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“Let’s be real. We know Karli isn’t some weakling,” Nolan says. “She’s not the kind of girl who would let some guy take advantage of her or force her into a relationship she doesn’t want to be in. If she chose to be with you, she wanted to be with you.”
“Plus, she has this confidence about her now, ever since you’ve been around,” Darius is saying. “It’s not that fake, angry bravado like before, where she was always putting on an act to prove how tough she is. It’s deeper than that. It’s real. It’s like she trusts herself now.”
“And she has some pretty nice things to say about you,” Archer is grumbling. “Although I’m still not so sure what all the fuss is about, Westbrook.” I flinch and he cracks a little smile.
Ronan leans a hip against the pool table. “Well…aren’t you going to say anything?”
I scrub a hand down my face. “I wasn’t expecting you guys to say all that…” I admit. “This conversation is going differently from how I saw it playing out in my head.”
Felix finally opens his mouth. “Can we talk for a minute, man? In private.”
My skull bobs.
When Felix strolls across the bar, I follow after him. I take a seat on a barstool and I watch him round the counter, grabbing a clean glass from a shelf. “You want a beer?” he asks me.
“Yeah,” I tell him.
Felix fills the glass with ice cold beer from the tap. The whole time, I keep my eyes on him. Not like I think he’s going to lace my drink with formaldehyde or something. But after what happened over the past few weeks, you never know.
“Thanks, man,” I say when he slides the glass across the countertop to me. “I just want to say that I’m really sorry about how things played out. I’m sorry about the way you found out about Karli and me. I should have been upfront with you about what was going on instead of sneaking around with her.”
“I appreciate that,” he mumbles quietly as he fills a glass for himself.
I carry on, my courage growing. “But I won’t apologize for falling in love with her. And I think that she maybe—possibly—might be in love with me. And if she’s not, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get her there.” I rake my fingers through my hair. “To be honest, I’m not too sure where she stands on the idea of us right now. I pissed her off real good when I left town.”
“I’m sorry about my role in that,” he says to me. “Actually, I’m sorry about how I handled this entire situation. I shouldn’t have fired you and kicked you out of the house. That was some immature bullshit on my part.”
With a nod, I accept his apology. “I’m ready to put all that behind us.” I pull in a breath. “I just want to win Karli back. And I’d like very much to have your approval and your support.” When his mouth opens to speak, I cut him off with my hand held up like a stop sign. “Just so you know, I plan on making her mine whether you’re on my side or not. But Iwouldprefer to have you on my side.”
He holds my eyes for a long while, and then he nods. “Yeah. I’m on your side. The job at the clinic—it’s still yours, if you want it,” he says meekly. “And if Karli is willing to give you a shot, I’m willing.”
My stomach tightens. That’s the question, isn’t it? After everything, will Karli be open to taking another chance on me?
Still, I feel a boulder roll off my shoulders, knowing that my best friend supports me in this.
“I love my sister,” he’s saying. “Deep down, my gut will always tell me to protect her. But at the same time, she made me see that if I want us to have a good relationship, I’ve got to do my part. I’ve got to respect her decisions, as hard as it might be sometimes.” He drags a hand through his hair. “And I don’t want to be that guy who’s getting in the way and blocking the happiness of two people I care about. That’s not a good feeling.”
I resonate with that in the center of my chest.
“I don’t want to push my sister away—which is exactly what I did by trying to take over her life.” Felix ruefully shakes his head. “She’s all pissed at me. She’s barely even talking to me. None of her snarky comebacks. None of her sass. At the clinic, she treats me like her boss all day. When I went over to the house to try and talk to her when she was off the clock, she refused to come out of her room. I want my bratty little sister back, Westbrook. So I guess in some ways, I need your help, too. You need to win her back.”
“I will do everything in my power to fix things between us.”
“Just promise me you’ll be good to her. That you’ll make her happy.”
“Every day for the rest of my life,” I promise him.
Felix comes around the bar and gives me a hard shove. “Then go get her. Go fix things.”
“I’m on my way.” I need to get to her as soon as possible.
I’m racing to the door when I hear him call after me. “Mason?”
My feet halt as I turn to face him. “Yeah?”
“Take this.” He dips into his pocket for his fob. He hands me three familiar pieces of metal. “You might need these. She hasn’t been answering the door.”
“Got it.” I grab the keys from him. And then, I pull him into a manly hug.
