“Okay.”
“Why do you say it like that?” Simon throws back at him.
The two of them are in a stare down.
From everything Simon has told me, Pierce is his closest friend. The more I think about it, the more I realize this could affect not only my relationships, but Simon’s too.
What were we thinking?
“Listen, Pierce. You might not understand this, but it’s happening.” Simon turns to face me. His green eyes are dark as they sweep over me. There’s a stubble lining his jaw that wasn’t there the other day.
Damn, if he’s not the sexiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on.
“I love her. And I’ll do anything to protect her. So I really hope you can be okay with this.”
“Fuck, man.” Pierce scrubs a hand down his face. “It came out of nowhere.”
“I know.” I step up to Simon’s side. “And we didn’t want to spring it on everyone, but you know how this town is. They kept poking and bugging me about him—”
“And it just slipped out,” Simon finishes.
“Holy shit. This is real,” Mason says, startling us all. “I was with Pierce, not knowing what to think, but…”
“They are pretty cute together. It’s the accent, isn’t it?” Pierce jokes, walking over to Mason.
“What woman doesn’t love an accent?” I laugh.
“Is that the only reason you’re with me? I’m hurt.”
“As long as you two aren’t all gross and kissy, I’m fine with this,” Mason tells us.
“Kissy?” I ask.
Mason shakes his head, laughing. “Willow. She doesn’t like to see Ivy and me being ‘kissy.’”
Simon holds up his hand like a Boy Scout. “I promise I will keep the kissy to a minimum.”
“Good man.” Mason gives him a firm nod. Not that I need my brother’s approval, but I never had it with Brad. Maybe that should have been my first clue that the relationship wasn’t going to last.
With Mason heading off, Simon throws an arm around Pierce.
“We good?”
“Of course, you wanker. I can never stay mad at you.” He gives him a quick clap on the back before heading off in the direction of the food.
“Holy shit.” I breathe a sigh of relief. I swallow a cool sip of beer, letting it calm my anxious nerves. “I think that went better than I could have expected.”
“God, I hate to think what you truly thought was going to happen.”
“Honestly? I thought fists would fly.”
Simon looks horrified. “They would hit you?”
“God no! At you.”
“Please. I can take them.”
“Okay, Mr. Belvy. You did put on a rather good show tonight.”
