’t know what to think about the conversation.
