Page 22 of Vegas with my Brother’s Best Friends

“He must’ve noticed that you guys keep sneaking off. You should be spending time with him this weekend. Not me.”

“I doubt he’ll remember much of anything this weekend,” Tyler mutters.

“If he asks, we’ll just tell him we were feeling the alcohol too much and needed to lay down,” Marcus adds. “It’s not a big deal, Cass.”

Their casualness about all of this makes me even more nervous. Am I the only one aware of the possible fallout that could happen if Ryan finds out that we had sex?

Or am I the only one worried about it?

“It is a big deal. He’s my brother. Your best friend. We should care,” I tell them, my voice coming out sharper than I intend. “I’m sorry. I’m just…stressed. I need to go back to my room.”

Jackson frowns, looking conflicted. He finally releases me, letting me hurry to Marcus’ bedroom.

My clothes are scattered across the room along with theirs, the sheets still messy and unruly.

I grab my panties and slide them on, my heart rate rising when I hear them enter the room behind me. “Ryan can’t find out about this. Ever.”

“I wasn’t rushing to tell him,” Tyler replies as he grabs my dress off the floor to hand it over.

I avoid his eyes as I take it, my face burning. I’m really not looking forward to the walk of shame back to my hotel room.

What if someone I know spots me?

“We’re not going to say anything,” Marcus says. “This is just between us.”

“And it can’t happen again,” I tell them firmly despite the yearning in my chest.

Keeping one night a secret is enough of a struggle. Multiple instances of sneaky sex is just asking to be caught.

Jackson tugs on his shirt, staring at the floor quietly. I wish I could read his mind.

“You don’t have to run off so soon,” Tyler says, stepping in front of me to catch my gaze.

My heart aches. He has no idea how badly I want to stay, but that just can’t happen. If anyone catches me in here with them, they’ll know what happened last night.

And they’ll tell Ryan.

I can’t even fully imagine the aftermath of that, and I don’t particularly want to.

This is his bachelor weekend, and his wedding is around the corner. He should be focused on marrying the love of his life. Not what his sister and his friends are up to.

“I do,” I reply. “You guys are Ryan’s best friends. This would destroy your friendship with him, and I don’t want that.”

I don’t even know how upset Ryan would be with me. I don’t think he would completely turn his back on me, but things wouldn’t ever be the same between us. He would always remember how I snuck around with his best friends behind his back.

I can’t imagine my life without him. He was there for me when no one else was.

Doing this feels like stabbing him in the back because I could literally be with anyone else besides the three of them.

“I get that. I just…” Tyler trails off with a sigh.

There’s nothing else to say. He knows that I’m right.

“This didn’t happen,” I remind them before zipping my dress up and slipping on my heels.

They all quietly nod, tension filling the air.

I walk over to the doorway of the bedroom and pause, my stomach twisting. This isn’t how I wanted things to end between us, especially after the two incredible nights we spent together.