“Wait,” he says. “What about the condoms? If this is all fake, why’d you come knocking on my door in the middle of the night last night?”
This draws a strangled sound from my father, and I break the awkward silence by hissing, “Can we not do this in front of Mom and Dad, please?” I’m sure my face is as red as my dress.
“Oh,” Mom says. “Oh.” She looks around the room, possibly for a place to hide, then nods as if she’s made a decision.
“Sebastian, your father and I are going for a drive to look at Christmas lights. Why don’t you come with us?”
He scoffs. “No, thanks.”
“Sebastian. You are coming with us.” Her voice is steely, and by some Mom-magic she gets him and Dad herded to the door. But I haven’t come this far to leave things unresolved with the sibling I’m closest to.
“Hey.” I grab him by the elbow when he’s about to follow our parents out. “Do you have anything you want to say to me?”
Seb crosses his arms over his chest and sticks out his chin. “I’m not sorry for calling him an asshole. Because he has been.”
That’s… actually kind of a fair point. But that’s not what I need him to apologize for.
“What about implying that I’m some desperate crone? I’m only a year older than you, dude.”
His mouth opens, then snaps shut. “Yeah, okay. I guess I kind of let Mom and Dad’s comments get to me.”
“It’s such a double standard,” I mutter, and he shrugs in agreement. Then I narrow my eyes at him. “Anything else?”
He sighs. “I’m sorry.” Then his glares into the dining room. “But I’m not sorry for sticking up for you.”
“When I want your help, I’ll ask for it,” I say. “It’s enough to know that you’ve got my back if I need it.”
Now he’s hugging me too. “Always. And”—his exhale ruffles my hair—“I guess when I think about it, I was just as big an asshole to you. I’m really sorry.”
“Thanks.” I pull away. “I’m going to go sort things out with Gabe now. I need you to be calm about whatever decisions I make, okay?”
“Okay.” He twists the knob and starts to leave. “He was actually pretty cool a couple of times.”
I can’t help the smile that touches my lips as the cold air rushes into the house. “I know.”
When Sebastian’s gone, I wander back to the dining room and collapse into my chair, drained over everything that just happened. There’s one more thing I need to do, though.
I take a deep breath and turn to Gabe, bracing myself to be honest one more time. Because he needs to know how I feel about him. Therealparts of him.
But before I can speak, he scoops me into his arms and heads for the stairs.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Gabe
Darby doesn’t speak as I carry her up the steps, but her arms wind around my neck and her lips land against my throat, which tells me I’m making the right move. Once we’re in her bedroom, I set her down and look my fill.
She’s marvelous. But she also just did a hard thing.
“How are you doing? Are you good?”
She kicks off her heels and crawls onto the bed while I try not to notice that her skirt gets pushed up around her thighs as she settles herself in.
“I never want to do that again.” Her eyes flutter shut, and her head tips back against the headboard. “But I’m so glad I did it.”
“Me too.” I loosen my tie and undo the top button of my shirt. Her eyes pop open to watch my actions.
“Thank you.”
