Page 83 of Slide

Adam cleared his throat. “Good news?”

Hugh’s mouth slammed down into a grim line, brows low, scowling like hell.

Joe, on the other hand, fucking smirked like a motherfucker. “She met a guy. They’ve been on a few dates. She thinks he might be the one.”

Adam actually stumbled back several steps, like Joe had reached out and shoved the fuck out of him. His lower back slammed into the workbench and he was thankful he had something to prop him up because he was dangerously close to falling to his fucking knees and crying like a baby.

No. Anything but that. Shit, two weeks. Two weeks and she had already moved on? He was in her rear-view mirror. Forgotten. A fucking bad memory?

Shit, he couldn’t breathe properly. Was he hyperventilating? His vision was getting fuzzy.

“Jesus. Adam? Are you okay?” Joe said. At least he thought it was Joe.

Was he okay? The woman he loved beyond reason was with someone else two weeks after he ended things between them. No. No, he was not fucking okay. He was dying.

Adam shoved Joe’s hand off his shoulder and tried to walk away.

Joe grabbed his shirt and shoved him back against the workbench. “You really care about her, don’t you?”

“What gave it away?” he choked.

Both Hugh and Joe were studying him like they’d never seen him before. “Why’d you end it with Lucy when you so obviously love her?” Joe asked.

“You know why,” Adam gritted out. “You saying you want me with your sister now?” Jesus. His head was spinning.

“Fuck no,” Hugh said.

“That’s what I thought.”

“I’ll never settle down. I don’t want commitment and all the shit that goes with it,” Hugh rumbled, throwing his own words back at him. “Sound familiar? You’ve been saying that shit since I met you in high school. You’ve never had a girlfriend, and you’ve spent the last twenty years trying to fuck your way through the female population.” Hugh crossed his arms. “Would you want you to date your sister?”

Adam had said all those things, many times. He’d believed them, too, down to his bones, but now…

“I didn’t think that’d changed until the reaction you just gave us,” Joe said. “What are you going to do about it?”

Adam shook his head. “Nothing,” he rasped. This might be her chance at true happiness. Fuck. The One. He thought he might throw up.

Hugh made a disgusted sound. “You don’t think you deserve her?”

Adam held his friend’s hard stare. “You telling me I’m wrong?”

“The right man for Lucy is the kind of man that’ll fight for her. So yeah, you’re right, you’re sure as fuck not that man.” Hugh strode away.

Fuck.

Joe stood there staring at him. Finally, he said, “At first, I was pissed at you for soiling my precious baby sister, for sneaking around behind our backs. Then I was pissed at you for doing exactly what I thought you’d do, breaking her heart and letting her go. Now I’m not pissed, I’m fucking furious. The way you reacted, you don’t just care, you love her, but you sacked out anyway. That’s pretty fucking pathetic, dude.”

Before Adam could answer, Joe was striding away. Adam was trying to process what the hell had happened, what it all meant, if it meant anything, when Joe stopped and turned back to him.

“And by the way, about the new guy Lucy’s seeing? I lied. She’s not seeing anyone. She’s going back to school.” Joe winked. “Just wanted to see how you’d react. You didn’t disappoint—no, scratch that—you totally fucking did.” Then he walked out the door.