Hudson laughs and turns back to the wall. “Yeah, okay.”
“No. They’reactuallyfucking.”
The fact that my brother thought that was a joke can’t be a good sign. He pauses, then turns slowly, and I brace for the Hudson who explodes first and thinks later.
“Is that true?”
I drop my eyes to the ground, but after a moment, he’s still waiting. And it takes a moment after that for me to remember it’s because I didn’t actually answer him. At least not with words. “Yes. It’s true.”
“What the fu—” He cuts off and drags a loud inhale through his nose. “Right. How long?”
“First time was the night I spent in Wayward with him, but I think it’s been coming on for a while.” My heart gives this little blip as I think of him. “He’s really …”
“Silent?” Hart supplies.
“Fuck you.”
“What? How can he be anything when the guy literally doesn’t talk?”
“He does talk when he’s comfortable or wants to. He doesn’t talk around people who are assholes to him.”
Hart points at Hudson. “Exhibit A. A is for asshole.”
I wave my hands to cut through their shit. “This isn’t what I wanted to talk about. I really like him. A lot. And as Hart was so nice to point out, that means I’m doomed to mess this up.”
My brothers both fall quiet.
Hudson’s the first to break. “Mess things up is a little harsh.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“Coming on too strong?” He pinches his thumb and forefinger together. “Just a bit?”
“Stop lying to him,” Hart drawls. “Surprising someone you’ve been dating for two weeks with a couple’s holidayismessingthings up. Telling a guy you’ve been on three dates with that you’re in love with himismessing things up.”
I slide down the wall to sit on the floor. “He’s going to dump me before I even get a chance to see him again.”
“Well, that’s not physically possible.” Hart lowers himself to sit beside my feet. “Unless he sends someone else to do it.”
Hudson kicks Hart’s thigh and joins us on the ground. “Don’t listen to him.”
“He’s right though.”
“He’s not. Ziggy is a whole new relationship. You can’t compare him to everyone else. First, that’s not fair. And second, because, well, he’s not like everyone else.”
Hart snickers. “Yeah. The good thing is if he doesn’t talk, it’ll probably take him longer to dump you.”
“Not helpful,” I point out.
“Are you sure? I’m almost certain that’s what they call a silver lining.”
“Ziggy’s special.”
They exchange a look, and yeah, yeah, they’ve heard it all before. But I haven’t feltthisbefore.
“Look, believe me or don’t believe me,” I snap. “I still want your help. I want you to tell me what to do so that I won’t scare him off. I want a real chance this time.”
“In that case,” Hart says, “I recommend you do literally nothing that you want to do.”
