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“Wish me luck,” she said to the table at large and followed Daisy.
Spencer watched her retreat before turning to meet his brother’s furious regard.
Mason just nodded in the direction of the front door.
“Really? Outside? It’s fucking freezing, man.”
“The house is small.”
“Your fault, you could have built a bigger one, planned for a family.”
“Spence!” Mason hissed warningly, clearly not interested in his delay tactics, and Spencer put aside his napkin and headed toward the front door with Mason in tow.
“This is so much more exciting than we were expecting, non?” he heard Chris say as he left. “Well . . . no use letting this beautiful food go to waste, ladies. Let’s eat.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Before you say anything, it’s over,” Spencer explained once they were out on the porch.
“No shit?” Mason seemed remarkably unperturbed, compared to how furious he’d looked in the house. Spencer guessed that most of his brother’s “outrage” had been affected for Daisy. “You okay with that?”
“Well, it wasn’t anything, really. We didn’t . . .”
“No details, if you please. I just need to know two things.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you okay?”
“It wasn’t what it should have been. What it could have been. She wasn’t ready. I don’t know if she’ll ever be ready for that kind of relationship, not with me. So we’ve decided to be friends.”
“That ties into the second thing . . . I need to know that this business between you guys won’t become a problem, Spence. You’re my brother, I love you, and I’d hate for you to get hurt, but you and Daff need to make sure your shit doesn’t spill over at family events. We have a whole family to think about now, Spence. It’s not just you and me against the world anymore. We have sisters and parents to consider as well.”
Spencer stretched his lips into what he hoped was a semblance of a smile and tried to hide the pang of hurt he felt at his brother’s words. What the younger man didn’t seem to grasp was that he—Mason—now had a whole family to consider. Not Spencer. Spencer’s family still consisted of only Mason. And while to Spencer it was still him and his little brother against the world, Mason had gone and acquired other loved ones. And he was happy for his brother, it was everything he wanted for Mason, but Spencer felt lonelier than he’d ever felt in his life.
“Daff and I are fine. Has there been any tension between us tonight?”
Mason considered his words before shaking his head. “You two were more relaxed in each other’s company than I’ve ever seen you.”
“Well, aside from the sex stuff—”
“God.” Mason pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Aside from the sex stuff,” Spencer continued, as if Mason’s disgusted outburst hadn’t occurred, “there was a lot of talking, and we’ve resolved some issues. She’s actually quite . . . special.”
That made Mason pause, and he squinted at Spencer in the dim light spilling from the front windows.
“Spence . . . don’t fall for her,” Mason warned him, and Spencer forced another smile.
“Don’t worry, Mason, I won’t fuck up the family dynamics.”
“I just don’t want you to get your heart broken, man,” his brother said uncomfortably, and Spencer shifted, the touchy-feely stuff also not sitting too well for him, even while his brother’s concern warmed him. Especially after feeling sidelined by Mason’s new family just moments before.
“We’re friends. That’s all.”
“We’re just friends,” Daff said as soon as she got to the kitchen, where Daisy stood waiting.
“You said you just wanted him for his—” Daisy clapped a hand dramatically over her mouth as Daff’s exact words came back to her. “Oh my God! I’ll never be able to look at him again! Not without hearing those words over and over again in my brain.”
“What words?” Daff asked, baffled by her sister’s weird reaction.
“About his . . . you know?” Understanding dawned, and Daff couldn’t hold back a laugh at Daisy’s truly appalled expression.
“I could lie and say he has a small dick,” she teased, and Daisy clapped her hands over her ears.
“Don’t talk about his penis ever again! Ew, ew, ew! Why did you have to sleep with him? Why couldn’t you leave him alone? He’s about to be my brother-in-law.”
“You told me to get along with him, and you know that’s the only way I get along with guys.” The look on Daisy’s face brought her up short—her sister looked genuinely furious.
“Stop it! This isn’t a joke, Daff. Not everything’s a joke and not everything’s always about you and your wants and your needs.” Daisy swiped at a couple of errant tears, and Daff was immediately contrite. She reverted to wisecracking when she was stressed, nervous, or on the back foot, and it definitely wasn’t the right approach this time.
“Deedee,” she said in a soft, pleading voice. Her sister deserved honesty. “I’m sorry. I’m so . . . confused where Spencer’s concerned. But I promise you, this won’t mess up your big day or our family gatherings, and I don’t want it to mess up tonight any further, either. Spencer and I aren’t . . . intimate anymore. We never were. Not really. We did some stuff. But not the main stuff. Anyway, none of that’s important. What’s important is that I like Spencer, I want to try to get along with him. He’s a nice guy and I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to figure that out.”
