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I watched them go, shut the door, and turned to face my dad and Cassidy. They both peered at me like they didn’t know what to say.
“Sorry about wrecking your morning,” I said. “And I’m sorry for what she said.”
“That’s not your fault.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, making the whiskers of his short beard bristle, and his gaze turned toward his girlfriend. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Cassidy waved a hand like that wasn’t important right now. “But I liked the part where you told them to get the fuck out of our house.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Me too.”
She moved toward my dad and put her arms around his waist, and he instantly responded by slipping his arm around her too. It was so comfortable, so natural, and I’d seen them like this enough times it didn’t feel weird to me anymore. Hell, she’d been with him longer now than she’d been with me.
She sounded dubious. “Colin’s okay with you dating his sister?”
“No, not at all.” I sighed and sank down onto the couch, setting my head in my hands. “He doesn’t know.”
“Oh,” she breathed.
The silence that followed was so heavy, I struggled under it. “You don’t have any room to judge.”
“No, I don’t,” she said.
Her agreeing with me somehow made it worse, and I felt the urge to defend myself. “He’s my best friend, but if I tell him? We’re done. Our friendship’s over.” It was the bitter truth, and I hated it. “He made it really fucking clear she’s off limits, but no. That didn’t stop me. Hell, it barely slowed me down.” My face twisted with displeasure. “God, I’m such a shitty friend.”
She couldn’t have looked more shocked if she’d tried. “Oh, my god. You really like her.”
My dad’s tone was borderline gloating. “I told you he did.”
“What?” I asked.
He gave me a sad, knowing smile. “That day she cooked for you, I could tell. You haven’t looked at another girl like that except for . . .” His expression hung as he tried to change course. “I haven’t seen you look at someone like that in a while.”
Fuck, was that true? He was talking about Cassidy, who was the only girl I’d ever loved. And he thought I was looking at Sydney the same way? That idea was terrifying.
I wasn’t ready for any of that.
“You know when Colin finds out,” I muttered, “he’s going to throw our friendship away. Our friendship and our business.” I crossed my arms over my chest, and I probably looked like a pouting child, but in the moment, I didn’t really care. “This fucking sucks.”
Cassidy extracted herself from my dad’s arms and crept closer to the couch. “I know it does.” Her words were quiet, but they carried enormous weight. “It’s like, you know you aren’t supposed to do it. That being with this person is going to hurt someone else, but you’re not in control anymore. There are all these reasons you shouldn’t be together, and yet—shit.” She glanced at my dad. “There’s nothing you can do to make yourself stop.”
I’d never seen her side more painfully clear. They’d confessed they’d tried not to get involved with each other for my sake, but they’d failed miserably. The heart wanted what it wanted, and they didn’t get a say in it.
“Yes,” I admitted.
My dad’s deep voice filled the space between us. “You’ve got to tell him.”
“You probably don’t want our advice,” she said, “but he’s right. He had wanted to tell you about us for months, but I wouldn’t let him. I was too fucking scared. I thought if you knew, there was no way you’d forgive us, and it’d destroy your relationship with your dad.” She sucked in a deep breath, and her expression filled with guarded hope. “But, Preston, look at how far we’ve come. It wasn’t easy, but we made it work. You made it work, and imagine how much better it would have been if we’d told you, instead of you finding out.”
“Yes, that would have been better,” I said sarcastically.
The image of them fucking on the very couch I was sitting on was unfortunately seared into my brain.
Cassidy was right about us coming a long way, though, and that it hadn’t been easy. But by comparison, Colin learning to deal with me dating his sister was a much smaller mountain to climb.
And it was one I was willing to try.
TWENTY-THREE
Preston
