CHAPTER SIXTEEN

BRYAN

Even though it was late, the warm summer air was only starting to cool down. He took a deep breath after closing the front door behind him. Scratching the top of his head, he looked at his brothers, who were now grinning like idiots for some reason, and he didn’t like it.

“What?”

“Show him the car,” Garrett ordered, pointing at Marc. Bryan scowled.

“No.”

“Come on,” Marcus whined, surprising Bryan. Marc wasn’t a car guy; Garrett was.

Running his fingers through his hair, he looked at them and asked, “Is that why you two came over here? To check out her car?”

Garrett and Marcus looked at each other, clearly communicating something. He opened his mouth to tell them to go home, but before he could, Marc cut him off.

“Don’t be like that. We also came to visit, because we love you.” Marc ruffled Bryan’s hair, and he rolled his eyes.

“Follow me,” he muttered, leading them to the garage.

Light flooded the darkened garage as his eyes fixed on Valerie’s restored vintage beauty. Marcus’ low whistle of appreciation rang into the air, and a smile covered Bryan’s own face. That was how beautiful that car of hers was.

“That’s a fucking beauty.”

“Yeah, it is.” He grinned.

“And she did all this?” Marc asked with nothing but awe dripping from his tone.

“I’ll have her show you guys pictures next time of what it used to look like when she started it.”

“A wreck?”

“Worse than a wreck, scrap metal.” Bryan felt the need to share, proud of his girl.

“Check out the interior.” Garrett slid over to stand next to Bryan as Marc slowly rounded the car.

“She’s pretty cool,” Garrett muttered, and he nodded.

“Yeah, she is.”

“She’s gun shy, though,” Marc observed gently. Bryan crossed his arms over his chest.

“I know that.” And he did. Hell, the way she paled at the suggestion of her having lunch with his parents reminded him just how gun shy she was.

“I like her,” Garrett told him way too easily, and his frown deepened, his brows furrowing together.

“What?” he hissed, starting to get pissed, but Garrett only seemed to have an amused look on his face before he closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Not like that, you idiot.” Garrett opened his dark eyes and stared at Bryan. In front of Bryan was the man he had considered his best friend. Who he had missed more than he wanted to admit. Bryan was thankful Garrett was coming back to a recognizable version of who he used to be. “Look, I just mean I like her for you. You two… you mesh well. She doesn’t take your shit.”

“She has a smart-ass answer for everything,” Bryan grumbled, feeling his own chest puff with pride.

“I know how that is,” Marc chimed in, not sounding like it bothered him at all.

“And she is so damn stubborn…”

“Again, something I understand,” Marc once again mumbled.

“And when I’m not around her…” Bryan didn’t stop the humorless laughter, stuffing his hands into his front pockets. The idea of not having her around and the possibility of his reality almost brought him to his knees. “It doesn’t matter.” He shrugged.

“Why?” Marc asked, still acting as if he was checking out the car.

“I can’t be that guy for her. Not in the long run, anyhow,” he reasoned more to himself than his brothers, though a voice in his head called him a liar. “I can’t give her what she needs.”

“And what is that?” Garrett asked, making Bryan swallow hard, the words on the tip of his tongue, but they didn’t come out.

“Doesn’t matter.“

“Donnie saw Courtney,” Marcus announced, and he looked at his pretty-boy brother.

“She’s back in California?” he asked, a frown on his face deepening into a scowl.

His brothers hadn’t lied earlier. Six months almost to the day from when the divorce was finalized, she married the guy she’d admitted having feelings for. Two months later, she had transferred to the Chicago offices for work, according to some mutual friends. He liked the idea of her being far away. Not because he was somehow still hung up on her. He wasn’t.

Time had gifted him clarity. Clarity he had not had during his time with the one woman he had grown into an adult with. She had her good sides, but mostly she was a whiney, spoiled brat.

“Apparently.”

“Good for her.” He cleared his throat, trying to figure out a way to change the subject.

“Whatever you couldn’t give Courtney… maybe it was because it wasn’t meant to be with her. Have you ever thought of that?” Garrett suggested. Bryan wished. He wished it could have been that easy.

“You have no idea what you’re—”

“Then fill us in, man,” Marc pushed. Bryan fixed his eyes on the boxes on the other side of the garage. “Or don’t. But whatever you think you can’t give, make sure Valerie even wants it before you push her away for some stupid fucking reason.”

“And if Valerie wants a family, has her heart set on it, maybe you guys could consider different ways of creating one,” Garrett bluntly put out there. Bryan’s body stiffened completely.

“You know?” he breathed out, shame burning his cheeks, not looking at them.

“According to Don, she was tipsy and chatty,” Marc filled him in, and he shook his head.

“You guys tell…” He swallowed hard. Fuck. He didn’t want to see the pity on their parents’ faces.

“No. We aren’t going to say shit. You know we wouldn’t,” Marc calmly shared.

“It’s no one’s fucking business,” Garrett added, and Bryan nodded knowing no matter what happened or how they bumped heads, his brothers and Don were men he could count on having his back.

“Not Mom or Dad’s, or Nicola’s. Unless you want them to know,” Marc said. He heard the car’s door open and gently close. He knew Marc was doing it to keep the atmosphere calm and easy to talk about the shit they were talking about.

“We just don’t want you to fuck this up,” Garrett blurted, and somehow, Bryan felt his lips twitch upward.

“Right,” Bryan muttered.

“Come on, we should really get going. Grace should be done writing, and I wanna make sure I keep inspiring her writing those book boyfriends,” Marc remarked. Bryan couldn’t stop the chuckle that came out.

“You’re an idiot,” Garrett muttered, patting Bryan on the shoulder as he slipped out of the garage. “See you guys this weekend, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, his throat too tight with emotion and gratitude over how lucky he was to call his brothers his friends.

Standing at the end of the driveway, he watched them slip into Garrett’s truck and drive off. But he stood in the darkness that was dimly lit by the lone streetlight for a while after the truck had disappeared from his sight.

A weight had been lifted off his shoulders knowing someone knew his secret. What he felt was his biggest failure. And they had been supportive, not once uttering the stupid jokes he’d feared. To top it off, they liked Valerie. They liked his little goddess and didn’t want him to mess it up with her.

He didn’t want to mess things up with his sassy little Blondie, either. Maybe it was time to ask her what she wanted in her future. Would she want a family one day? Would she be open to other avenues to create one?

Walking back into the house, he felt lighter and more hopeful than he had in a really, really long time.