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“You’re in love with my sister.” It wasn’t a question; it was an accusation.
I swallowed hard. “We’re friends.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Who fuck.” Another statement of truth.
“Maybe.” I shrugged.
Elle shook her head in disbelief. “You remember when you were trying to call out Silas and me? In the van? You told him if you’d kissed me, you’d tell everyone. Suddenly, you aren’t going to kiss and tell? What’s different this time?”
I remembered the conversation. It was before they were admitting to anything going on between them, and I was giving them shit. But this was quite different.
“Len, she’s all kinds of fucked up. I’m just trying to keep her from self-destructing.”
“That includes fucking her?”
Seriously, what the fuck? “You’d have to ask her about it. It’s not my information to share.”
“It’s not a secret my sister uses sex to cope, Serge. I just want to make sure you get that. She’ll break your fucking heart without thinking about it.”
“So I’ve heard,” I replied, trying not to show any emotion. I did not want to have this conversation with her.
“You’ve heard? Heard from whom?” Elle was the only person on the planet I’d ever heard use the word whom.
“Christ, who hasn’t told me?” I exhaled. “First it was Eli, though I think Cee told me a long time ago that she gets depressed and that makes her fuck around. At some point, fucking Mason threatened me, and Silas and Connor had a little intervention with me. I get it. She’s using me. But I’m not gonna just let her kill herself with grief. I’m a grown ass man. I’ll be fine.”
Elle sputtered in shock, “Eli was the first to tell you?”
“It was a fucked-up conversation,” I admit. “Look, I appreciate you looking out for both of us. I do. But even though she thinks I’m the enemy right now, I’m happy to play the part if it keeps her from living in this hell forever.”
“I love my baby sister, but she’s not in a good place, and I don’t think your arrangement is a good idea.”
“Yeah, your plan of making her tour with us was a great fucking idea.” My voice was getting louder, and I knew reinforcements would peek in any minute. I didn’t want this shit. Lowering my voice, I continued, “I’m not taking advantage of your sister. I’m a little pissed you’d think I would. I know I have the reputation of playboy, but I’m not an asshole, Elle.”
As I was finishing, Silas poked his head into the room. “We okay in here?”
“We’re just fucking great,” I seethed.
Elle ushered him in and shut the door. Silas wrapped an arm around Elle’s waist and looked between the two of us. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“Your girl thinks I’m fucking her sister for sport.”
“I never said that, Serge. I said I thought it was a bad idea,” Elle interjected.
“I don’t know that this is any of our business, Len,” Silas said.
It surprised me he was taking my side, but I gave a smug smile to deepen the blow to Elle. She turned to him. “He’s got it all wrong, Si. I’m not worried about her—ugh, that came out wrong. Of course, I’m worried about her. The situation I’m worried about is my sister using my friend, and my friend getting hurt.”
“He knows the score, Len.” He added a kiss to her temple to stay in her good graces.
“So did you,” she reminded him. “Only, I don’t think there’s a happy ending here for him and Cee.” Then Elle turned to me. “She’s never going to love you. She’s grieving. Don’t fall in love with her.”
I thought back to when Silas and Elle weren’t together. That guy was a sad mess. That would be me someday. I hadn’t realized it until that moment, but it was inevitable. “It’s too late, Elle.”
They both looked at me with wide eyes. “What’s too late?” she asked.
“It’s too late for me not to get hurt. Every day she gets deeper in her grief, I feel it. It hurts me, too. But as long as she’s still fighting, I’m in her corner. Trust me, I’m all too aware this doesn’t end well for me.”
She and Silas exchanged a concerned look. “In the meantime, you’re sitting here with a broken hand. We’re supposed to be back on the road. What the hell are we gonna do?” Elle changed the subject.
