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We both stood frozen as we waited, and I jumped when my door was thrown open so hard I had no doubt there would be a dent in the wall.
“Jesus, Dylan!”
“Get your fucking ass upstairs,” he snapped over me, shocking the hell out of me.
“Excuse me?” I choked out, partly in disbelief, partly in irritation.
“Maci,” one of the other boys yelled just before someone else began descending the stairs. Soon after, Craig was standing behind Dylan. “You might want to come upstairs.”
I felt myself shrink inside at the clear command that showed he was just as pissed as Dylan.
I started telling them both to leave when my dad’s raised voice floated down the stairs, gripping my throat and lungs and heart.
“Calm down, Dakota! Let the man talk.”
Connor.
After what he said, after the way he destroyed me, I wasn’t sure I wanted to see him. But why else would he be here, upsetting my brothers, if it weren’t for me?
Grabbing Amber’s hand, I pushed past my brothers and tried ignoring how their glares made my skin crawl as I hurried up the stairs. But then I made it up there, and my shoulders slumped when I saw him.
Connor hadn’t come for me...
The crushing weight that had been on my chest ever since Connor threw me out of his life seemed to increase. The little glimmer of hope that he’d changed his mind faded to ash and made me feel like the biggest kind of idiot for once again letting myself believe that Connor Green could ever love me. And I hated that I was fighting tears because the wrong man was standing in front of me.
“Hey, baby,” Bryce said, a smile lighting up his too-perfect face when he saw me.
“Baby?” Amber and I said at the same time, confusion and disgust fueling our voices.
“Oh, hell no,” Amber sneered. “I thought we were finally done with you.”
Bryce sent a glare her way. “As always, Amber, what a pleasant surprise to see you.”
“I somehow doubt that.”
“Stop,” I whispered to her, knowing she would hear and understand my plea because the last thing I needed was for them to get into another one of their arguments. Focusing on Bryce, I asked, “What are you—”
“You fucking liar,” Dylan said under his breath as he and Craig shoved past me, pushing me into Amber.
I steeled my jaw and faced Bryce again, my voice thick with emotion when I asked, “What are you doing here?”
His family vacationed here every winter—another reason we’d been close for so long—but when he’d asked if we could talk while we were here, I thought my “Fuck off” response would’ve prevented this.
“I was just telling your father about our plans,” he answered with a smug grin that I would’ve picked apart if I hadn’t been caught on that last word.
Plans? Oh no...
My dad cleared his throat and gestured from Bryce to me. “Maci, this young man just informed me you’re getting married within the year?”
“What?” The word ripped from me on a horrified breath. “No!”
“You don’t have to keep lying just because your brothers are here,” Bryce said as he closed the distance between us to pull me into his arms as if this were normal for us.
It wasn’t.
But I was frozen as one arm wrapped around my waist while the other cupped my cheek. A clear look of disappointment filled his expression when his eyes zeroed in on my nose. “I thought we agreed you were going to take that thing out,” he said soft enough that only Amber and I could hear him. “And why isn’t your hair blonde yet? I’m planning on announcing our engagement at the beginning of the year.”
“You are such a piece of shit,” Amber hissed, but Bryce kept talking as if she’d never spoken.
