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Aidan and Cooper exchange looks, confirming what I’d begun to suspect years ago—that they preferred Jonathan over me.
I hold my hands up. “Jonathan was never good enough for Stassi. You guys were too stupid to see it.”
Cooper snorts. “And you are?”
“Yeah, actually. I was in love with her,” I say.
“Then why didn’t you do something about it instead of running off to MIT?” Aidan asks. “You left us without so much as a goodbye. Never called, never said a word. Then you showed up, that night, that party, all flash. Look at me, I’m the fancy MIT boy. None of us were impressed.”
All the pieces came together so perfectly. The way my insides had somersaulted when I saw her, more in love with dickhead Jonathan than ever after two years. The way he was scanning the room, just like he always did, looking for his next piece of ass. The misery and jealousy surging through my veins, which I tried to replace with alcohol.
I’d fucked with him, after Stassi left.
And now, he’s dead.
As much as I’d faked out the Huttons, pretending I didn’t love Stassi … Cooper and Aidan had been faking me out, pretending I was still one of them.
I swallow. “Say it, then. You don’t like me.”
They look at each other, but they don’t deny it.
Aidan says, “All I know is that with your track record, it’s really hard to believe you’re going to be some stand-up guy now.”
“Look,” I say, taking a breath. “I know I’m not perfect. I’ve always cared about Stassi. But I didn’t want to step on your toes. I wanted to honor you guys, as my friends, first. That doesn’t matter though. I’m going to be the father I never had, with or without your approval. I’m going to protect and provide for Stassi and our child. I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere.”
The room falls into silence. I know these guys, at least, I thought I knew them, and apparently, they knew everything I tried to keep from them, too. They don’t believe me. And why should they? No wonder they trusted Jonathan above me. I was a cool guy to hang out with, joke around with … but I’m not good enough for their sister. In twenty years, I never did a single thing to prove that.
Finally, Cooper fishes around in his jeans for his car keys. “I think it’s safe to say supper’s over. I’ve got to get Bodie home.”
He climbs the steps, and Aidan follows, leaving me staring at the ashes of my “congratulatory” cigar. Some congratulations.
A minute later, Stassi dips her head down. “Oh,” she says with relief. “I thought I was going to come down here to find you beaten to a pulp.”
I shake my head and manage a stiff smile. “No.”
Not on the outside, at least.
34
Stassi
Oh, that’s cute.
I’ve been sitting in bed at Alec’s place, for two hours, adding baby clothes to an ever-growing online shopping cart. All gender-neutral, since we don’t know the sex yet. It’s probably premature, but shopping therapy is needed.
And when you’re given a $500 gift card to a cute baby boutique, you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
I add a couple more onesies and look up. Alec left for work earlier than usual, before I woke up. And he hardly spoke to me about his conversation with Aidan and Cooper. I know it didn’t go well, not just from the way they gathered their families and stormed out after supper. He hasn’t been himself lately. He’s been quieter, withdrawn.
I don’t know whether to worry. At least, this morning, he had a bit of a sense of humor. He left me this note with the gift card:
Roses are red, violets are blue,
You’ve got some shopping to do.
-A
I had to do a double take when I read it. Because there was no Yours Cruelly.
I think whatever my brothers said might have done a number on him.
But he didn’t tell me a word about what my brothers said. At first, I told myself I didn’t care, because it’s my life. What I do and who I choose to be with is not something for them to decide. But gradually, I’ve been wondering more and more, and getting angrier and angrier at my brothers.
It has to be bad, for it to have changed Alec so much.
Why? Why can’t they accept him?
Deciding I need to know, I reach over and grab my phone, dialing my mom.
She answers on the first ring. “Oh, Stassi, I was just thinking about you. How are you?”
Of course. My mom’s always thinking about us, first. “I’m fine … actually, not so good.”
“Is it the baby?”
“No, no. Nothing like that. I’ve just been thinking about supper and what happened. Have you talked to the boys since then?”
“I haven’t. I don’t think they want to talk about it. I know it didn’t go as well as we’d hoped, but—”
