“But I’m not your first choice.”My voice broke.“You wanted Noelle first.”
He dropped his hands, stepped back, and shook his head like an angry bear.“Fucking people don’t know when to keep their damn mouths shut.How do you know I wouldn’t have asked you out?You were taken, Harley!”
I pointed in Noelle’s direction, my voice strident.“So was she but it didn’t stop you from making your play!”
He sighed and scrubbed his face with both hands.“Let’s go home and talk this out there.”
If I went home with him, I’d weaken.I’d take what I could get from this beautiful man while my soul slowly withered under the knowledge I was his consolation prize.
That, I would not do.
“I don’t know if I want to go with you right now,” I said in a quiet voice.
My brain applauded my sense of self-preservation.
My heart howled in outrage at my traitorous act of self-sabotage.
Blind panic churned in my stomach because I didn’t know whether to follow my heart or my head.
Daire backed away from me slowly, his face stark and desolate.
“You’re right about one thing, Harley.You’re not my first choice.You’re my only fucking choice.You have been since Max told me you finally broke it off with that dipshit, Paul.”
With that, he spun around and stalked back to the family room.I followed at a distance.A glutton for punishment; I needed to know what they said about me.
Daire spoke harshly, his anger punctuating each sentence as he glared at my brother.
“You might want to see to your sister, you fucking prick.You thought you were protecting her from me?I’d tear off all four of my limbs before I hurt her.But you and your big mouth and suspicious fucking mind?You just ripped her little heart out and stomped on it.Get it through your thick head.I.Am.Not.Interested.In.Your.Wife.”
Eyes wide, I edged closer to the doorway so I could see the rest of them.
Daire pushed his hand through his hair, completely undone.
Was I wrong to doubt him?
I hated seeing him like this.
“I get it, man.Noelle’s a good woman and she means everything to you.For me, she was nothing more than a possibility.”He flung his arm toward the kitchen where I stood in the doorway, though he hadn’t yet seen me.
None of them had.
Max, the only one who faced in my direction, leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees, his chin dipped down.
What was his part in this?
Embarrassment that everyone knew except for me, the fool, burned my cheeks.
Hawkley sat back in his chair, eyes trained on Daire, a hint of uncertainty on his face.
Noelle, sitting with her back to me, clung to Hawk’s hand.
Daire’s hands rolled into fists at his sides.He closed his eyes and breathed in before continuing, his voice lowered.“But that woman in there?The one who’s breaking her heart thinking she’s second best?”he sneered.“Thatwoman means everythingto me.”
He paced in a tight circle then made to lunge at Hawk before pulling himself together.
Max leapt to his feet at the same time as I gasped, drawing Daire’s attention.
Turning his head, Daire met my wide eyes, his own dark, angry, and unyielding.“Get in the car, Harley.”
