Page 89 of Pick Me This Time

If I left that job now to become a farmer, none of what I’d done in my life so far would have mattered. Not all the hours I’d put into my studies. Not all the nights I’d spent in the office. Not all the days I’d missed out on life because I’d chosen work every single time.

As those thoughts tumbled through my mind, Eric nodded. “Exactly, Sterling. That’s not changing. Not only did you fuck her, but you’re going to break her heart and you knew you were going to. The first time you even looked at her as more than just my little sister, you accepted that you were going to hurt her and you did it anyway.”

“No, I⁠—”

He shook his head, those eyes still ice cold where they rested firmly on mine. His arms were crossed now, his eyebrows arched. “It’s decision time, North. Either you’re committed to staying and trying with her, or you’re leaving and you’re taking her heart with you.”

“It’s not like that,” I argued. “Daphne is all grown up now. She knew I was leaving. It’s not like I lied to her about it.”

“Sure, but she isn’t just something fun to play with until you go home, if that’s what’s happening. Unless you can tell me that you’re serious enough about this to stay, I want you to leave. Today.”

“What if I do stay?” I countered. “Is that suddenly going to make you okay with this?”

“No, but I’ve already told you that this isn’t about me. Clearly, my feelings about this don’t matter to either of you. I’m fucking furious and I’m hurt, and it’s not going to change anytime soon, but right now, this is about protecting my sister from yet another asshole who’s just going to break her fucking heart.”

My eyebrows shot up. “You’re not seriously comparing me to Peter.”

“So what if I am?” he retorted. “Hurting her is hurting her. Sure, one is criminal and the other isn’t, but from where I’m standing, neither of you deserve her and neither of you can be trusted with her heart.”

My own heart was tearing itself apart, the indecision more intense than it’d ever been before. Not only that, but I was having a really hard time conveying my feelings and that just wasn’t going to cut it.

What I felt for Daphne was so different from anything I’d ever felt before. My past relationships had been nothing compared to this and it scared the shit out of me.

Torn between defending myself and trying to explain to him that I hadn’t intended to hurt her, I opened my mouth, but what came out didn’t really help my case. “Who she gives her heart to is none of your business. Daphne knows what she got into with me, and she and I will figure it out. We’ve talked about it and we agreed to work it out together.”

He scoffed, his head shaking again as a cruel smile spread on his lips. It was as ice cold as his eyes as he narrowed them on mine once more. “Do you love her?”

Fuck.

“I can’t answer that.” And he knew I wouldn’t be able to. “It’s early days and⁠—”

“Get off my parents’ property,” he snapped, lifting a hand that was trembling with rage and pointing it at my chest. “If I catch you talking to my sister again or coming anywhere near her or here, we’re going to have problems.”

His voice rang with finality and my chin dropped, defeat racing through me. I didn’t want to get between her and her family, but I also didn’t want to let her go. At the same time, I knew that he’d just dropped the ax on whatever had been left of our friendship and it fucking hurt.

Everything suddenly just hurt. I wanted to fight for her. I didn’t want to leave things like this with either of the LaSalles, but until I sorted through my own feelings, anything I said was only going to make it worse.

Sometimes, you had to concede the battle to win the war, and that was what I did. I threw my hands up and nodded, walking away. I would figure all this out. I just hoped I wouldn’t have lost them both for good by the time I did.