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Linc’s eyes go wide, and his mouth drops open in surprise before his brow furrows and I know he’s thinking about the past year. He’s probably remembering every instance when I acted strangely or left early when we were out together. He’s thinking about every time I lied to him about where I was going.
“A year?” he asks. “Wow.”
“I’m sorry,” I say lamely. Guilt and shame wash over me and I wonder if he feels hurt or betrayed by my deception.
He holds up his hand and shakes his head. “Give me a second.”
I sit back, giving my brother the time he needs to piece everything together. After a full minute he turns back to me.
“Let me see if I have all this right,” he says. “You and Layna started screwing around the night you first met. You both agreed it would be just sex and no strings attached, right?”
I nod.
“But somewhere along the way, you caught feelings for her,” he goes on. “Only now, she wants to end things and find a respectable man to settle down with?”
“Basically,” I say.
“And since you were too much of a chicken shit to tell her how you feel, now she’s dating some douchebag lawyer who’s all wrong for her.” He looks at me. “So far, so good?”
I nod again, shooting him a glare for the chicken shit comment.
“Yeah,” I mutter.
"And you’re sure she doesn't feel the same way about you?" he asks, his voice gentler than before.
I feel a sharp stab of pain in my chest at the words. "I think her having a new boyfriend is pretty compelling evidence."
“I thought you said he wasn’t her boyfriend?”
“Shut up.”
Linc shakes his head. “I still can’t believe you’ve been sleeping together and hiding it all this time. Wow.”
“Sorry,” I say again, because it seems like the thing you say when your brother finds out you’ve been lying to him for more than a year.
“I’m more impressed that you were able to keep a secret like that in this town,” he says. “How do you know she doesn’t feel the same way?”
"She made it clear early on that we were just fooling around. Nothing serious. It was purely physical.” I take a deep breath and say what I’ve never told anyone else. “I was attracted to her. Obviously. I wanted to be with her in whatever way I could. So, I agreed to her terms, even though a small part of me always wondered if we could be something more. But she lived in Atlanta.
"Then, when she kept coming back to visit Piper, we just kept fooling around. But we were also hanging out, becoming friends. So, then it became friends with benefits. Somewhere along the way, I stopped wanting just the physical. I wanted to be with her for real. I kept thinking if I bided my time and kept showing her that I'm more than just a fuck-boy idiot that she'd eventually feel what I feel. But then she told me she had a date and wanted to end things. And since we made the rule about no hard feelings, I decided to let her go. I didn’t think she’d move on this fast."
I laugh, though nothing about this is funny.
"God, I was so fucking stupid. To think she would take me seriously." I drop my head down into my hands and dig my fingers into my hair. "She just wanted to have one last fling before she found the guy she wants to be with forever. I should have known that guy wouldn't be me. No one falls for the fling."
"Cole, stop," Linc says, interrupting my rant. "I want you to answer a question for me."
"What?" I ask, letting my misery seep into my tone as I meet my brother’s gaze.
"Are you sure this isn't just infatuation? You've never had a woman turn you down before."
I feel my anger rise. Of course, he'd think that. Cole Prescott, ladies’ man. The guy who's never been in a serious relationship. The guy who charms the pants off any woman he wants. Why would that guy be talking about love and settling down with one woman?
I meet my brother's gaze. "Linc, I haven't so much as looked at another woman since the night I met Layna. She's it for me. I can't explain it. I just know it. The way you know Harlow is the one. That certainty? I feel that when I look at her. I look at Layna and I can see it all. Everything that matters is right there in front of me."
Linc shakes his head, but he's smiling. "Wow. Look at my baby brother, all grown up and falling in love."
"Shut up."
