“Well, excuse me. This is weird as fuck for me.”
And this entire argument was going nowhere fast. I grip the armrest, taking a sick sort of comfort from the searing pain engulfing my injured limb. Any slim chance I had with Sutton dissolves in a putrid puddle of acid. What a fucking joke.
Jace clears his throat. “So, uh, what’d you do to make her mad?”
I blink off my pity-party. “I told her you needed to be okay with us being together.”
He quirks a brow at me. “Figured you were feeding me bullshit with all that.”
“Yes, this was all a fucked up ploy.” I hang my head, suddenly wrung out and beyond spent.
“Already quitting? That’s not a good quality for any relationship.” He claps my shoulder.
I shrug off his hold. “Giving me advice now?”
“Thought you wanted the green light?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“That’s actually really honorable.”
I glare at him. “Don’t sound so shocked. I’m not always an asshole.”
Jace nods. “Sutton softens you up, that’s for damn sure.”
Toxic thorns prickle the back of my neck. “You can ease off the compliments. I might get a damn complex.”
He lifts a foot onto the weathered railing. “I’m trying to turn this shitshow around, okay?”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
Jace’s steely-blue focus lasers in on me. “I’m not gonna lie, brother. This is creepy as fuck for me. I don’t like the idea of my sister shacking up. Thinking about it makes me want to hurl. But if anyone is going to be with her, it should be you. There’s no doubt you’ll worship every patch of land she walks on. Your sorry ass will treat her like the spoiled princess she already is. I’m positive you’re gonna do right by her.”
My pulse ricochets faster than a ping-pong ball. I gape at him. “You mean that?”
“That expression?” He gestures to my face. “It looks like someone shot your dog. I can’t be responsible for that type of misery.”
“Don’t agree out of guilt.”
“Trust me, I’m not. You’re a good man, Grady. One of the best I know.”
Shit, my eyes are stinging. I cough over the annoying tickle in my throat. No way in hell am I crying. Not fucking happening. “Thanks, brother.”
He crosses his arms and leans back. “So, when’s the wedding?”
My lungs seize up just picturing my girl in white. I choke out a wheeze and spin my hat around, tugging the brim low. “A long way off, I’m sure. She doesn’t know how serious I am.”
“Chickening out?”
“Figured we would take shit slow, if anything happens at all.”
“Thought this was a home run?”
I pick at a hole in my jeans. “I’ve got some making up to do.”
He stands and stretches with a yawn. “Better get after her or someone else will.”
I punch him in the gut. “Fucker.”
