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SITTING IN HIS JEEP, I carefully watch every turn he makes. Apparently, I’m not allowed to know where we’re going, but if this fucker pulls up to an AA meeting, I’ll deck him right in the face. I’m not an alcoholic. I’m just using the liquid gold to make everything hurt a little less. My tension eases slightly when we pass the church. I know from living here most of my life that they host meetings in the basement on the weekends. However, as we pull up to the familiar house, my stomach churns.
“What the fuck are we doing here?!”
He doesn’t answer me as he shuts off the car and climbs out. Reluctantly, and because I’m given much choice, I follow. We climb the steps of the house I’ve lived in for the past six months and step inside. The sound of the football game can be heard from the door. Tatum has been known to watch the sport occasionally, but only Maverick tunes in to the preseason games.
Sure enough, we walk into the living room to find Mav sitting on the couch. He nods a silent hello at Rome but doesn’t even look my way. Not going to lie, his lack of acknowledging my presence stings. Him and I have been best friends for the last fifteen years. I never thought anything would get in between us, but I guess I was wrong.
“Sit.” Rome tells me in his authoritative voice. I flip him off but do what he says anyway. “I’m going to be in the other room so you two dumbasses don’t kill each other.”
He walks out, leaving Maverick and I alone. The tension in here is so thick I could choke on it. I run my hands over my face, still trying to rid myself of this hangover.
“You look like shit.” Mav tells me.
I roll my eyes. “Thanks asshole. You don’t look much better.”
“I do.” He chuckles. “Rome said you haven’t been at work in a while.” I grunt. “And that you’ve practically been drinking yourself to death.”
“What the fuck is this, an intervention?!”
“No, fucker, but you’re better than this shit. What the hell are you doing with your life?!”
A dry laugh emits from the back of my throat. “Don’t you get it?! My life lost its significance the second you threatened the best thing in it into leaving me.”
His eyes widen at my admission. “McKenna?”
The name alone shoots daggers straight through my heart. “No, the pope. Yes, McKenna, dickwad.”
“I don’t get it. You could have almost any girl you want. Why the hell did you have to pick her?! She’s my little sister!”
“You think I don’t realize that?!” I run my fingers through my hair. “I tried for years to get over it. To convince myself it was only because she was the forbidden fruit, that it was just a phase – but none of it ever worked. The more I saw her, the more I needed her attention. Just being in the same room as her helped feed the monster inside me for a little while. Then one day, it didn’t.”
He nods, focusing down at his lap. “Don’t think I haven’t put two and two together. You said you two had a thing before she moved to New York. She wouldn’t come anywhere near this town for years after she left, and never once asked how you were doing. She had asked about Tatum, and Roman, and our parents, but always avoided the topic of you. You hurt her, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” I confess, thankful that Rome is nearby. “The day before she left, she told me she wanted more. She wanted to tell everyone about our relationship and try to make the long-distance thing work.”
His eyebrows raise. “And you turned her down?”
“I was a chicken shit. I was too afraid of what you would think and to lose you as a friend. Hell, maybe I even feared for my life a little bit.” I tell him, reliving the biggest mistake of my life. “By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late. She was gone.”
He looks like he’s running it all through his mind before he looks up and groans at the ceiling. “I’ll be honest, I don’t like it. Don’t get me wrong, you’re a great guy, but she’s my baby sister, man. You’ve known her since she was seven and you’re practically my brother. Isn’t that almost like incest?”
Well, that’s a gross thought, but not at all accurate. I shake my head. “She may be your sister, but she’s my everything.”
“Y-you’re in love with her, aren’t you?”
He knows that word isn’t something I take lightly. When I dated Olivia, she said it to me for most of the time we were together, and I never once said it back. I haven’t used that word to or about anyone – not that they know of anyway. Therefore, the heaviness of my answer is not lost on me.
“Yeah, I am. I have been for a long time.”
Grabbing the throw pillow from beside him, he throws it at me. “God damn it, Brooks. Now I feel like an asshole. I thought you two were just fooling around. She’s had a thing for you since we were kids and I thought you were taking advantage of that. But if this is serious…”
My eyes land on the large binder lying open on the coffee table. Tatum usually hides it when I’m around, so she must not have known I’d be coming here. As I glance at it, I see that she just made a call about catering yesterday. She’s still planning the wedding. There’s still a wedding.
“No.” My knu
ckle knocks twice against the table. “She made her choice. She’s his now.”
25
