“This wasn’t planned, and I need you both to know that. When I offered Payton my guest room, there was no plan for it to end up here. I just wanted to show her that not everyone is a fucking piece of shit like her ex. But things happen, and, well, she’s the real deal.”
Ollie finally speaks up. “But you don’t do real, Rhy. I’ve known you your entire life, and you’ve never cared about relationships or anything more than dipping your dick into every orifice from here to Miami.”
“Jesus Christ, Oliver.” Archer stands and groans, rubbing his hands over his face. I wince at his phrasing as well, especially when I realize the truth behind his words. I mean, that’s quite the exaggeration, but I never cared—before Payton. She changes everything.
Not to mention, if this were any other situation, I would make fun of his use of the word “orifice.” I wonder if that was a word on his word-of-the-day calendar he got in the white elephant gift exchange last Christmas.
“What? No matter how I say it, it’s all the same. I don’t know why we’re arguing over the logistics. You know it”—he looks at his brother—“and you know it.” He directs his gaze to me. “What makes our sister any different?”
“Trust me, I know. But Payton is different.”
“How do you know?”
Does he really want to just go back and forth here? Is he going to pick a fight like a toddler asking why over and over?
After running my hands through my hair, I link my hands behind my neck as I try to come up with the words. “I don’t know how to describe it. I just know. How did you know with Hollie?” I know exactly how he knew with her and how fast he fell, so I keep talking. “She’s the last thing I think about at night and the first thing I think about in the morning. Life has become so vibrant since she came into my life like this.”
“But Payton isn’t just what you get. She and Gabby are a pair,” Archer states. “She comes with a lot of baggage.” He hesitates and frowns. “Not that I’m calling my niece or what Pay went through baggage. But that little girl already has the DNA ofthat dipshit running through her blood. I don’t think she needs someone to just pop into her life. She needs a father.”
“I know that, Arch. If you think I hadn’t thought of that, then you’re fucking insane. I know they come together, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Taking on the role of her dad or a father figure doesn’t scare me like I thought it would. I love both of them.”
The admission slips right off my tongue effortlessly, and I hate even more that I’m confessing my feelings to these two ass clowns before I have the chance to tell Payton.
“You love my sister?” Ollie asks. His tone has lost its bite now, as if it’s finally sunken in that this isn’t just about sex.
“Yeah, I do.” I am head over heels in love with Payton Mosby. “And that was my plan to tell her that today. We had made a plan to tell everyone about this, about us, after today.”
Ollie blows out a harsh breath and links his hands together on the top of his head. “Well, if you were planning to tell her that today, what the fuck are you doing here? Looks to me as though you were more worried about this here than you are about them.”
I sink down into the chair. “Well, I didn’t get the chance to. She walked out on me.”But she’s going to come back.
“Maybe she doesn’t love you,” Ollie tosses out there, and I narrow my eyes.
“Or maybe her jackass of a brother came into her house unannounced, called her a whore over and over, and threw other people’s mistakes and events that Payton couldn’t control in her face. Really, Ol? The joke about two divorces gets the third one free? Not to mention, he took a swing at me when I was holding Gabby.”
Something snaps in Archer at my last statement. He shoots off the desk and spins, slamming his hands down on the wood.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” At the volume of his voice, there’s no way the entire building isn’t now aware of what’s going on in here. “No, that’s the problem. You weren’t fucking thinking.”
Ollie opens his mouth to speak, but Archer cuts him off, holding his hand up.
“Just. Stop. Talking.” The way Archer articulates each word tells me that he is struggling to keep his cool. “I’m trying really hard not to jump over this desk and fucking throttle your ass. Gabby is a child, and you put her at fucking risk. I wouldn’t blame Pay if she didn’t trust you around her daughter anymore.”
“You don’t think she would…” He trails off, turning his gaze to me, and I shrug.
I don’t think Payton would go to that extreme, but I wouldn’t stop her If that was her decision. When it comes to Gabby, there is nothing I won’t do to keep her safe. Just saying those words aloud and reliving that moment has me wanting to deck him all over again. Maybe Arch and I could alternate punches. But since I know my best friend so well, I know that his guilt of putting Gabby in danger alone will be a stronger force than any punch I could throw.
“God, I fucked everything up.” Ollie’s face crumples with shame before he rests his head in his hands.
“Ya think?” Archer and I both ask in unison.
Ollie nods in understanding of his fuckup before his eyes focus on me. “But if you love her, why did you let her walk out on you?”
“It’s not that simple. She needed a moment to process it. I couldn’t force myself on her. Loving someone sometimes even means that you need to let them go, even if that’s not what you want, what you need. Even if that’s the furthest thing from what you feel.”
Ollie knows exactly what I mean. He had done something similar before getting his head out of his ass and making Hollieofficially his. He was a miserable bastard when she left, but he couldn’t make that choice for her. I refused to do the same for Payton.
My eyes quickly drift over to Archer for a fraction of a second, and if I hadn’t been focusing on him, I wouldn’t have seen the flash of understanding pass over his eyes before he blinks it away.
