“Shhh. It’s getting good.”
Eric’s face twisted. “What do you mean he’s stopped sleeping around? He brought not one, but two girls up to the retreat! While she was there!” he pointed to Faith.
“Darling, that was a year ago. Do the math. A year. And she was with her boyfriend! Did you see him with anyone after that?” she questioned.
His forehead puckered, and his eyes darted back and forth. “I…”
“You don’t know because you weren’t paying attention. You were busy being happy and didn’t see that your best friend has been utterly miserable, just waiting for your sister to realize he’d been cooling his heels until she was ready.”
His gaze shot to mine. “Is that true?”
“Yep,” Faith answered.
“You…” He shook his head. “She didn’t leave her boyfriend until January.”
“Yep,” Faith repeated. “And even then, when I threw myself at him, he wouldn’t touch me. I mean, he touched me, but it didn’t—”
“I don’t need to know that,” Eric exclaimed, his face the portrait of disgust.
“Maybe a little less detail, Älskling,” I said softly.
“Oh. Right. Sorry.”
Eric and I stared at each other for a couple of tense, silent moments.
Finally, he nodded toward the back deck. “You and me, outside.”
Faith squeezed my hand.
“It’ll be alright,” I promised her, lifting her hand to brush a kiss across her knuckles.
“Where was that gallantry earlier when you had your hand up her—” His voice was instantly muffled by Pepper’s hand.
“Sorry. He’s still in training.” She gave us a wry smile before turning her glare on him.
“Outside,” I agreed, and let go of Faith’s hand.
Pepper dropped her hand from Eric’s mouth and gave him a warning glance.
“Fine, I’ll be fine,” he assured her.
“Remember what I said,” she cautioned but gave him a pat on his arm.
“If you so much as put a finger on him, I’ll—” Faith started.
“You’ll what, baby sister?” Eric challenged, cutting her off.
She marched forward until she was right in his face. “I’ll. Call. Mom.”
He blanched. “For fuck’s sake. Fine.”
“Outside?” I offered, thinking it might be the safest option for him.
“Outside,” he agreed.
We walked out onto the deck, both of us leaning on the thick wooden railing that looked over my strip of private beach.
“How serious—”
“I love her,” I cut him off. “She’s not just a fling, or a conquest, or a Saturday night special. I fucking love her.” My words were at odds with my tone.
“Damn it,” he groaned, hanging his head.
“You’d rather I was just using her?” I questioned.
He sighed, then looked over at me. “I heard every word Pepper said. I know she’s right. But that’s my little sister in there, Lukas. You...you leave a path of destruction in your wake, and a string of broken hearts up and down the coast of Puget Sound. So yeah, part of me wishes this wasn’t serious.”
I swallowed. “I know I’m not good enough for her. I’ve always known that. Why do you think I never pursued her?”
“Because she was my little sister and you wanted to respect our friendship?” he suggested.
“That, too. Really and truly. I wanted to tell you as soon as we got together, but Faith wanted to do it together, and you haven’t exactly been answering your calls.” The accusation hung between us.
“Shit. Okay, you’re right on that. I’ve been a little consumed helping Sawyer. I should have been a little more aware—scratch that—way more aware. I just liked feeling useful.”
“I get that. And we really were going to tell you tonight.”
He nodded. “I don’t like it, but she’s a grown woman, or at least as grown as a senior in college can be. And I know you.” He looked over at me. “I know your heart, and I know how loyal you are to your friends, how you show up when you’re needed.”
“That sounds almost like a recommendation,” I joked, my throat thick with emotion.
He sighed. “It is. I just need a minute to wrap my head around it, that’s all. You really love her?”
“More than my own life,” I responded. “More than hockey, or the clothing line, or...anything. I’d give it all up to make her happy. Oh, and she doesn’t know I’m in love with her, so could we keep that between us?”
He blinked. “You haven’t told her?”
“No. She’s not ready to hear that. It’s a lot of pressure for someone who’s still figuring out her life, and I don’t want my feelings to weigh her down or trap her.” I looked out over the sound, where the clouds had cleared enough to let a sliver of moonlight reflect on the waves in a long streak.
“Damn, you really do love her.” He laughed. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
“So you’re done beating the shit out of me?” I clarified.
He nodded. “I love both of you in very different ways, and you’ve grown so damn much in the last couple of years. If you guys want to be together, then that’s your business. I’ll support it and cheer you on because I would have killed anyone who got between Pepper and me.” He turned around and leaned back against the railing.
I did the same, watching Pepper and Faith snack on chocolate cake in the kitchen.
My heart swelled with the simple rightness of it.
“You should tell her,” Eric said, his voice low and his eyes on his wife. “Love isn’t a burden, Lukas. It’s a gift. If you keep it to yourself, it’s not worth anything, but when you share it…” His mouth formed a slight smile. “When you share it, then it’s priceless.”
“Noted,” I choked out over the lump in my throat.
“Oh, one more thing,” he said without taking his eyes from Pepper.
“What?”
“If you break her heart, I’ll remove your balls.”
“Seems fair.”
He shook his head and sighed. “Shit. Okay, welcome to the family.”
“You’re not going to hug me are you?” I shot him a glance.
“Shut up and enjoy the damned moment.”
So we did, both of us watching the incredible women we loved.
Chapter 16
Faith
ME: You have me for 24 more hours
ME: Any special requests?
I grinned at the cell in my hand, my knees tucked under me as I sat on my couch. It was before eight a.m., but I’d barely slept. I’d wanted to stay at Lukas’s last night, but there was so much to do to get ready for classes that would start back up again tomorrow—like buy books and clean my laptop and have dinner with Sawyer and Harper. It had become our thing before the start of each new semester—stuffing ourselves with burgers and beers and playing shuffleboard half the night.
Tomorrow.
I’d enter my final year in college.
A nervous thrill rushed through me, twisting my nerves like wringing out a rag.
After this year, I’d have to take my company idea and make it something real, tangible. I’d have to approach potential clients and get an office space and be a real adult.
Not that I didn’t already feel like one, because I did.
I already had a hefty investment piled in my savings account—thanks to Lukas’s summer job—and I had one final payment pending, too.
It would make the difference between launching a real company, and running it out of the townhouse I shared with two of my closest friends.
“Morning,” Harper groaned as she came around the corner, her flannel PJs with donuts on the pants swishing as she plopped down on the couch beside me. She leaned her head against my arm, sighing. “Why are mornings so early?”
I laughed. “Why did we stay out so late?”
“For. Real.” She sat up, rubbing her face with her palms. “It w
as fun though,” she said. “I needed it. I need to focus this year.”
“Like you haven’t for the past…decade?” I teased. “Our last year.”
She nodded before tilting her head. “Maybe we should make the dinner thing a weekly obligation?”
“I’m in,” I said, and I meant it. I knew we’d have to go our separate ways after we graduated—Sawyer hopefully to the Sharks, or at least their farm team, and Harper to her own lab wherever she could get funded.
A peppy whistle sounded from the top of the stairs and grew increasingly loud as Sawyer descended. He was dressed in his athletic pants and a workout shirt, his gear bag over his shoulder.
“Morning ladies,” he said, dropping his bag by the door and then whistling all the way to the kitchen.
“Ugh,” Harper said, groaning again. “You can’t possibly be that cheerful. You drank more than both of us last night.”
Sawyer came back from the kitchen, an already peeled banana in his mouth. He took a monstrous bite, filling one side of his cheek like a chipmunk, and grinned at Harper. “I feel great,” he said, and he looked it too. He’d been so much happier lately, not that he’d ever been unpleasant, but there was a sense of excitement in his eyes that had been missing in months before.