Harrison
“You look like fucking dog shit.” Nate hands me a beer and sits between me and Leo on the couch. “I don’t understand what you’re doing and why you haven’t gone and dragged her home yet.”
I frown. “I only got half of that. What did you say?”
“For fuck’s sake,” Leo sighs deeply and rolls his eyes. “You’re a miserable bastard to be around, and you need to get your girl back. Who cares about that fucking idiot.” He nods over his shoulder toward the bathroom where Seb is.
I sip my beer and glare at him. “I’m miserable? Have you taken a look in the mirror?”
Nate smiles around his drink, unable to hold back his laughter. “Ask Leo why he looks like shit.”
I turn my attention back to Leo. “What is he talking about?”
“Nothing,” Leo snaps.
I smirk, looking at Nate to answer. “He had a repeater last night. She looked at him and said…Oh, I thought it was bigger last time we were together.”
For the first time in a while, I let out a real laugh, imagining how it went down. Leave it to my brothers to finally get a smile out of me.
Leo scoffs. “Please. I met her years ago at a club. She’s a party girl. The only thing she remembers is how to snort coke.” He crosses his arms, annoyed. “And we’re talking about this idiot. Not me.”
“You say it like you don’t know exactly what I’m doing and what my plan is,” I say.
“Well you’re taking fucking forever.”
“Forever for what?” Seb asks as he walks back into the room.
“Nothing,” I mutter, and the conversation goes dead.
“Oh fuck. Look at his arm.” Leo points to Mason, our quarterback friend. “He’s killing it this season.”
“Leo, can you come here for a second?” Nate calls from behind me.
When the hell did he get off the couch?
Leo leaves, and suddenly you can cut the tension with a knife. Things are…complicated with Seb.
“I’m seeing my therapist regularly,” he says, breaking the silence, still focused on the football game.
“Why is there a point if you won’t listen to them?” I’m happy he’s still going, but it seems useless if he isn’t going in with an open mind.
He takes a long sip of his beer and blows out a breath. “Why? Because I realized I was hurting my niece by being a selfish bastard.”
“Seb.”
“Don’t. I know I am, and I admit I might have overreacted over the Juliette situation. I’m not happy about it, but I’m trying to figure my shit out.”
Juliette sacrificed her own happiness for mine. For that alone, I love her more than humanly possible. Her decision wasn’t what I wanted, but she didn’t give me a choice. She would rather burn us to the ground so my bond stays tight with my family…but she’s our family now, and I’m not losing her.
I nod. “I’m glad you’re coming around, but I need you to know that no matter what you said, I was getting her back. It’s Jules who was giving you time, not me. I appreciate you putting in the effort now, but Juliette is my family just as much as you are, and she deserves to be back with me and Claud.”
With Seb starting to wrap his head around the idea, I’m putting this in motion.Now.
“Nathaniel, Leo? It’s happening…tomorrow,” I stand and call out. “So you better have the plans all drawn up.”
Leo points to his drafting table. “All set. You might want to add a puppy to the grand plan.”
I stop dead in my tracks. “What are you talking about?”
