Since Ben was staying at their parents’, Eric had called and arranged to have breakfast with them. Which turned out to be one of the most uncomfortable decisions of his life. His parents didn’t seem to notice, but there was no way that Ben missed Eric’s awkward silence.

He’d never been good at small talk, and sitting through breakfast and not saying what was on his mind to Ben was pure torture.

After, he’d gone out into the backyard. The same yard where he and Ben had played catch for so many years. Where Ben had helped him build a fort. Where they’d played with Muffin, the mutt they’d rescued from the side of the road when Eric was six.

Lots of memories, all good.

Someday, Eric had hoped to get married in this backyard. To say vows under the big oak tree. He still wanted that.

Dammit, he wanted it with Tiffany. Had he really told her it was too soon for her to love him? What kind of an idiot was he? What kind of a person pushed away love?

And what was he doing asking his brother permission to feel?

Shit.

“Hey.” Ben leaned against the porch railing, freshly painted as it was every year. And their dad wouldn’t let anybody else help or take over the task. “You got something you wanna share with the class?”

“No. Yes. Hell, I don’t know.”

“Sounds like a yes to me.”

Eric sighed. “It’s me,” he said. “Tiffany’s dating me. Or she was. Now she’s annoyed with me.”

“You?”

Eric lifted a shoulder. “That would be correct.”

“Huh.” His brother moved to the steps and took a seat. “And now she’s pissed? Why?”

“Because I told her I was coming here to make sure you were cool with me and Tiffany going out. But you know what? It doesn’t matter if you’re cool with it, because I love her. And because she chose me. And I’m really sorry about that, man. I mean truly sorry, but I’m not going to walk away from the best thing to ever happen to me just to keep my brother from having his heart get bruised.”

“So you’re saying you love her.”

“Hell, yeah, I do.”

Ben nodded. “And we already know she loves you.” He shrugged. “She didn’t name names, but I thought the guy was a damn lucky bastard.” He met Eric’s eyes. “I still do.”

“So we’re okay?”

“We’re golden,” Ben said. “I love you both, and I swear I couldn’t be happier for you.”

“You mean that?” But he could see on Ben’s face that he did. “There’s someone perfect for you out there, too, you know.”

“I know,” Ben agreed. “And I’ll find her. In the meantime, you should go make up with your girl.”

“Explain to Mom and Dad?”

“I’ll tell them you had to go see about a girl,” Ben said, referencing Good Will Hunting, one of their favorite movies.

Eric would have rolled his eyes, but he was already gone.

 

* * * *

 

“I think I screwed up,” Tiffany said to Cam and Mina, who she’d called over for an emergency relationship pow-wow. “I know how close he is with Ben, but I got all bent out of shape when he didn’t immediately say that it was all about me. About us. He dragged Ben into it, and—”

“Of course you got upset,” Mina said. “You don’t want anyone else telling Eric who he can and can’t love or who he can or can’t be with.”

“Exactly. But—”

“But at the same time, maybe you should have waited to see what he did before you got all butt hurt?” Cam looked at her and nodded. “I get it, I do. But the guy was in a bad position. He loves you. He loves his brother. His brother loves you.”

“So we’ve established I’ve handled this all wrong. What do I do now?”

Cam and Mina exchanged glances. “Go find him? Talk to him?”

She frowned. She hated the groveling part. But for Eric, she’d do it.

“I’m gonna go to his place,” she said, but when she opened the front door, she saw that Eric had come to her.

“I was just about to knock,” he said.

“And we were just about to leave,” Mina said, dragging Cam to the door. He caught Tiffany’s eyes, a question in his. She nodded, and he kissed her cheek. “For luck,” he whispered, then shut the door behind him and Mina.

“I’m sorry,” she said to Eric at the same time he said it to her.

“I should never have suggested I needed Ben’s permission. I was just…in a weird place.”

“Of course you were. Because I put you there. I shouldn’t have done that.” She bit her lip. “So are we okay?”

“I think we are.”

“Thank God. Not being square with you messes with my head.”

He grinned. “Mine too.”

She drew a breath. “So what happened, anyway?”

“I told him you were mine,” he said simply. “That I loved you, and that we’re a couple, and he would just have to get used to it.”

“Yeah? What did he say?”

“He said he loves us both and he wishes us well. He really does mean it, you know.”

She nodded. “I do.”

Those two words hung in the air, and their eyes met, a silent someday floating between them.

As if to emphasize the point, Eric brushed a soft kiss over her lips. “You’re mine, Tiffany. Wholly and completely. Body and soul. And you know what else?”

“What?”

“I’m yours, too.”

“I know,” she said, her body on fire from his words, his touch. “And now I need you to do something for me.”

“What’s that?”

“Make love to me.”

He grinned, then scooped her up and started toward the bedroom. “Baby, I can do that all night long.”

 

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