Dirty Toe Drag (Nashville Assassins Next Generation 6)

I grin. “What do you think it is?”

“I want a boy, but I’m pretty sure it’s a girl.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I got a feeling.”

“I think it’s a girl too,” I admit, and he groans.

“I’m going to be so broke.”

We laugh together. “For sure. Girls are expensive.”

“So expensive, and Shelli is so over the top. Jesus, my baby will be wearing Gucci before she’s one.”

“Absolutely.”

The kitchen fills with more of our laughter, but as mine trails off, Aiden smiles. “Dude, everything is going to be okay. I know it all seems a little rough, but if she’s as great as you say, I think she’ll understand.”

“I…” I start, but then the words trail off. I don’t know what the hell I am doing here. “I need to be honest with you.”

He doesn’t move, though I see nothing but compassion on his face. That may change very soon, though. “Okay. You know I got you. What’s up?”

I clear my throat again, trying to get the lump out of it that has returned to suffocate me. “I…um…well—” I stop, unsure what to say. Do I just say it? Do I beat around the bush? Fuck.

“Wes. Come on. It’s me,” he urges, concern and playfulness on his face. “I got you, dude.”

I meet his gaze once more, ripping off the Band-Aid. “I’ve been dating your sister for the last couple weeks.”

I’m met with silence, his eyes narrowing a bit as he stares at me. “My sister?”

“Yeah. Stella.”

His brows go up into his hairline. “Stella. My sister?”

“Yes.”

He swallows hard, his eyes darkening as he holds my gaze. “You’ve been dating my sister Stella.”

“I have,” I admit, unable to look away. “The guilt of not telling you from the beginning has me a mess. I don’t want to lie to you, but I also can’t give her up.”

“You can’t give up my sister Stella.”

Yeah, this is going great. I brace for impact. “No. I, ugh—” I try, but the words elude me. Though, like a light switching on, suddenly, they’re right there. “I’m falling in love with her.”

Once more, his brows shoot up into his hairline as his jaw goes slack, hanging open for a second before he asks, “You’re falling in love with my baby sister Stella?”

I’m waiting for him to swing on me. “I know this is a lot to take in—”

“Uh, yeah,” he says dryly, his jaw still slack.

“But I hope you know that I’ve changed so much in the last year. I truly want to be the elite version of myself for your sister because she deserves the best. My intentions are pure. I want to make a life with her.”

“You invited my sister Stella to your house last night and grabbed her and then kicked her out, and you’ve left her texts on read all day?”

I’m sure I look like a deer in headlights. This has to be where he swings on me. “I did, and I’m an asshole.”

He just blinks. “Wow. Okay,” he says slowly, shaking his head. “I’m processing. Give me a second.”

I nod. “Absolutely. I’m truly sorry it’s taken me this long to tell you. I wanted to from the start, but we wanted to make sure it was worth telling you. And then when I realized it was definitely worth it, everything was happening with the baby.”

“She didn’t want to tell me?”

“No, she wanted to, but I wanted to be the one to tell you. Man-to-man.”

He blows out a big breath before taking a long pull of his beer. When he sets down the bottle, he leans his elbows on the bar, taking in deep breaths over and over again. He opens his mouth, but then he snaps it shut as he sits there, not looking at me, his hands over his face. I truly expect the worst. But why hasn’t he hit me yet? I’m desperate to know what’s going on in his head.

It’s as if I have diarrhea of the mouth. “I really want your support because I don’t think I can choose between you two.”

His eyes widen, looking up at me through his fingers. “Who would you choose?”

I hold his gaze, my heart aching. “Aiden, I love you like a brother. I do. But she makes me feel a way I’ve never felt, and I get that it’s really early, but she’s special.”

“So, you’d choose her?” he asks, his eyes burning into mine. “My sister. Stella.”

“I would,” I say so confidently, I even surprise myself.

“I should kick your ass,” he says after a moment. “I should beat the fuck out of you—for putting your hands on my sister and for lying to me.”

“Yeah. I mean, I fully expected that.” I dig my heels into the ground, bracing my core, so I can take his punches. I’m sure this going to suck, but I had no choice.