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“Best friends don’t sleep with their friend’s sister.”
“I told you we’re together, Hunter. We didn’t have a one-night stand,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. Carlo shot a look at me, and I pursed my lips. It had started out as a one-night stand, but that was the last thing we’d tell Hunter, especially when he was so angry. “Stop being irrational and be happy for me.”
“You’re into illegal shit,” Hunter said to Carlo, shaking his head. “I know you’re not clean. I’ve seen the shady calls and the guns your family takes with you when you go places.”
I bit my lip and leaned back. “This has nothing to do with Carlo’s…affiliations. I—”
“This has everything to do with that!” Hunter shouted, pounding his fist on the table. “I’m not going to allow my little sister to become involved with criminals who could get her hurt or killed. Back the fuck off, man.”
I leaned forward and gave Hunter a serious look. “You can ask all the questions you want. You can even be pissy about it. But you’re not going to tell me what I can and cannot do with my personal relationships, and any good friend wouldn’t try to do that with their friend, either. If you try to demand we stop seeing one another, I will turn around and leave, and you won’t ever hear from me again. I want you to be supportive of something that’s making me happy. I don’t get the chance to be happy much, so let me have this.”
Hunter didn’t say anything, but he finally looked at me.Reallylooked at me. His expression changed to one of worry, but he nodded slowly. “How long?” he asked.
“Just a few months,” Carlo replied immediately. There was no need to mention a history between us.
“Never when she lived under my roof?”
“No,” Carlo replied again.
“Why did you choose her?”
Carlo tilted his head. “Is that a serious question?”
Hunter’s face reddened slightly in what I knew was a combination of anger and embarrassment. “What made you decide on Sierra?”
“Her strength,” Carlo said immediately.
The response shocked me, and I stared at him, trying to decide if he was genuine or catering to what my brother wanted to hear. I realized quickly that he looked sincere, and my heart melted. A hint of a smile came across my face as Hunter turned his attention to me. “Why did you choose him?” he asked.
I couldn’t give a hard and fast answer the way Carlo had, and I bit my lip. I’d hated him for so long that I couldn’t pinpoint the one thing that swayed me into liking him. There were a series of small things. His kindness. His love for his family. The way he cared for me, even though he had tried to suppress all his feelings. There were too many things, and I didn’t want to offer it all to Hunter. I felt like what we had between us was too sacred to share with him. I wanted to keep a piece of our story just to ourselves. “His heart,” I said, summing up all the things I loved into one simple gesture.
“His heart?” Hunter asked skeptically. I only nodded, not bothering to elaborate. “You sound like you’re giving me fucking preschool answers. Why didn’t you tell me about you two earlier?”
I only raised an eyebrow and gestured to him. “Do you see this reaction?” I asked. “I’m still wondering if telling you was a bad idea.”
“Are you serious?’ he asked.
“Yes,” we said simultaneously.
“Have you slept together?”
“That’s it,” I scoffed, standing. “We’re done with questions, especially ones likethat.Drop the overprotective big brother bullshit and treat us like you would any other couple. Do you ask your other friends about their sex lives? You’re being ridiculous and making me wonder if I should stop telling you shit about my life.”
The frustration that budded in my chest at his intrusive questioning made me uneasy. I’d always told Hunter everything about my life, but maybe this was too much for him to handle.
Hunter leaned back, lifting his arms over his head and taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I know, you’re a grown woman. It’s hard for me to remember that. When I look at you, I still see the little girl who couldn’t stop begging for an American Girl doll for her eighth birthday. I’ve been the only father figure in your life for years, and I can’t throw that away. I can’t flip the switch, and I’m always going to want to protect you.”
“You’re going to have to figure out how to get over that, because I don’t need protection. Not from Carlo,” I told him, leaning into the table. “You two have been best friends for years, and you don’t trust him?”
“I do,” Hunter groaned. “Fuck, man. You’ve put me in one hell of a predicament.”
“I’ll keep her safe just like you always have,” Carlo said, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into his side. I grinned down at him, and he met my eyes with a wink.
“Okay, fine, but I’m implementing a few rules.”
“What rules?” I asked him.
“Can you keep the PDA and the affection to a minimum around me? I don’t want to watch my little sister making out with my best friend,” he said, grimacing at the thought.
