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“I think it’s time we had a talk. Let’s sit down,” I suggest, leading them into the living room. I choose the armchair, and they take the couch. “I know the last six months haven’t been ideal for any of us. I pulled away from everyone. Now, I realize that must’ve hurt you both. If I could do it differently, I would, but since I can’t, all I can say is I’m truly sorry for shutting you out.”
“It’s okay, Niall.” Maeve is quick to let me off the hook, but I don’t deserve her kindness.
I rub the back of my neck while I figure out what I want to say to them. “I didn’t think about the pain you were both going through losing your niece.” I glance at Maeve, catching her wiping a falling tear from her cheek. Rogan’s jaw is tightly clenched as he restrains his emotion from showing. “I spent every miserable moment drowning in Destiny’s betrayal and the pain of no longer being Bella’s dad.”
“Oh, Niall. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Yes, I miss being Bella’s auntie, but I can’t imagine how difficult it was for you. I hate Destiny so fucking much. If karma exists, she’s screwed.”
“Bro, I was never angry with you about how you dealt with that situation. You went into self-preservation mode. How can we fault you for that?”
“I’ll be honest with you two, but I don’t want Mom and Dad to know what I’m about to tell you.” They both nod in agreement before I continue. “I was shattered by losing Bella. I felt like I was going to die. Honestly, there were more than a few times where I prayed the good Lord would take me because I was too weak to do it myself.”
“Niall!” Maeve shouts. “You should’ve reached out to one of us.”
“I know that now. But at the time, drawing in my next breath was all I could focus on. I spent a lot of that first month or two drinking to numb my pain. I was a fucking mess, and I didn’t want either of you to see me that way.”
“Bro, if you’re ever in a situation where you’re feeling so down, you need to call or text one of us. You know we’d be there for you.”
“I do know that. And, like I said, I’m in a better mindset now. Things are looking up in my career, I’m living in a great house, and you two are here with me.”
“You forgot the part about you having a sexy, intelligent neighbor you have a crush on,” Maeve says.
“After all that apologizing and getting in touch with my feelings, you’re still coming at me about Lucy?”
“Hell yeah,” Rogan says. “I think you’re crazy if you don’t go for it. She’s awesome.”
“The problem is, she’s been living alone for a long time. She likes her life the way it is. You need to come up with a way to get her to spend time with you so you can show her the grumpy asshole personality was a temporary thing.”
“How do I do that?”
“We need to figure out that part.” She purses her lips as she thinks.
“You could use her as a front,” Rogan suggests.
“I don’t understand what you mean,” I say.
“You could have her pretend to be your fiancée, which would show everyone you’re over the mess with Destiny. You wouldn’t look like the sad ex any longer.”
“Do I look like that?” I ask.
Maeve’s lips spread wide in a grimace. “Yeah.”
“Oh, dude.” Rogan shakes his head. “But none of that matters. If you have Lucy be your fake fiancée, no one will think you’re broken any longer.”
“Jesus. I’m not fucking broken.”
“We know that, but other people don’t. They see you getting into fights in your games, and think you’re taking your anger out on your opponents.”
“For fuck’s sake. Fighting is part of being an enforcer.”
“We know,” Maeve says.
“I don’t think this is a good idea. It’s not fair to drag Lucy into my mess. We only met last week, and I wasn’t very nice to her the first few times we interacted. Really, I was an asshole.”
One of my sister’s shoulders bounces in a quick shrug. “She still seems to like you—at least as a friend.”
“You need to figure out what you have to offer her in trade for her helping you,” Rogan says.
“Like what?”
