Eating Her Heart Out

“I fell for him over Christmas break, but he waited until Valentine’s Day to make his move.” I smiled up at Sawyer, my tone turning dreamy. “I thought he’d put me in the friend zone because of you, but he was just trying to do things the right way out of respect for you.”

Sawyer stroked his thumb against my cheek. “And you, too. I wanted to give you the chance to get to know me because there was no going back after you became mine.”

“Fuck my life,” Jesse groaned, lowering his head to stare at his feet. “You guys are going to be loved up like this all the time, aren’t you?”

I beamed a smile at him and nodded. “Yup, pretty much.”

“Are you going to be around to see it?” Sawyer asked.

Jesse heaved a deep sigh, his shoulders slumping. “I guess I don’t have any choice. Once my baby sister makes her mind up about something, there’s no changing it. I learned that lesson the hard way a long time ago.”

“You better believe it,” I boasted.

Jesse pointed at Sawyer. “Since you fell for her, you’re the one who gets to wrangle her from now on.”

“Wrangle?” I echoed with an irritated huff.

Sawyer pressed a kiss to my temple. “I’m more than up for the task.”

I was glad to see them getting along but being the subject of their male bonding made me roll my eyes. “If you guys keep talking about me like I’m a huge pain in the butt, I’m going to ask you to get back to punching each other in the face again.”

“Oh, you’re definitely a pain in the ass,” Jesse chuckled.

“But she’s my pain in the ass,” Sawyer agreed.

I elbowed him in the side while I glared at my brother. “How did I just realize the downside to falling for my brother’s best friend is that the two of you are going to gang up on me at times?”

“Probably because you’ve always liked to leap before you look,” Jesse suggested with a shrug.

“Don’t worry, baby. I’ll team up with you against your brother most of the time,” Sawyer promised.

“Lucky me.” I heaved a deep sigh, but it was more from relief than irritation. “Does this mean you’re okay with Sawyer and me being together?”

“Now that I’ve gotten over my shock at seeing the two of you together like this, I have to admit I don’t hate the idea.” Jesse jerked his chin toward Sawyer. “There’s a reason he’s my best friend and business partner. Best guy I know.”

“He is pretty awesome,” I agreed.

“If anyone was going to be good enough for my little sister, it’d be you.” Jesse squeezed Sawyer’s shoulder. “I still would’ve preferred if you’d come to me about this, but I guess that’s not a good enough reason to keep the two of you apart.”

Sawyer’s hold on me tightened. “You could’ve tried, but there isn’t a power strong enough to keep me away from Katie.”

“Aww,” I sighed, butterflies swirling in my belly at his possessive tone.

“Blech.” My brother pretended as though he was going to vomit. “It’s going to take me a while to get used to your coupley shit.”

Sawyer shrugged. “Take all the time you need. Your sister and I are going to be spending our entire lives together.”

Those butterflies flapped their wings even harder as my heart melted at how confident Sawyer sounded talking about our future.

“I’m expecting to see a ring on my sister’s finger sooner rather than later,” Jesse warned, cracking his knuckles. “Or else I’m gonna have to kick your ass again.”

I was about to yell at him for sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong—in my relationship—but Sawyer’s reply temporarily took away my ability to speak.

“There you go, ruining another of my romantic gestures,” he muttered.

Jesse’s eyes widened. “I think that’s my cue to get out of here and leave you to it.”

I barely noticed my brother give me a kiss before he left. All of my focus was on Sawyer, his words playing over and over in my head.

8

Sawyer

Katie was staring up at me like a deer in headlights, and I wasn’t sure what had her so shocked.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked softly, brushing a few strands of her hair away from her forehead.

“R-R-Ring?” she sputtered.

“Of course.” I frowned, confused by her reaction. Was she upset that I’d told her brother I planned to marry her? “Obviously, I would have preferred to tell you we’re getting married before your brother, but—”

“Married?” she squeaked, her cheeks turning bright pink. “You want to marry me?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Baby, why do you sound so surprised? Where did you think this was going?”

She blushed even harder, and it was as cute as hell. “I hoped, but this has happened really fast and—”

“Of course, we’re getting married,” I interrupted, exasperated. “I love you, and you love me. We’re getting married. This will be our home, where we’ll have our babies, grow old together, and spend our happily ever after.”