“You know social media marketing now?” I snorted. Ollie was clueless.
“No, but Maddie does, and we’re friends. And you are my brother. I could have done … something.”
“You have enough on your plate, Ollie. And I don’t want your money.”
He heaved a sigh. “I’m glad Lew helped you.”
“Me, too. He’s been amazing.” My voice broke on the last word and I swallowed back tears.
Don’t start crying now. You’ll never be able to stop.
But shit, I’d get to marry the love of my life. I was so lucky.
“Don’t go, Noah,” Ollie repeated.
“Why?”Fuck! The first tears spilled out of my eyes.
Just tell him you never meant to leave anyway.
“Because he loves you,” my brother said with a tiny smile. “He never stopped waiting for you. Even when you weren’t here.”
“Why didn’t he try to stop me? He was ready to let me go back.” The tiny voice of doubt that had been nagging in the back of my head was suddenly loud.
“God, Noah! I know Lewis. He would never want to stand between you and your dreams. He’s too noble for that.” Again, he sighed. “Even if it costs him everything. You love him, don’t you?” Ollie pressed on.
“I do.”
“Don’t get on that flight, Noah. No matter how odd it is that my best friend fucks my brother, you two should be together.”
I tried to think of something to say.
“Listen, hear me out, okay? If you still want to go, I’ll take you to the airport myself.” I tried once again to tell him that I was staying, and that Lew was still fast asleep in the bedroom, but Ollie interrupted me. “Can we have a cup of coffee inside and talk? It’s freezing out here.” I led my shivering brother into the kitchen, checking on the way if I’d closed the bedroom door. Then I busied myself with the little espresso maker Lew had got me on my first day back.
“Thanks.” Ollie accepted the cup from me and took a deep drink. “Ouch shit, I burned my tongue.” My uptight smartass control freak of a brotherchuckled. But then again, he was here to convince me to stay.
“You wanted to talk,” I said as I sat down with my own mug in hand. “So talk.” I wasn’t going to make this easier for him, and he would find out that his best friend and I had spent the night together soon enough.
“I want you to stay in Scotland,” Ollie blurted out. “With Lewis,” he added. “God, you should have heard him scream at me the other day.” He smiled into the distance, and I forced my face into a neutral expression.
“He screamed at you?”
“It was terrifying, but I deserved it.” Ollie cleared his throat. “I checked out your ArgoS and found all these pictures and videos of the two of you. And your captions—really witty by the way, great job—and I saw red.”
My face heated, and I knew exactly why Lew hadn’t told me. He’d thought our trip to Nairn were the last few days we had before I went back to Bali. Of course he didn’t want to taint that with Ollie drama. Lewis knew how much I’d struggled with the idea of him finding out, although until a day ago he’d had no idea why. Why hadn’t Ollie got in touch with me once he’d checked out my social media, though? Surely, if he’d screamed at Lew, he had a thing or two to say to me about fucking his best mate.
“I tracked him down and tore into him, defending your honour.” He gave me an embarrassed grin. “And Lew, well, let’s just say he didn’t take well to that.”
“You don’t say.” Lewis had been protective of me from the start. I had a good idea what he might have said—or screamed—at Ollie.
“You had a fake relationship for your account?” my brother asked.
“It was fake at first, yeah. Although …” I took a sip to buy myself some time, remembering our first date at Windmouth Castle, our first kiss, and the one outside my door. “But not really.”
“He always loved you. I didn’t see it then, but when I think back, it’s obvious.”
“I don’t know if you remember that day at the stream before everything changed. You fell asleep, and we snuck away.” I took a deep breath. “He kissed me, and ran off. I thought he hated it.”
Why am I telling him this?
