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“Stop talking, Connor.”
“Dakota Price, shut your mouth and let the man speak,” his mom chastised before looking at me encouragingly.
I sent her a grateful smile just as Craig asked, “If you’re so in love with Maci, tell me why my little sister looks like a zombie?”
Mr. Price had a graying eyebrow raised at me by the time I looked their way again, but I just shrugged before gesturing to the twins. “Because I listened to Dakota and Dylan when I shouldn’t have.”
“So, the two of you have known about this and didn’t say anything?” Craig asked irritably as he looked between his brothers.
“Three,” Dylan muttered before nodding at me. “Sam was at the bar with us when Connor came to talk about their relationship.”
Craig held out one of his arms. “Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me?”
“What I’m not understanding is what I’m seeing right now,” their dad said as he gestured to us. “You three have been inseparable since you were kids, and now this?”
“Because they forced me to break up with Maci,” I said with an exasperated laugh, then looked accusingly at Dakota. “Do you have any idea how much it killed me to do that? To say what I did and lie to her just so she would believe me? Or how much it destroyed me to listen to her cry for the rest of the night?” I gripped at my aching chest. “I feel like I’ve been suffocating ever since I left the goddamn bar.”
“Get over it and find someone to help you move on,” Dylan seethed. “We already said you can’t date or marry Maci.”
“That isn’t your fucking decision,” I snapped. “You’re my best friend, but I never should’ve listened to you in the first place.”
“You know why we can’t let you be with her,” Dakota yelled back.
“Why can’t he be with her?” Mr. Price asked curiously, calmly, as the three of us got closer and closer to a fight I was sure we wouldn’t come back from.
“Dakota, I swear to God, I would die before I hurt your sister.”
“You don’t know that,” he seethed as he took another step toward me and was, once again, stopped by Craig.
“You said—”
“Damn it, Dylan, I know what I said,” I yelled over him. “But I would never hurt her.”
“You already have.”
Every one of us froze at the sound of her strained voice. Some of the women gasped from where they’d been whispering to each other while we argued. But the following silence was thick and heavy as I forced myself to turn toward that voice.
“Maci,” I breathed, my voice twisting around her name when I saw the tears staining her cheeks. I took a step toward her but rocked to a stop when she held up a shaky hand.
“Sam told me they made you do it,” she began, head bobbing subtly as she visibly swallowed. Glancing at her brothers, she wiped at her cheeks and choked out, “For the record, I will never forgive either of you for that. But Connor told me there was always a choice, and he made his.”
I nearly staggered back a step at the anger and betrayal in her eyes when they flashed my way again. It felt like my chest was being torn open, and I knew I deserved it.
Knew I deserved every second of this pain and more.
“Maci, you don’t understand,” I began softly, unable to put any more force behind the words. “You have to let me explain.”
Sam bent to whisper something in her ear, but she shook her head and spoke loud enough for the rest of us to hear. “He let them tell him what to do. That told me all I need to know.” Those broken eyes met mine again, shattering the rest of my heart when she choked out, “Go home, Connor.”
“I can’t.”
Maci had turned toward the door but stopped to look at me again as fresh tears fell. “Shouldn’t be that hard. Just walk out the door and go—I’ve watched you do it before.”
Fuck.
I gripped my chest at the critical blow, my breath rushing out on a harsh exhale. “Maci, I’m so damn sorry for what I said. I was scared of what your brothers knew about me and scared of what I could do to you, so I did what I thought was best for you. But I’m fucking miserable, and I know you are too.”
I had taken a few steps toward her as I spoke but stopped halfway between her and Sam and their family so I wouldn’t push her any further when I said, “I’m not leaving because you’re mine, and I plan on standing here, fighting for you the way I should’ve been the entire time.”
