Page 19 of Gin and Bear It

He finally stops and takes off his sunglasses, his dark brown eyes incredulous. “You. And Jada.”

“Yeah.” I swallow. “Me and Jada.”

Waylon’s mouth drops open a little bit, then closes. “You’re serious.”

“Yeah.”

He digs a hand into his hair. Duke looks up at him, his ears swiveling like there’s a threat. I stay quiet, though. What else can I say without blowing this whole thing up before it barely begins?

“You’re dating Jada,” he says.

“Yes.”

“And want to marry her?”

“Yes. We’re getting married.”

“Hang on.” He nods his head farther down the trail and I follow him to a small clearing to our right so people can pass us. “Explain. All of it. How did you connect? How long has this been going on? Are you just marrying her for your inheritance? Because that’s fucked up. Why didn’t Jada want to tell me?”

“Why didn’t she want to tell you?” I laugh. “Because you’re freaking the fuck out right now.”

“I’m not freaking out,” he says, even though he’s finally stirred enough to wake Sadie from her light coma on his chest.

There’s no point in convincing him otherwise. I’ve dealt with Caro’s and Gordon’s wild moods enough to know that convincing a person who’s melting down to chill is a waste of time.

“We connected back around Thanksgiving, not long after her grandmother passed away. Just pure chance,” I say. Waylon opens his mouth to speak, but shuts it, nodding for me to go on. “We just started talking and texting when I left town. We even met up in Nashville a few times. It felt different this time around and it became more. We’ve kept it quiet because we knew you’d be upset.”

“Because of what we discussed at Wes and Rose’s wedding?”

Where I told him I wouldn’t do anything stupid with her. And here I am, doing something so dumb that past me wouldn’t have even fathomed it.

He reaches down and massages Sadie’s paws, his jaw tight.

“Right.” I squat down and pet Lady, who’s blissfully unaware of everything except for the squirrels chasing each other on a tree nearby.

Waylon stays quiet for so long that I’m afraid I broke him. But it looks like he’s trying to rein it in.

“You’ve never dated anyone in your life. You’ve been actively against serious relationships,” he says, his tone measured but simmering with anger. “So you decide to date Jada, who’s forced me to watch an absurd amount of romcoms since we were teenagers? And has made it very clear she wants some fairy-tale romance in her life? Do you know how much bullshit her off and on thing with Troy dealt her?”

The ex who’s partially responsible for this mess. I probably should have asked her more about that.

Waylon’s posture has relaxed a bit but his tone has never been more grave. I swallow the knot in my throat.

“It just happened. I’m as surprised as you are.” I shrug. “It took getting to know her to realize that relationships are great. Especially one with her.”

The lie is bitter as fuck on my tongue.

“And you’ve suddenly turned from being anti-relationship to wanting to marry Jada after dating for six months?” he asks. “Convenient, given our inheritance.”

“That’s part of it. But it’s serious between us and we’ve discussed marriage anyway.” I glance down the hiking trail. “So why not do it now?”

“Because it’s fast. Six months, dating long distance? And you want to marry her?”

“I’ve known her for about as long as you have,” I point out.

“But you weren’t friends. Hell, you hardly tolerated me. I was just your dorky younger brother, and she was my equally dorky friend.” Waylon heaves a sigh. “I almost don’t believe it. You guys don’t really fit.”

“Why do you think we don’t fit?” I ask, sounding more defensive than I am. Of course we don’t really fit.