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“Well. Well. Look who’s become observant.”
“Very funny.”
“I was being serious.” This was the same man who, last year, hadn’t had a single clue that Addison was madly in love with him. If it hadn’t been for Bran and Addi’s road trip to Lake Tahoe, Jayson wondered if Bran would have ever figured it out.
“So am I,” Bran said, studying Jayson closely. “What’s going on? Gia and Addi were talking when Gia was here yesterday, but Addi told me she’s sworn to secrecy.” Bran took a swig from his bottle. “Can you believe that?”
“Yeah, I believe it.” Jayson sighed. “Nothing happened. Not really. We worked. She insisted on paying me for her half of dinner. We fell into old patterns of arguing like we did when we were married.” He shrugged, unsure how else to explain it to someone who had been married for about two minutes. “It’s hard after a while. The arguments become tiresome. And they’re never about what they’re about.”
“Meaning Gia’s paying for dinner was about more than money.” Bran, his gaze unfocused on the yard, shook his head. “She always wanted to be treated like one of the guys. I suspect it’s because of having two older brothers. And of course, we have this adorable kid sister who is a smart-ass, but loves so fiercely it’s undeniable. All we wanted to do was protect her from anything—or anyone—that might make her cry.”
Jayson stared at Bran’s profile in deep thought. He could relate to that. How many times had he stepped in to protect Gia the way he’d stepped in to protect his mother? Only Gia hadn’t really needed that sort of protection. There was no dragon to slay where his ex-wife was concerned.
But for the first time he considered how Bran and Royce, and Jack, too, had handled Gia with kid gloves. She wouldn’t have seen their efforts as protection, but as them stunting her growth. She’d wanted to flourish on her own, without their involvement.
And, he reasoned, without his as well.
“She’s not weak,” Jayson said, and wondered if his protectiveness made her feel like he thought she was. Then he remembered a bunch of other arguments that had ended with her accusing him of being “controlling” and he didn’t have to wonder any longer.
“I overstepped,” Jayson admitted for the first time in his life.
“By buying her dinner?” Bran asked, dubious.
“In the past. By telling her what she needs. By making decisions without her. By refusing to let her stand on her own two feet.”
“You were trying to take care of her. We all saw that.” Bran sipped his beer. “Plus you know how much she loves to win. She’ll do anything to make you see her point of view.”
“She stuffed the money down my shirt.”
“’Course she did,” Bran laughed. “Listen, whatever stuff you and G have going on is your business. I care about you both, but I also know you’re capable of working things out. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to lose the dream team when it came to fixing this tablet issue.”
“Gia and I are pros at dancing around each other,” Jayson assured his friend.
That was the truth. They knew how to button down and focus on work. No matter what had happened between them since their divorce, they would prioritize ThomKnox and fix the tablet because nothing was more important than that.
Almost nothing... but there was no fixing what had been broken between him and Gia.
