But I was going to do it anyway.
Aaron tapped his fingers on the wheel of the car, unaware of the bomb I was about to drop on him, and I gulped, putting on my game face. How to start? How did I go about telling one of my best friends I was in love with his sister?
There wasn’t a fucking handbook for this.
Zade rambled on about his plans for the day—the girls were going shopping for something before coming back to the house—and my palms sweated the closer we got to our shitty driveway. My phone buzzed in my hand and I knew it was Kenzie. I ignored it. I had to keep my word before I read what she texted.Because even if she won’t take me back, I’m coming clean.
I would tell her brother. Now.
“Aaron, you got a minute to talk when we get back?” I asked, my voice scratchy.
“Sure, man.” He moved his gaze from the road to the rearview mirror, concern in there. “This about your family?”
“No, not exactly.”
“What are you talking about, TJ?” Zade asked, his voice growing stronger. He turned around from the front seat and widened his eyes at me, trying to convey some message, but I ignored it.
“Let’s wait until we get back.”
“Sure,” Aaron said, unaware of Zade’s odd behavior. I flipped Zade off, took a deep breath and tried to figure out the best thing to say. I loved her. I wanted to be with her and I wouldn’t hurt her. She was perfect for me, and I thought I could be right for her. The biggest hurdle was not telling Aaron…fucking up our relationship on the field, and it was a risk I had to take. It was stupid to assume I didn’t have room for her and baseball. Zade made it work. Aaron, too.
He pulled into the driveway and took his sweet-ass time getting out of the car. Zade lingered, and stood right in front on the porch with his arms crossed. “Talk outside, boys. It’ll be better for all of us.”
“Dude, why?” Aaron asked, but Zade pointed to me and when Hilly finally picked up my stress, he narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck’s going on?”
“I’m fucking in love with your sister.”
Silence. The only sound came from birds chirping, cars driving by from the busy street blocks away and my heartbeat pounding in my ears.
I continued, slurring my words together to ease the severity. “I want to be with her, just her, and I’m pretty sure she wants to be with me, too.” There. I’d said it. My chest heaved in anticipation of what he would say. Or he could punch me, fight me, hate me. I waited. Zade waited, but Aaron remained silent for a good minute before he smiled.
“You’re joking, right?”
“No.” I remained five feet away from him and kept my distance. “We didn’t mean for it to happen, trust me. But it did and the reason we aren’t together is because I’m a dumbass. But I’m going to earn another chance with her.”
Aaron ran his hand under his jaw, the smile no longer on his face, and his razor-sharp gaze darkened. “What if I say absolutely fucking not?”
“One punch.”
“Wait, what?” he asked, clenching his teeth.
“You get one punch, anywhere on my body.” I moved toward him. “I should’ve told you when I realized it was real. Zade convinced me it was a terrible idea—”
“Zadeknew?” he fired back, glaring at our third roommate, who looked unamused at our conversation. “You knew he was fooling around with mysister and didn’t say a goddamn word?”
“Don’t bring me into this. I’m here to make sure you fucking idiots don’t injure yourself before our games next week. That’s it.” He held up his hands and scowled. “If I can say anything…it’s that I didn’t know it was more than a hook-up.That’swhat I thought was a terrible idea.”
“You were hooking up with my sister? In our fucking house? With me there?” Aaron asked, his words getting louder each second, like a dam was about to break. “I’ll kill you.”
“I told you, one punch. But it doesn’t matter. I love her. I’ll treat her right. And I think she loves me too. We get each other. She fills that missing piece and I don’t care if you don’t like it.” The more I spoke, the more I felt it. The truth. Her being the piece.
“Fine.”
“Great.”
He moved fast, reared back his right arm into a fist and collided it with my face. I froze, forcing myself not to duck out of the way when his flesh hit mine. It felt like a fucking bomb went off on my right cheek, my skull pounding as the wave of his punch ricocheted through my skull. I stumbled, holding my head in my hands as I fell to the ground. This was worse than a hangover.
So much worse.
