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“Hey, man. What’s up?” I ask, casual as ever.
He doesn’t return my smile. In fact, the stony expression he gives me makes my balls try to run and hide.
“Mind if we come in to talk?” He gestures over his shoulder and I catch sight of the other guys. There’s not one friendly face among the bunch.“Yeah. Come in.” I step aside and swing the door wide, welcoming the guys into the house that they generously entrusted to me mere weeks ago. I betrayed that trust.
Everything about this scenario feels wrong.
Archer marches inside. Ronan and Nolan follow right behind him, wearing matching displeased scowls. Darius’s mask is made of stone and he barely spares me a look as he passes by.
And then I’m standing there, face to face with Felix.
That one’s the real sucker punch to the gut. Because my best friend doesn’t crack his usual goofy grin at the sight of me. In fact, I have a hard time reading anything on his face at all. He only shoots me the briefest glance, shaking his head in disappointment as he enters the house.
This is not at all like it was a few weeks ago. My mind travels back to the morning I arrived in town. We’d all been gathered here in this very living room. They’d been welcoming and trusting. They let me into their childhood home. Eventually, they called me an honorary brother. I ruined all that. I deceived them.
Closing the door, I join the guys in the living room and drop into my usual armchair.
Except they all stay standing.Oh…it’sthat kindof conversation.
I rise back up to my feet. The guys circle around me like a pod of killer whales. I’m a hopeless blobfish trapped in their deadly orbit.
It’s not like I’m scared of a fight. I can usually hold my own in a brawl. I can swing fists when the moment calls for it. But, let’s be real—I’m not Thor, God of Thunder, out here. The Brighton brotherhood runs five deep, and I don’t exactly have back up in this town. This won’t be a fair fight.
This nerve-shredding moment could have been avoided if I’d just been honest with myself and with the Brighton boys about what was going on between their sister and me from the get-go.
The minute I walked into the kitchen on my first morning in town and I saw Karli standing there—the minute I realized she was my best friend’s sister—I should have told Felix the truth.
Sure. He would have withdrawn his job offer and kicked my ass on the spot. But at least I wouldn’t be a traitor. I’d still have my fucking honor. Like a man. And by now, we would have all moved on with our lives.
Instead, I shied away from the truth, and now I’m up to my eyeballs in this mess.
Darius clears his throat. “So, you and Karli…What’s going on?” His eyebrow points upward in question.
I fumble. “Um, well…”
“Just answer the question, bro,” Ronan snaps, big hockey arms folded over his chest.Fuck.
I try again. “Uh, me and Karli are…involved.”
I’m pretty sure I hear Archer snarl. I glance over and see his lumberjack paws curled into meaty fists.Fuck.
“Wereinvolved?” I amend, not at all sure if I’m making my situation any better.
Nolan cracks his bartender knuckles. I know those calloused phalanges have handled more than a bar fight or two.Fuck.
Darius curls his manicured hands into fists, planting them low on his hips. On the bright side, those hands look like they haven’t been in a real fight in a while. On the not-so-bright side, the guy is rich. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a thug or two on his payroll to do his dirty work for him.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
But you know what? I don’t care how intimidating these guys may appear to be at the moment. I’m not going out like some little bitch. “Look—Karli and I have been involved, okay?”
Ronan sucks in a harsh breath. “That’s our baby sister you’re talking about, you dick swab!”
“I know that,” I say lamely.
“You fucking know how much we’ve been worried about her with all the med school drama that just went down,” Nolan says. “We confided in you. We told you she was vulnerable and feeling bad about herself.”
“And all the while you were over here trying to get in her pants,” Darius adds.
