“Don’t go there,” he warns. I shake my head.
“Reed, you know I respect you. I put up with your growly-ass shit all the time, and no disrespect, but you got a woman. You can’t stake your claim on Stella.”
“That’s not what I’m doing! I’m not?—”
“She’s mine,” I growl. Something inside me has come to life in the hour or two since laying eyes on my girl. I have no clue where it comes from, but I know in my gut not to question it. Not when I know she’s mine and I’m hers. A primal need to claim her, to let anyone, especially anyone with a fucking dick, know she’s mine is on overdrive. Free flowing through me at a hundred miles an hour. The cab of the truck goes completely silent as he drives and the mountain flashes through the windows.
“Did you just… Did you just say, she’s yours?” he asks finally breaking the silence between us.
“I didn’t stutter, big brother.” He turns to me for a second before turning his attention back on the road. I watch as he opens and shuts his mouth as if trying to get his words right.
“Fuck,” Reed mutters under his breath. “You sure about this? Didn’t you two just meet, like, a couple of hours ago?”
“I’m sure,” I reassure him. “I get Stella is Cami’s best friend and family. I get that, man, I do, and knowing that, there is no way I would do anything to hurt Cam. She’s like my sister and the mother to my future baby niece or nephew?—"
“But?”
“But I’m not going to stay away from Stella. I’m not going to even lie about trying to, either,” I lay out honestly because I don’t know another way to be.
“Man, you two just met! There is now way?—"
“You didn’t know about Cam? You didn’t know the moment she pulled that U-Haul truck up across the street that she was yours?” I ask him straight up because I know him. I know how, no matter how much he tried to fight the attraction to his neighbor, he knew the possibility of the kind of life they could build was inevitable.
“No offense man, the only difference is that I’m not about to waste a month when I know what I want.”
“It wasn’t like that.” He growls when we both know that’s a lie.
“Wasn’t it?” I ask, and his scowl grows.
Silence fills the truck for a long time, neither of us saying a word as the radio plays who knows what the fuck kind of music. But then again, since Camila moved in next door, my brother’s music choices have evolved.
He puts his truck in park and sighs before turning his attention to me. “I gotta ask, man to man, you sure you want her, or is it because you haven’t got your dick wet in a while?”
“Fuck you,” I curse, shaking my head with irritation. “That’s not it, and you know it. The bell chimed in the bakery, I walked out to the front because Tessa was on her lunch, I looked up, and it was game over.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that. And more so with every word she spoke after,” I confide and keep adding because he needs to know. “And I got a feeling it will only keep on growing. So, I can’t have you pulling this overprotective bullshit. Trust me when I tell you, she’s mine. And as a Row man, I know exactly how to protect and love her. I won’t hurt her.”
“If you do…”
“If I do, Cami can point out exactly where she wants you to dispose of my body,” I promise him, and I know I got him on my side when his lips twitch.
“You know she would, right?”
“I do. I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Camila might look like a ray of sunshine, rainbows, and butterflies follow her around, floating above her head, but she would stop at nothing to get back at someone who hurt one of her own. She doesn’t have a lot of family, but those she does, she loves fiercely. I know in my gut she would decimate anyone who harms those she cares about.
And as crazy as it sounds, I love that my niece or nephew will have that from their mom.
I’m about to open the door to head toward her car when he clears his throat. “If you’re serious about her, I think there is something you should know,” he starts. I turn my eyes to him to see what the hell he’s talking about. “Stella’s not just here for a vacation or a getaway. From what I gather, she’s running from someone.”
“Someone?” I repeat darkly, not liking the idea of my girl being in anyone’s arms that aren’t mine. Much less liking the idea of whatever reason there might be for her to run.
“She didn’t share much, but her neighbor or old friend or something called Camila and shared some.” I nod and open the door.
“Thanks.” I look back inside the truck, connecting my eyes with his, and he knows I’m thanking him for more than the drive.
