Something lit in her eyes, recognition, then calculation.“Right.The little sister.”
Before I could reply, Brody’s words landed like a hammer.“She’s not just Chase's little sister.She’s my future wife.”
The floor tilted under me.My breath caught.Future wife.He had said things like forever before, but this felt different.His tone and posture were all wrong, and he wasn't talking to me.This wasn't a declaration of love.This was something else.
Amber’s gaze dropped to my bare hand, a flash of hurt and vulnerability in her eyes before it shifted, then back up with a smile sharp enough to cut.“Future wife without a ring?That’s not how he used to do things.”
The words sliced clean, and I stiffened.But Brody only hauled me closer, arm iron around my waist.“You don’t matter anymore, Amber.What matters is Cassidy.We’ll do things our way.When she’s ready.”
Amber laughed, throaty and low.“Our way.That’s rich.You used to tell me that, too...that we’d do things our way.Until you didn’t.”
My stomach twisted.They were talking over me, about me, while I stood there like some kind of token in their sparring match.
“She’s nothing like you,” Brody snapped, his eyes burning.
Amber’s gaze flicked to me again, softer this time, pitying.“Be careful, Cassidy.He likes to build people up until they fit the picture in his head.And when they don’t...”
“That’s enough,” Brody bit out.
Something inside me curled tight, a horrible echo of my fears, of being displayed, exploited, talked over like I couldn’t speak for myself.
Amber continued.“I had a ring, Brody.You don’t give rings unless you mean them.”
His grip on me turned iron.“And you threw it away the second you spread your legs for your boss.”His voice cracked with fury.“I don’t want your past, Amber.I don’t wantyou.I want Cassidy.”
Amber leaned in one last time, voice silken.“Just remember, Cassidy… you’re standing where I once stood.”
I was frozen, throat closing, while Brody dipped his head toward me.“Ignore her.I don’t give a damn what she says.What matters is us.”He tried to kiss me then, in front of her, like I was a punctuation mark to end the argument.
And that’s when I pushed back.
“Don’t,” I whispered, my voice shaking.“Not like this.”
I left the pub, the air outside humid and thick, my chest burning.
“Cass!”His voice cut through the fog, rough and urgent.Footsteps pounded behind me until Brody caught my arm, turning me toward him.“Wait.Please.Talk to me.”
I shook my head, the words ripping out raw.“I felt like a prop in there, Brody.Like you were holding me up just to prove something to her.Like I wasn’t a person, just… leverage.”
His face twisted, pained.“No.That’s not what I was doing.I was defending you.I needed her to see that I’ve moved on, that I’ve chosen you.”
My throat closed.“Do you hear yourself?You don’t have to provemeto anyone.If she means nothing and you are truly over her, it shouldn't matter what she thinks.”
He dragged a hand down his face, exhaling hard.“Cass, she was trying to rewrite history.She cheated on me, and then she had the audacity to waltz in here like she still had a claim.I couldn’t let her do that.I couldn’t let her put her poison anywhere near you.”
“I don’t care about her poison,” I snapped.“What I care about is that you were talking over me.About me.Like I wasn’t standing right there.”My voice cracked, a tear sliding free.“I can't...I am just finding my voice again.I can't lose it.And in there, it felt like that was what you were doing.”
Brody flinched, as if I’d struck him.“Don’t compare me to him.”His voice broke, hands fisting at his sides before he reached for me again.“Cass, I am not Andrew.Please don’t punish me for the way he treated you.”
The words gutted me.I stumbled back, shaking my head.“Don’t twist this, Brody.This isn’t about Andrew.This is about you.Because what I just experienced?That wasn’t the man who told me under the stars that he wanted forever with me.That was a man still caught in his past, trying to prove he’s over it.”
He looked wrecked, his voice rough.“I’m not caught in it, Cass.I swear to God, I’m not.She means nothing to me.Nothing.You’re the one I want."He broke off, his voice shaking.
I pushed on, voice breaking but sure.The words tumbled out of me.“You keep saying we have to go slow because I’m not ready.But Iamready.I came to tell you I love you.And instead, I got shoved into a pissing contest with your ex.”My eyes stung, a tear slipping free.“So maybe it’s not me who isn’t ready.Maybe it’s you.”
He froze, eyes wide.“You… you love me?”
I nodded, tears falling now.“I do.I love you, Brody Palmer.But I don’t want to feel like that again.I won’t.If you can’t see why it hurt me, or that what just happened was wrong...then maybe you’re not as ready for me as you think.”
