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“I know that,” I bite out.
He brings his red face to me, and his anger-filled eyes pierce mine. “Then, what the hell are you doing? That’s Mike’s family, you son of a bitch.”
“You think I haven’t thought about that? My only intention was to take her out and make her smile, but …” I rake my hands through my hair as I search for the right words.
“But what?” he demands.
“She’s more than Mike’s widow even if you can’t seem to see that.”
“Oh, and you do?”
“Yeah, I do. She’s a beautiful, smart, vivacious woman. A woman with an attitude that gets my wit and doesn’t take my shit. She tosses it right back to me. She’s been walking around on autopilot for over a year now, and I can’t stand to see that anymore. She is so full of life, and she needs to live it.”
“Yeah, she does. She needs a good man who will treat her and Kaela with respect. And that’s not you.”
“Come on, Corbin. That’s not fair,” Langford says.
“The hell it isn’t. How many real relationships has he ever been in? Life is one big party for him, and as soon as he’s had his fun, he’ll vanish on her.”
“Just because I’ve never been in a relationship doesn’t mean I can’t be in one,” I defend.
“You’re thirty-five years old, Weston. Do you expect me to think you’re gonna change now?” he asks.
I step around Langford and spread my arms. “Why not? You’re thirty-eight, and you just found the love of your life. Maybe I just skipped those years of bullshit you went through with Susanna.”
“He has a point,” Langford states.
“Same with Garrett. He did nothing but hop from groupie to starlet for years. Does that mean he doesn’t deserve happiness with Ansley?” I ask.
“That’s different,” Corbin spits.
“No, it’s not. I’ve finally met someone that I really like. How’s that different?”
He takes a step back, and I can see the surprise on his face.
“You’re serious? You like her?”
“Yeah, I like the way she takes charge at the office and how she barreled in and made the place her own. I like the way she sings to herself when she’s working. I like the way she does a little pee dance when she laughs too hard. I like the way she looks up at the stars like she’s seeing them for the first time. I like how she opens the window at the office when it rains so she can hear the drops hitting the tin roof. I like the way her eyes sparkle when Kaela mumblesmaover and over. I like waking up with her beside me and knowing I get to spend another day with her in it. I like the hell out of her. How could I not? She’s fucking perfect,” I admit to him and myself.
He just stares at me, so I continue, “What do you want me to do, Cor, apologize? I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry you lost your friend. I’m sorry you feel responsible for his death. I’m sorry you carry that burden. But, brother, I’m not sorry that I was able to put a smile on her face again. I’m not sorry that out of Mike’s loss, I found joy that I hadn’t thought I would ever find. I’m not sorry that I fell in love, and I’m not sorry that I want to call those two girls mine for the rest of my life. And if you can’t accept that, then you’re not the man or brother I thought you were. Because wishing it any other way is wishing for them to suffer for the rest of their lives because they lost Mike, and the man I know you to be wouldn’t want that.”
He runs his hands through his hair before resting them on his hips and hanging his head. “Shit.”
“You got that right,” I agree.
“You’re in love with her?”
Did I say that?
Fuck, I did.
“I—I—yeah, I think I am.”
Langford folds his hands together and looks up toward the ceiling. “Hey, big guy, I know I’ve talked a whole lot of smack about what I’m gonna do when hell freezes over, but I’m not prepared to carry through on all that at the moment.”
“Very funny,” I mutter.
“I don’t know how to feel about this, brother,” Corbin says.
