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“Because …” My stomach knotted as my lies bubbled to the surface, and my body turned cold as I admitted to what I should’ve told my best friend a long time ago. “Because Deacon and I have been seeing each other in secret for a couple of years now.”
Hurt flashed through Forrest’s eyes, and I already felt awful, but the betrayal that was plain to read felt like a sword skewering my heart.
“At first, it was a drunk mistake, but then we saw an opportunity given our crazy work schedules. So, we worked something out. It was no-strings-attached but … Feelings got involved and—”
“Enough.” Forrest held up his hand to stop me, shaking his head. “That’s enough.” I tried to speak again, but he backed up, moving toward the door. “This was the one thing I didn’t want, and now everything’s a fucking mess. Just like I knew it would be. But no, you two needed to be selfish, so I hope you’re fucking happy.”
Without another word, he turned and walked straight out my front door, slamming it shut in his wake. Once fluttery and happy, my stomach felt like it had turned to cement, and nothing but rocks sat there now.
“You okay, Kota?” Deacon appeared at my side, and I looked at him, smiling sadly and trying to be brave. But huge, hot tears filled my eyes, and before I knew it, they spilled down my cheeks.
Without a word, his arm wrapped around my shoulder, pulling me into his chest as he kissed the top of my head.
deacon
Dakota criedherself to sleep in my arms, leaving me lying there pissed the fuck off at Forrest. He was a grown-ass man who was still acting like the baby of the family who deserved everything he wanted. Life didn’t work like that and controlling what other people did certainly wasn’t the way to get it.
He was my brother, sure, but he was being an asshole.
After deciding I wasn’t getting much more sleep than that, I pushed the sheets off me, grabbed my boxer briefs, and padded to the kitchen to make us food. As I was flipping the bacon, Kota stepped into the room, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
“Morning.”
“Morning, babe. You sleep alright?” She shrugged, walking further into the room as I pointed at the table. “Coffee’s hot.” She nodded and slumped into a chair, wrapping her hands around the hot cup as she stared into its puddle like it could explain all life’s secrets.
I wanted to say something, but I didn’t want to make things worse. Glancing over my shoulder at her, she was frowning at the coffee now.
“Did it insult you?”
“Huh?” She looked, blinking. Then she tried to smile, but it barely cracked her mouth, let alone met her eyes. “I’ve been avoiding him since the auction. He’s texted me a dozen times, shown up here, called—the works. But I ignored it all because I didn’t know how to explain how I felt. Not when I knew he’d respond like he did last night.”
I lifted the plate of eggs and bacon, carrying it over before returning to the toaster. Plating the toast, I brought that over too and then pulled up a chair next to her. She’d already dug into the bacon, biting off a piece slowly while staring at the back door.
“What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“You said you didn’t know how to explain how you felt—how do you feel?”
She turned slowly, staring at me. Then, she set her bacon on the plate, her eyes roved from my eyes to my nose, ending on my lips. Finally, they flicked back up to meet my eyes.
“Love, Deac, I have always loved you. From the time I figured out what love actually meant, it’s been you. But how was I supposed to tell Forrest that?”
That was easily the greatest thing anyone had ever told me. And the fact that she loved me while I loved her? Even better. Now nothing was standing in our way of being together, nothing logical at least. As far as I was concerned, whatever Forrest was doing, or thought he was doing, wasn’t logical.
“I don’t understand why it matters what Forrest thinks. If he can’t understand we love each other and want to be together, that’s his shit. Not ours. Is it because he secretly loves you but has never had the balls to tell you?” Dakota scrunched up her nose and shook her head. “Then what is it? Because it doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Forrest was always the brother I never had. And I was the sister he never got. So, because of that, our families were off-limits. We mentally merged ourselves, which meant our families were merged, and me dating one of you, or him dating one of my sisters, felt wrong because in our being siblings to one another meant our siblings also became their siblings.”
“But that’s not a contract I signed up for. I never said just because you and Forrest hung out that I couldn’t ever feel something for you. Because I did. And you admitted that all along you did too. And yet, you still went along with this ridiculous deal.”
Dakota nodded her head, frowning as she looked at her plate once more and poked at the eggs I’d made before she sighed. When she looked back at me, she looked defeated.
“He made it clear this was the one thing he couldn’t be swayed on. He did not want us to get involved in any way, and I betrayed him. I knowingly betrayed him the first time we slept together.”
I reached out and touched her hand with a frown, stroking it with my thumb as I still tried to empathize with what she was saying. But it all felt so ridiculous to me. Even if she had ‘betrayed’ him, he’d get over it eventually. He had to, especially if he saw how happy we made each other and how much we cared for each other. If he loved us, as he claimed to, wouldn’t our happiness trump whatever fears he had about us getting involved?
“What are you going to do then?”
