“I love him, Jack,” she whispered in my ear. “And he loves me, too.”
I wrapped my arms around her. “You have to tell them before they catch you,” I whispered back as I glared at Dylan over her shoulder. He met my eyes without the decency of contrition in his gaze, or shame. He knew I had a lot more to say than what I was letting come out of my mouth, and when she was out of earshot, he’d hear it all.
My baby sister. My babyfuckingsister. My grip tightened around PJ as the anger in my system came to a boil. If any other much older guy tried to date my sister, I’d kick his ass without hesitation. The fact that it was Dylan, someone I not only knew but trusted with my sister, made it that much worse.
“Listen,” I started as I pulled back. “You guys should get going. I have group session this afternoon, anyway. We’ll talk later, okay?”
Her face fell after I cut our visit short, but I needed time for it all to sink in before I asked Dylan exactly what the hell was going on. At the moment, I was too keyed up and was afraid of doing or saying something I couldn’t take back.
We all stood from the bench, the air full of a thick tension wafting over us. “Okay,” PJ croaked before dropping her gaze to the ground.
“Hey,” I cupped her cheek. “Biggest and best, remember?”
A smile ghosted her lips before she nodded. “You love me biggest and best. I know, Jack.”
“Well, don’t forget it.” I planted a kiss on her forehead before turning to Dylan. I extended my hand, no bro hug this time. It was a stranger’s goodbye, because at that moment, that’s what my best friend became.
“Talk later?” He had the decency to offer a sheepish wince this time.
I nodded, my jaw cinched too tight to voice a reply.
He nodded, and joining PJ, looped his arm around her as they walked toward the parking lot.
Guilt washed over me for lying to my sister. I assured PJ everything would be okay, even though I knew it would be anything but.
17
Dylan
“How long?”Jack asked the second I answered the call, not even giving me a chance to say hello.
PJ and I had gone to visit Jack today resolute in finally telling him—telling someone for God’s sake—about us. We didn’t sneak around on purpose, but I wanted to be there when she told her parents, and they needed to be told about us before they saw us. Her mother would come around, but her father’s first reaction, even though he was like a father to me too, would be to rip me apart. We needed to handle this the right way, but so far, we weren’t handling it at all. The love I had for this girl was bone deep and real. Were the details of it unusual? Maybe—maybe not. I wasn’t the first guy to fall in love with his best friend’s little sister. She was legal, but only recently legal, so I’d expected this question a few times when people found out.
“Her eighteenth birthday,” I replied as I sat back on my couch, wishing I could see his face.
When we told him, or he’d figured it out during our visit, we didn’t speak. But knowing him as I did and seeing how his hands shook as he looked between us, I knew he had a hell of a lot to say. The conversation was far from over.
“So nothing before?”
“Nothing. I went to Dewey’s the night of her birthday to make sure she was all right, and the both of us—”
“My stomach has already turned a thousand times since you left this afternoon; I don’t need any details. And I’m sorry, dude, but I don’t believe it. You guys sure as hell don’t seem like it’s only been a few weeks.”
“It has,” I clipped but took in a quick breath. Fighting or being defensive wouldn’t help us. “If you’re asking if I had feelings for her before, yes I did—for a long time. But I never acted on it. In fact, I stayed away from her as much as I could.”
“I figured that much. So now you want a medal or something for not touching my underage sister? Jesus, Dylan. I … I can’t wrap my head around this. You’ve known her since she was a baby. And now you’re … with her. It’s sick. You don’t find any of this fucked up?”
“No, Jack. I don’t. I tried like hell not to fall for her and even stayed away from her this past year, but it didn’t work. You’re her brother, but who she’s with isn’t up to you. She’s not a little girl, anymore.”
“She’s not a woman either, man. She’s eighteen, still a goddamn teenager. Yes, I knew she had a crush on you. Hell, you’d have to be blind not to see it. We all knew. But I never thought you’d take advantage of her like this.”
“Take advantage?” I bellowed, my gloves coming off. “Christ, Jack. Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“I wouldn’t say this in front of her, because you know as well as I do if I did anything other than give you guys my blessing, she’d hate me. But you’re eight years older than her. You’re from two different worlds right now, but all she wants to do is live in yours—at her own expense.”
“PJ isn’t your average eighteen-year-old. She’s mature beyond her years; you’ve always said that.”
“That isn’t an excuse for you to think it’s okay to touch her.”
