Page 160 of I Choose You

He’d done that. He’d shown me how to be a better version of myself and overcome the scary struggles.

And as I waited for him to come to me, I hoped I could be able to offer him the same and help him be the best man he could be too.

It sounded like a tall order—he was already perfect.

53

KADEN

Once traffic started moving, I paid attention to the road and tried my best not to get hard. One look at Brooke would always make my dick turn to steel, but now wasn’t the best time. Not only were idiots displaying road rage and damn near causing accidents left and right, my nervousness scaled higher again.

“Dude, just merge into the lane when you see the fucking signs.”

I hated it when people tried to speed ahead then cut over last minute.

People trying to hurry to their destination and escape their workplace put me in a tense mood. With each minute that passed after I hung up with Brooke, the glow and thrill of her little strip tease faded.

Knowing I was heading into war also didn’t allow that happiness to last. After what Dad said, I was calmer. I wasn’t alone with this frustration about Kody’s behavior. Dad admitted that it was expected. He’d offered me his best explanation for why my brother was such an asshole. His hope for a solution sounded like wishing for the impossible. None of it actually prepared me for going over to his house. Nothing Dad said gave me confidence that this conversation would go well. All he’d granted me was the burden of doing it, of manning up and being the bigger person to initiate this talk.

So, no. I wasn’t in any position to hang on to the good way Brooke made me feel.

Just do your best and get home to her.

That was my reward. The idea of heading into her arms forced me to stay on task. I could handle these idiot drivers and I could manage one simple conversation with Kody.

Simple. I wasn’t that deluded. Nothing about this would be simple.

I pulled into his driveway much later than I thought I would. It had taken me twice as long to get there. If I had to suffer through this amount of traffic to get in and out of the city, I would’ve been madder at the world in general. Putting in a roundabout was all well and good. But having multiple construction zones to implement four of them in a row? They should’ve just put out signs that advertised it as a lazy man’s carnival ride. Like Disney’s spinning tea cups, only with orange barrels to impede the way.

It had been a while since I’d gone to his house. Despite our fights, we always managed to make up and be close. I suspected it was impossible for us to ever lose the closeness we were born with, but as twins, knowing each other so damn well to predict how the other would act worked against us. Siblings could bicker and argue, but with our twins’ intuition, Kody and I had elevated warfare at hand.

The last time I’d hung out at his place was before I met Brooke. It sobered me for a moment, realizing how much this woman was changing me. For good, like Dad had said. Love would make a man wizen up and want to please his lady. I did. I wanted to make Brooke happy, and seeing her smile and laugh was my greatest accomplishment. At the same time, I knew I couldn’t sacrifice everyone else in my life. After Kody and I saw eye to eye and got past this, I’d make sure to spend more time with him.

In my grief-stricken hard times in high school, I dabbled with social anxiety plenty. I was aloof then and still to this day didn’t like being around many people or too many that I didn’t know. Knowing that flaw—or weakness—about myself had me thinking ahead to make sure I remained well-rounded and didn’t distance myself from anyone important again.

And Kody was important. He always would be.

I knocked on his front door, entertaining wry thoughts that he might be a dick and just not answer. I had my key, but I didn’t want to force my way inside to make him talk and listen. It was small, but I held hope he’d let me in and be willing to acknowledge my presence.

No such luck.

He didn’t answer. I sighed and lowered my head, shaking it.

I promised Dad. The wedding was tomorrow. I didn’t have any more time to put this off. And I didn’t want to prolong it. I had a warm, naked woman waiting up for me. Now that I realized I loved her, I couldn’t wait to show her.

I got my keyring out and slotted it into the lock. “You bastard—”

“Breaking in now?”

I turned, finding Kody slowing to a walk up his driveway. Although his truck was here, he hadn’t been home. The running shorts and sweat-drenched Henley suggested he’d been out for a run. The laced shoes and earbuds he removed proved it.

“Oh. Didn’t know you were out for a run.”

He shrugged, walking up to me with a hard look. “How would you know? We haven’t said a single word to each other all week.”

I nodded, stepping back to let him reach the door. “I wasn’t breaking in.”

“You might have a key, but you’re still trespassing.”