Chapter 24
Hunter
10 years ago
“I love you because you make me laugh and have a big heart.” Summer walked to the bed—where I lay still naked with my hands clasped behind my head—and straddled my hips. “But this…” She reached down and cupped my dick. “This big thing is a really nice added bonus.”
I gripped the back of her hair and pulled her head down to mine. “Oh yeah? You love me, huh?” We’d been seeing each other for six months, but we’d never exchanged those words before.
She smiled and tilted her head. “I guess I do.”
Pulling her closer, I kissed her lips gently. “I guess I love you, too, then.”
She leaned back and swatted at my abs. “Hey. That doesn’t sound very romantic. I guess I love you, too, then.”
“Alright. How about this? Summer Pearl Madden, I love you because you never say no to a dare and you laugh at your own jokes even when they aren’t funny.” I reached up and groped her breasts. “But this…these big tits are a really nice added bonus.”
She laughed. “Are you nervous about today?”
“Nah. He’s happy. He’ll be happy for us.”
Jayce and Emily had gotten engaged last night. It was unexpected, but the two of them seemed to be in their own little world. After six months of hiding my relationship with Summer, I planned to come clean with my brother. Even though we were an eight-hour bus ride apart most days, Summer and I had grown inseparable since the night of my brother’s graduation party. We video chatted for hours some days, and one of us was on a bus every other weekend, making the long haul for a visit. The I love yous we’d just exchanged cemented in my mind that I was long overdue to come clean.
I reached for my cell on the nightstand and checked the time. “Shit. I gotta run. My uncle asked us to meet him at his office at one, so I told Jayce to meet me at the Starbucks around the corner at twelve so I could tell him.” I held Summer by the hips and lifted her off so I could sit up. “What are you going to do today while I’m gone?”
She pouted. “Study for math. If I don’t pass this final, I won’t graduate.”
“I’ll help you when I get back.”
Summer laid on her belly on the bed and watched me dress. “I love when you tutor me.”
I yanked on a pair of jeans. “You like that it’s free. I might start charging you.”
“I’m good with that. So long as you accept sexual favors as payment.”
I sniffed a T-shirt hanging from an open drawer. I wasn’t sure if I’d tossed it there while getting undressed or if it was falling out because I’d grabbed something underneath and not bothered to fix the mess it made. Deciding it passed as clean, I tugged it on.
“That’s such a guy thing.” Summer scrunched up her nose. “Sniffing clothing before putting it on.”
I eyed her lacy black thong on the floor next to the bed and scooped it up. Cupping the thin material in two hands, I brought it to my nose and took a loud, exaggerated whiff of her panties.
She shook her head but smiled. “You’re gross.”
“Yeah. You think that’s gross?” I stuffed her underwear into my jeans pocket. “I’m keeping these until later, and I’m going to snort them like a fucking perv on the long bus ride home as some sort of demented foreplay before I come back and eat you.”
***
Jayce seemed distracted as we waited in line for coffee. “My treat,” I said when we got to the register.
“Thanks.”
He was quiet even when we sat down. “What’s up with you? You look like someone killed your dog.”
Jayce forced a smile. “Just tired, I guess.”
“New fiancée wearing you out already, old man?”
My brother stared down at his cup. “She’s pregnant.”
Not exactly the direction I expected this conversation to go. “Wow. Umm…congratulations.”
He raked fingers through his hair. “I really like her a lot.”
“You don’t love her?”
He shook his head. “No. I wish I did.”
“Then why did you ask her to get married?”
“It was an accident.”
My brows rose. “An accident? How, exactly, do you accidentally propose to someone.”
His head dropped into his hands. “I don’t know. She told me she was pregnant, and she was upset. Obviously, it wasn’t planned. She was crying and said she’d always dreamed of getting married and having kids but not starting a family so young and on her own. I would never abandon her, and I didn’t want her to feel like she was doing it on her own.”
“So you asked her to marry you?”
Jayce yanked on his hair. “Fuck! I hated seeing her bawl, and it’s my responsibility, too.”
“Maybe she feels the same way? She might be scared and not want to marry you either. What did she say when you asked her?”
He slumped farther into his chair. “Her face lit up, and she jumped into my arms and said she loved me.”
Shit. Jayce is a stand-up guy. As much as it seems ludicrous that someone could accidentally ask someone to marry him—it made total sense when it came to my brother. In fact, he was such a good guy that I knew the answer to my next question before I even asked. “Did you tell her you loved her back?”
He looked at me. Of course he did.
When he picked up his coffee to drink, his hand was shaking so badly that he sloshed it all over the place.
“It’s gonna be okay, bro.”
“How?”
“You’ll talk to her. Tell her you care about her and you plan to support the baby, but you’re not ready to get married.”
Jayce stayed quiet for a long time. He looked deep in thought. “Why can’t I love her?” He mumbled. “She deserves better than a guy who can’t give her his heart because someone still has a piece of it.”
I closed my eyes.
My fucking heart broke for so many reasons.