“Ashton...” Jamie cups my cheek, recognition flaring in his eyes. This man knows what it looks like when I’m going to be sick. “You okay?”
“Like you care.” Finn rips Jamie away from me, stepping between us, like I need protecting from him. Andoh shit, Jamie looks feral right now, like he might actually hurt Finn.
“You really don’t want to do that again, brother,” Jamie warns, his voice not at all hiding the threat behind those words.
This is so bad.
Finn’s face is a mix of disgust and disappointment, and both break my heart.
“Are you kidding me?” I level at the two of them, a little less scream-worthy and a little moreoh my God, I’m going to be sickthan I’d like it to sound as I stand, sliding between the grown men acting like little boys. “Why don’t you go ahead and see who can pee a ring around me first, while you’re at it, guys?”
“Ace . . .”
“Nope. Not gonna do it, Jameson,” I warn before he gets any crazy ideas. This is as much my mess as it is his. “I will absolutely not stand by and let the two of you fight over me.”
Jamie’s eyes soften, but Finn’s?—
“How about one of you tell me what the hell is going on? Why were you at the hospital together? Why?—”
Somewhere in the distance, my phone rings, but I ignore it, too busy trying to figure out how to stop these two idiots from beating the hell out of each other.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the smart one?” Jamie taunts.
“Compared to the one who can’t keep his dick in his pants? Yeah, I’d guess that makes me the smart one, asshole. And I’ve got a good goddamn idea of the answer, but I guess I thought my answer couldn’t possibly be right because if my brother and my best friend were fucking, I’d know, right?”
Jamie grabs Finn by the front of the shirt and throws him up against the wall, and my heart drops as I squeeze Kyrie closer. “I will fucking kill you if you ever talk about her like that again.”
The ringing starts again, and I swear to God I might just throw the damn phone at these two idiots at this rate.
“Stop it,” I manage to actually yell this time, moving closer but unwilling to put myself between them. Not with Kyrie in my arms. Right now, they’re being stupid. I can forgive stupid. But if either of them accidentally hurts my baby, I will fucking gut them both myself. And Kyrie is as much my baby as the avocado-sized one I’m carrying.
“You could have had anyone... anyone. Why her?” Finn pushes, his cold stare frightening. “Anyone but her.”
“Are you in love with her?” Jamie fumes at his brother, their faces close enough, I’m surprised one hasn’t headbutted the other. “I asked you once. I’m not asking again, you stupid fuck.”
“Of course I love her,” Finn yells.
And that’s the thing. He does love me, and I love him, but we’ve never been in love. We’ve never looked at each other that way. Never.
I know to take his words for what they are.
What they mean.
But Jamie doesn’t.
To Finn, I’m family. I know because I feel the same way. He’s my family. The only family I have. Finn is safety and inside jokes. He’s my past. He’s my best friend. He’s a million memories and hopefully a million more to be made. But Finn has never givenme butterflies. I’ve never looked at Finn and had a hard time catching my breath because I wanted him more than I wanted to breathe. His touch has never given me goosebumps, and his words have never made me fantasize about a future with him. About a family. Our family.
Finn will never mean to me what Jamie does.
I love Finn.
But I’m in love with Jamie.
Maybe not the best time to come to that realization.
Jamie’s wild eyes rage, too out of control to hear the words his brother is clearly saying. His face falls, and I know he’s thinking he just heard a declaration of love. Romantic love. But he’s wrong. And as Finn finally shoves him off, I relax, positive my best friend is about to put his brother out of his misery. “I’ve loved her since we were kids, you ass. But I’m not in love with her. I’ve never been in love with her. That was always you. You were just too stupid to do anything about it.”
“Then what—” Jamie steps back, and so do I. Jamie’s not in love with me... is he? Am I really that blind? He doesn’t correct Finn, and my heart absolutely takes notice. But Jamie doesn’t soften at all. If anything, his anger seems to grow. “What the hell is your problem?”
