“OKAY, SWEETHEART, THEY’VE GOT the security system all set up,” Dad says as he ends the call with the dispatcher from the security company. No one has let me back into my house until the proper precautions are up, so I’m happy that the security system is finally in place. It’s been very disjointed the past week and a half without my stuff. More importantly—without my body pillow.
“Thanks, Dad,” I say, looking at my father. I know that he’s worried about us and taking care of the installation of this new security system on my house has at least put him a little more at ease.
“I want you and my grandson to be safe,” he says as he draws me in for a hug and runs his hands up and down my arms. “I have to tell you how relieved I am that Tate isn’t my grandson’s father.”
“Mom said you would feel that way. I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t want to lie, but I was worried about how Cam would react.”
He nods. “Niko is a good man. I know he’ll do everything he can for you two. Cameron is angry and hurt right now. Give him some time. The two of you is a bit of a shock, but in a way, I’m not surprised.”
Niko and I got here a little while ago. He had to work later and didn’t want me to be alone when he wasn’t home, so we came here. My mom grabbed Niko as soon as we walked in the door claiming she had some things for him to help her with, but I knew she wanted to give my dad and me a few minutes to talk alone. Now that we’re alone and he mentioned Niko, I’m curious to hear what he has to say.
“Why do you say that?”
“You don’t remember our talk? The one where you were adamant you were going to marry Niko.”
I shake my head and roll my eyes. “Dad, I was twelve.”
“You were very adamant.”
“Well, I can assure you that was not my intent when I moved back.”
He laughs. “Maybe not, but as I said, I’m not surprised. You followed your brother and Niko around anywhere they would let you. If your head wasn’t buried in one of your books, you were hightailing it after those two boys.”
I laugh at the memories. I was pretty bad.
“That was puppy love, Daddy. I had no idea what real love was. I was just a baby.”
He looks over at me, searching. “And what is it now, Ev? What kind of love do you have for Niko now?”
I think about his question for a moment, but not because I’m unsure. I want my dad to know that this is real. After Tate and getting involved with Niko so soon after. Plus, the fact that it started out on a lie.
“I love him. Not because he’s the father of my baby. He’s everything I wanted, and I didn’t even know I was looking for. I was really hard on him in the beginning, but he stuck it out with me. He’s put up with my mood swings and all of my insecurities, and he’s still here. He even put the baby and me before his relationship with Cam, and I know that it’s killing him.”
My father nods his head in understanding. “Niko and Cameron have been friends a long time, sweetheart.”
“I know, Dad.”
“Best friends.”
“I know that too. Why are you telling me something that you know I already know?”
“Because, Everly. He can be your best friend, too. That doesn’t have to change what Cam and Niko have.”
“That’s why it’s killing me to see him so hurt over the fact that he feels as if that door is closed now. That Cam will never forgive him, and they’ll never get back their friendship.”
“Talk to Cameron.”
“I tried, but he was so mad he wouldn’t listen. He lost it and punched Niko without even giving us a chance to to tell him anything.”
“I heard, but Everly, if you explain things to your brother, make him see that this thing with Niko isn’t going to go away. That you love him. I’m hoping that Niko returns those feelings, am I right?”
“He does. He’s not only told me, Daddy, but he’s shown me how much I mean to him. This thing with Cam is one of them.”
“Then show him. Let him see that this is it for the two of you. It’s not his worst fear. Your brother has always scared away the boys when it came to you. When he left for college, you’d have thought he was your father and not me. He grilled me on who you were to stay away from and the places you and Alyson liked to go and forbid me to allow you to go to these places.”
I bust out laughing because I know that his demands on my parents had more to do with Aly than they did with boys back then. Pretty sure that hasn’t changed, but I won’t let that distract me from the current situation I have with Cam.
“I can imagine that list.”
He smiles and shakes his head. “I wasn’t that dad, but I did keep an eye on you. I knew I could trust you to do right by your decisions in life, and I also knew that you had your own mistakes to make and to learn from. Cam needs to know that this is your life. It always has been, Everly. You’ve marched to your own drum for a very long time. Even when you were a child following after two boys that weren’t your age. If someone told you no, you did it anyway, just to prove to everyone that you could. I’m proud of you and everything you’ve achieved already. I know that you’re going to be the best mother, and Niko will be a great father. Your brother will see that too.”
He hugs me, and I don’t say anything else, just place my head on his shoulder and sit with my dad for a few more minutes. We both hear the front door open, and then my brother’s voice calls out to my mom who’s hopefully still outside in the garage with Niko. Guess there is no better time than the present.
“Talk to him, Ev,” Dad says.
I take a deep breath and make my way out of the room in search of Cam. I just hope I can fix this between Cam and Niko because I really want them both in my life without the tension, and I know Niko wants his brother back.
I walk toward the kitchen where I find Cameron drinking a glass of water, his back toward me.
“Hey,” I say, and Cam stiffens, but doesn’t stop drinking and says nothing in return. Guess he’s still mad, but he didn’t tell me to go to hell yet, so I guess that’s a good sign. “We planned on telling you.”
“When? After the baby got here?” Cam growls. “Was I just going to see him in the delivery room and have it click then just what the fuck has been going on?”
No, he’s not calmed down.
“Cam.”
“No, Everly. It’s not like this is a few weeks after finding out, this is months. You’re six months pregnant. Merry fucking Christmas and a Happy New Year to me.”
“It wasn’t like that, Cam. Niko wanted to tell you in the beginning, but we were just figuring things out. We never meant it to go on for so long. For what it’s worth, he never meant to go against his word.”
“But he did. He promised me! For crying out loud, Ev. I asked him to keep an eye out for you because fucking Jake was sniffing around you, and I didn’t want you to get hurt. You deserve better.”
“Cameron, I’m telling you that it wasn’t like that at all,” I say.
“But it wasn’t Jake I needed to worry about, was it?” he says, talking over me. “No . . . Niko had already made his play for you and lied to my fucking face every time I asked him about this woman he was seeing.”
Niko steps out from the doorway. “It’s was my fault, Cameron. Don’t yell at her like that.”
Cam glares at him and shakes his head. “No, don’t even try—”
“I told him my name was Alyson,” I say, cutting him off. “He didn’t recognize me, and I lied to him. He’s wrong. It wasn’t his fault, Cam. Be mad at me because I’m the one that started this.”
“Oh, I’m plenty mad at you, little sis, but even if you were the one that first night, I know damn well it wasn’t the only time.” He turns to Niko. “So, when was it? When did you sleep with her, knowing full well who the fuck she was?”
“That night at The Sinclair,” Niko says without pause. “You know how I’d been, unable to think of anyone other than her. Well, to you, she was my Post-it note girl. That night we had too much to drink, and I couldn’t fight against it any longer. I didn’t want to. I put my loyalty to you and our friendship on the line.”
“For pussy.”
I cringe at Cam’s words.
“Watch your mouth, Cameron. She’s still your sister. I’m not going to stand here and let you disrespect her in front of me.”
“I wasn’t talking about my sister. At least I didn’t know that I was. That the woman you were losing your goddamn mind over was Everly, but you let me go on and on about this woman. Never once calling me on my shit and telling me that the woman that I was bad mouthing, the woman that left a fucking Post-it note on your cock was Everly.”
“Cameron!” I whisper-yell at my brother, looking toward the other rooms where my parents are probably listening. This isn’t the place for this, but he’s not going to stop when he’s this angry.
“I know you, man,” Cameron says to Niko. “You have never in your life committed to one woman. Not one, and there have been many,” he says looking to Niko and then to me. I can’t deny what he’s saying because I know he’s right. I’ve always known that Niko and my brother were the epitome of manwhores, but that doesn’t mean people don’t change.
“Why her?” he asks. “Why of all women did you have to go after Ev?”
Niko shakes his head. “It just happened, Cam. I didn’t know who she was when I met her at the pub. I know that’s not an excuse because eventually I did find out and I continued to see her. It wasn’t something that I decided on a whim. You saw me, man. You saw how fucked up I was when she thought I was fucking around on her with my cousin Siobhan. You know that I haven’t been with anyone else. Of all people, man, you know,” Niko says to a stoic-faced Cameron.
“And how do you know she’s not just a shiny toy for you?”
“This isn’t something that’s just going to pass, Cam. You’re not wrong about my past. I’ve never wanted anyone, until her. It’s something I can feel in my bones. It wasn’t done to anger or hurt you, it was done to appease every fiber of my being that screamed out for her,” he says, and I’m no longer wondering what my brother is thinking because I’m too busy hanging onto every word that Niko says about his feelings for me.
“How do you know it’s real or just because of a mistake?”
“Getting pregnant was an accident, but not a mistake,” he says to Cam. “My son was never a mistake.” Niko looks to me. “Baby or not, Ev, there is no way I would have been able to stay away from you,” he says and then turns back to my brother. “I’ve never felt like this before. Never thought I’d want to, to be honest. I don’t want to go back to the time before her because I know now what it’s like to love someone.”
I can feel the tears trailing from my eyes as he says things to me that up until recently, I thought would never be more than a childhood fantasy. Here he is, years later, admitting he loves me in front of my brother, and my heart is bursting.
Niko walks to me and pulls me close to him then turns back to Cam. “We’re going to be family. It doesn’t matter if you approve or not. We’d both rather that you did, and that you were a part of this. I’m asking you to please be part of it, Cam. You’re my brother.”
Cam shakes his head. “I wish that were true, Niko, but I really fucking can’t stand you right now, and I need to leave before I make you a fucking bloody mess on the floor of my parents’ house,” he says before turning and walking away.
My eyes widen as I watch my brother’s back disappear around the corner. A moment later the back door slams so hard the windows rattle. I look over at Niko, who’s hanging his head. If that didn’t reach my brother, I don’t know what else will.
“I honestly thought we were getting to him,” I say, saddened by his reaction.
“He’s fighting it, and it’s going to take a while to break through to him, if ever.” He looks down at me sadness etched in his handsome features. Lifting a hand, he reaches up to trace my cheek with his fingers. “What?” he asks when I just stare at him.
“You really do love me,” I say, but it’s not a question. I know. What I said to my father was all true, but hearing it again just cements it for me.
He nods. “I do. So fucking much, baby.”
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you.”
“Since you were twelve,” he says with a chuckle and that cocky-ass smile of his.
I smile at him and brush a strand of hair from his forehead. “Sounds about right.”