“I don’t ever want to make you cry, Cupcake.” I brush my thumb under her eye, catching a stray tear.
“You’re right though. I have thought about you for longer than I should admit. If I’m honest, it was never just about how good you’d look naked.”
“I know.” I lean down and kiss her softly.
I can feel her phone buzz between us.
“We’d better get in there, or he might come looking for me.” Brooke pulls away. “Now’s your chance to back out.”
“No way. Let’s do this.” I take her hand and place a kiss on her ring finger.
When we get to the door, Brooke barely knocks before it opens, and her dad, Ryan, is standing on the other side, looking none too happy.
“Brooke Delilah Linson, you’d better have a good explanation for this.” He backs up and holds the door open for us to enter.
“Hi, Dad,” she mutters as she walks by him.
Beck is sitting on the bed, leaning forward, hands on his knees. The look on his face though … if I wasn’t a big guy, I might be shitting my pants about now. I think the only thing keeping him in place is the hand Charlie has on his back.
“Hey, guys,” Charlie says with a cautious smile.
When the door to the room slams, Brooke flinches, and the room feels a bit smaller.
Ryan sits in a chair. He leans back and crosses his arms over his chest. “Well, start talking.”
I take Brooke’s hand in mine and squeeze it gently, prepared to step in if she needs me to. If I could feed her the strength to do this, I would.
“Well, Dad, Silas and I got married last night.”
Beck sits up. “No shit. We know that part. We want to knowwhythe fuck you would do this.”
“Beck,” Ryan glares at Beck, then watches us, no doubt studying every move and expression.
“Because we care about each other.” A little sass comes out, and I have to bite back a smile.
“That’s cute, and it would make a great Hallmark card, but that’s not gonna cut it with me,” Beck snaps.
And … I’ve had enough.
I step forward in a protective move on instinct and feel every eye in the room on me. “Let me explain the situation clearly. Forstarters, in case you forgot, Brooke is an adult.” I let that settle in for a second. “And I know it might look like we did this on a whim?—”
“Well, we did do it on a whim,” Brooke interrupts and places a hand on my back.
“Okay, valid. But, sir …” I turn to face Ryan because I don’t owe Beck any explanations. Yes, he’s my friend, but he knows me, and I’m not some fuckup. Ryan though? I need him to hear the sincerity of my words. “I understand that this looks like a rash decision, but I’ve had feelings for Brooke for quite a while now.”
Charlie pipes in, “That is true. He’s been pining since at least September.”
“Not helping, Boss.” Beck turns his head to look at her.
“Sorry. I was just trying to validate what he’s saying. I saw it.” She shrugs her shoulders.
Ryan stands again, pacing. “Okay, fine, you care about her, but walk me through last night and why you two thought it was a good idea to get married. Liking someone, having feelings, is a stepping stone to developing a relationship, kids.”
“Dad, Silas and I are both intelligent people. We understand all that,” Brooke says.
“So, tell me. Every detail.” He stops pacing and places his hands on his hips.
I grimace, hoping he doesn’t see because I’m sure he doesn’t want to hear about how I gave his daughter multiple orgasms last night and at least two this morning.
