“Man, being with your sister doesn’t mean I stop being your friend. We can do all the same things we did before. I still love you like a brother.”
Walker shuffles on his feet, and the move immediately reminds me of how he’d behave as a kid.
“Please don’t tell me this is a matter of you not wanting to share, Walk.”
He glares at me, and I know I’ve hit the nail on the head.
I throw my arms out to the sides. “He’s a person, not a fuckin’ toy.”
“He was my friend first. Now he’ll choose you first all the time. He’ll have less time for me, and when you guys eventually have kids, there goes my best friend.”
I laugh, a full-belly aching laugh leaving me, causing me to bend at the waist. “You’re tellin’ me—” My laughter breaks through. “You’re tellin’ me that Sebastian rejected me eight years ago because you didn’t want tosharehim with me and you were worried about when we have kids?”
I shake my head at this. One, treating Sebastian like he’s a toy is beyond weird, and two, it all seems so childish. Sebastianand I are both adults and can decide how we prioritize our time. If Walker had voiced his concerns, it all could have been addressed. Eight years ago, I can understand his initial reaction a little. He was eighteen. But now I’m more pissed than anything. I struggled emotionally for months because Walker didn’t want to share his friend with me, yet he was the one always bringing him over to the house and brought him on the trip. I want to scream. I want to stomp my feet and shake my fists.
Walker at least has the decency to look a little ashamed right now. “So does this mean you’re together, then?” he asks.
“Yes,” Sebastian and I answer at the same time, and I smile at him over my shoulder.
“Liketogethertogether? Not just…” He shivers before he says, “sleeping together.”
“Annalise is my girlfriend, if that’s the clarification you’re looking for,” Sebastian says. “And you’re still my best friend.”
Walker sits in one of the deck chairs and runs his fingers through his hair. “You two have officially scarred me for life. I did not think I’d be walking in on”—he shakes his entire body as though he’s trying to get something off of him—“that.”
Sebastian takes the other chair and pulls me onto his lap.
“There’s this thing called knocking,” I say.
“It’s the family cabin. I didn’t even know he was here! I thought you were alone,” he argues.
“So you thought it was wise to show up at the cabin unannounced when I was here alone and just walk in? As though that wouldn’t give me a heart attack?”
“Well, it’s not like you’ve been responding to my texts,” he says.
I bite my lip, realizing I’ve probably let my phone die because I haven’t used it the whole trip. A gentle wind comes through,causing me to shiver, and Sebastian says, “We should get you inside before you freeze.”
I slide off his lap, and Walker watches us, eventually following us inside.
TWENTY-FIVE
SEBASTIAN
When I woke up this morning, I did not think my best friend would walk in to find me balls deep in his sister with my lips wrapped around her nipple as she rode me. I also did not expect to hear him say the reason he’s so against me dating his sister is because he didn’t want to lose me. My mind is still spinning a mile a minute as we go back inside. Walker starts a fire while I whip up some food quickly. Annalise and I had slept in this morning after staying up late last night, and we hadn’t even had time to eat before Walker came crashing in. I check the time and realize he must have been on the road before the sun came up to get here as early as he did.
Annalise gratefully accepts the plate I offer her while Walker shakes his head, and I take a seat beside Annalise. Walker stares at the fire while we eat, and I have no idea what’s going on in my best friend’s head.
He eventually says, “Running low on wood.”
I nod as I swallow my last bite. “There’s more out back. I chopped enough that we should even have some left when we leave.”
Walker turns to me. “When did you even get here? Why did you come?”
I should have known his questions would turn to me.
“I got here the morning after Lise. You mentioned she was coming alone, and I didn’t think she should be up here by herself, and—” I look at Annalise, and the soft reassuring smile she offers me makes it feel as though she can read my mind. “I had a gift for her I wanted to give her in person.”
Walker raises a brow curiously, and Annalise slides her hand into mine, interlacing our fingers and squeezing my hand. My free hand grabs my neck as I figure out how to tell my best friend I bought his family’s cabin because I’m in love with his sister and didn’t want her to lose the one place that means the most to her.
