DREW

Charlee left about an hour ago because I wanted to talk to Brody alone. He’s not usually an early bird, but I decide to text him so my message will be there when he wakes up.

Me: You wanna grab some breakfast later? I need to talk to you about something.

To my surprise, he responds only a minute later.

Brody: No shit, Sherlock. I just parked in front of your building. Be up in a few.

He’s here? The sun is barely up. Shit, I need coffee for this. As I watch the dark roast drip into my cup, a single knock hits my front door.

Here we go.

I step aside as I open the door, gesturing for him to follow me into the kitchen. “You want some coffee?”

“No, asshole,” he grinds out. “I want answers. What the fuck is going on with you and Charlotte?”

“I—”

He points a stern finger at me, interrupting. “And don’t even try to tell me nothing. That shit on the dance floor last night was the opposite of nothing.”

“Dude, sit down.”

Brody widens his stance and folds his arms over his chest. “I’d rather stand.”

“Fine, you stubborn fuck. I’ll sit.” I round the kitchen counter and take a seat at the breakfast bar.

He grips the counter directly across from me and stares expectantly. “Well?”

I take a moment to choose my words carefully. I thought I’d have a little more time to prepare a speech or something, but clearly he had other plans. If the way he’s clenching his jaw is any indication, I’m running out of time, so I say the first thing that comes to mind.

I look him straight in the eye. “I’m in love with her, man.” Huh. I didn’t exactly realize that until the words flew out of my mouth but it makes sense. I wouldn’t know how else to describe what I’m feeling.

Brody blinks rapidly, obviously not expecting this. “Are you fucking kidding me? How did that happen? You barely know her.”

“That’s not exactly...true.” I wince. “I know enough.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “How long?”

“How long, what?”

Brody’s fists clench. “How long have you been fucking my sister behind my back?”

“Since Vegas,” I admit. “But I’ve had feelings for her a lot longer than that.”

“Jesus Christ, Drew!” He throws his hands up. “I explicitly forbid you to go near her! Many times! Yet, you fucking did it anyway?”

“I tried not to.” I jump off the stool and hold my hands up in peace. “I swear on my fucking nuts, I tried not to. But I finally broke down and quite frankly, I don’t want to go back if it means not having her.”

He grits his teeth and scrubs a hand over his face. “I can’t fucking believe this. How could you do this to me?”

I rub the back of my neck. “This has nothing to do with you, Brody.”

“The fuck it doesn’t,” he scoffs. “And if you actually believed that, you wouldn’t have been hiding this shit.”

He’s got a point.

I blow out a breath. “Okay, fine. But you have to believe me, I would never do anything to hurt her. I’d rather cut off a fucking limb.”

“You say that now,” he mutters. “You’ve been together, what, two goddamn weeks? You can’t possibly know that.”

“You know me, Brody. As many women as I’ve dated, or fucked around with, or whatever, I’ve always been upfront and honest with them. Most importantly, I’ve been respectful and treated them with care. I would never do anything to hurt a woman—any woman. I love everything about them too much.”

He glares at me. “That’s the fucking problem.”

I glare right back at him. “Fuck off, dude. Look, I’d really like your blessing. This thing with Charlee is different. I’ve known there was something special about her from the moment we met. You should understand how that feels more than anyone, you ass.”

Brody’s history with women is very similar to mine. He never really dated anyone seriously and engaged in one-night-stands more often than not, but the moment Rainey walked into his life, his entire outlook on the whole thing changed. She was with some douchebag at the time so he had to wait years before making his move, but he was completely ass-over-tits in love with her long before that.

He blows out a breath. “So, what now? You’re dating her?”

“Uh...you could say that.”

His eyebrows draw together. “What the fuck does that mean?” Before I get the chance to answer, his eyes widen as he focuses on something in my kitchen. He grabs the cheap picture frame off the counter and waves it in the air. “What the fuck is this?!”

Oh fuck. I forgot to put the wedding photo back in my nightstand drawer.

“Uh...”

Brody flips the frame over and glances at the marriage license taped to the back. “You fucking married her?!” He advances on me and shoves me backwards. It takes everything in me not to fight back but I hold off. “It’s bad enough that you’d screw around with my sister behind my back, but this is so much worse, you dick! Please, tell me this is some kind of lame souvenir, Drew.” He looks at me with pure disdain. “Never mind; the look on your face says it all.” Brody throws the frame at me. “You know, I was trying to find a way to be okay with this, but fuck that.”

“I can explain.”

He cocks his fist back and aims straight for my face before I have time to react.

Damn it, he packs a good punch.

I stumble back a little and rub my hand over the sore spot on my jaw. “I suppose I deserved that.”

Brody crosses my apartment and swings the front door open. “You deserve a helluva lot more than that, but I don’t feel like having your neighbors call the cops on me. I have a baby on the way to think about and it’s not fucking worth it.” He clenches his jaw. “It’s her or me, Drew.”

“What?!”

His chest expands. “You can have Charlee in your life, or you can have me. But you can’t have both.”

“Are you kidding me? How is that even remotely fair?”

Brody glares. “How is screwing my sister behind my back and lying to my face fair?”

My nostrils flare as we stare each other down. “Brody, don’t fucking do this to me.”

“Fuck you, Drew. I’m not the one who started this. You let me know when you’ve made your decision. Until then, don’t bother talking to me.”

He slams the door behind him without another word. I don’t even try stopping him because he’s obviously not in the right state of mind to be rational. I pick up my phone and hit the button for Charlee’s number.

“Drew?” she answers sleepily. “What’s going on?”

I place a pack of frozen peas against my face. Damn, that hurts. “Shit has officially hit the fan. Brody showed up at my house without notice and saw the wedding picture that we left out.”

Charlee gasps. “Fuck.”

“You can say that again.”

“I’ve gotta go, so I can call him,” she says. “I don’t know how, but I’m going to find a way to fix this.”

“Give him some time to cool off, honey. If he’s pissed enough to punch me in the face, I don’t want you near him like that.”

“He hit you? What an asshole!”

I start to laugh but the ache in my jaw stops me. “Charlee, just give him time. I’m going to call Rainey after I hang up with you. I have a feeling she’s the only one who can calm him down right now.”

“I’m not afraid of B,” Charlee scoffs. “I’ll go toe-to-toe with him any day.”

This time I do laugh despite the pain. “I have no doubt, Scrappy, but he’s not being very reasonable at the moment. He’s in the mood to do a lot more yelling than talking. Let Rainey work her magic then you can reach out to him.”

She sighs. “Fine. Just tell her to let me know when he stops being such a baby.”

“Will do. I’m going to let you go now, so I can call her.”

“Drew, wait!”

“Yeah?”

“Is your face okay? He didn’t mess up the pretty, did he?”

My lips twitch. “There’s probably going to be a nice bruise but I’ll be good as new in no time.”

“Okay,” she says. “I’ll reserve the swift kick to his nuts for later, then.”

“I’ll talk to you soon, honey.”

“You’d better.”