Breaking The Bro Code (Hawthorne Brothers 3)

He sinks into a chair as Natalie continues to dry him.

“If I say I did, what would you do?”

Natalie frowns. “Oh come on. I know you didn’t kill Ryker.”

“Did you?” I ask him again.

“No.”

Relief washes over me.

“I didn’t find him. He’s not here in the resort anymore.”

So Ryker did leave. But where did he go? Did he go to another resort? Did he go to the airport?

I fetch my phone from my purse. No messages. Then again, I haven’t really been able to use my phone since we arrived.

“Did he send you a message?” Joel asks me.

“No,” I answer. “Even if he did, I wouldn’t tell you about it.”

“Well, you haven’t been telling me anything lately, have you?” Joel says.

He lets out a deep sigh.

“I wanted to tell you,” I tell him. “I wanted to tell you I was with Ryker, but I knew you would get mad like you just did, even though you have no reason to be.”

He points a finger at his chest. “I have no reason to be?”

“Ryker and I haven’t done anything wrong,” I point out. “We’re just a couple like many other couples in the world.”

“He’s my best friend.”

“So? When has there been a law that says women can’t go out with their brother’s best friends? In fact, a lot of women are married to their brother’s best friends.”

“Really? Who?”

I can’t think of any right now. I just know there are.

“I don’t understand why you’re upset,” I tell my brother. “Shouldn’t you be happy that I’m with someone you know, someone you trust? You chose Ryker to be your best man…”

“He’s not my best man anymore.”

“But you chose him to be your best man. Before all this, you thought he was the best man in your life. Don’t you think that’s what I deserve?”

“You deserve a man who will love you,” Joel tells me.

“And Ryker won’t?” I ask him.

“Weren’t you complaining that he was always putting you last?”

“Didn’t you hear him say that he’s putting me first from now on?” I retort.

“He has a busy job. You said that yourself. He can’t put you first.”

“He’s getting a new job.”

Joel’s eyebrows arch. “He is?”

“Yes.”

He shakes his head. “I bet he’s going to be just as busy.”

“Maybe, but he’s not going to be stuck in Chicago. He can travel with me.”

Joel’s eyebrows furrow. “You’re getting married?”

“No.”

Not anytime soon, at least.

“But you’re going to travel the world together?” Joel asks.

I shrug. “What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong is you’ve made so many plans and you didn’t bother telling me about them.”

“I didn’t know I had to tell you all my plans. I’m not a little girl anymore, Joel. I know you said earlier that I’m little until you say I’m not little, but I’m not. I’m a grown-up.”

“No matter what age you are, you’ll always be my sister,” Joel says.

“Then treat me like a sister,” I tell him. “Not like some damsel you have to protect or some object you need to hold on to.”

“It’s my job to protect you.”

“I can protect myself. I can take care of myself.”

“Then why do you need Ryker?” he asks.

“Because I love him,” I say it out loud for the first time.

And to think I haven’t even told Ryker.

Joel falls silent. I hold my breath, hoping that my confession will move him somehow and make him see what he’s doing wrong. But he just shakes his head again.

“Ryker doesn’t love you. If he did, he would have told me.”

Unbelievable.

“He was going to tell you. Didn’t you hear him?”

“If he loves you, why did he leave you behind, huh?” Joel asks me.

“Because you were trying to kill him,” I remind him.

“So he’s a coward.”

“He didn’t want to hurt you trying to defend himself. Can’t you see that?”

“He couldn’t hit me because he knew what he did was wrong,” Joel says.

“Because you made him think it. And because he’s a good man.”

“He regrets it now. He’s not coming back for you.”

What?

“Joel.” Natalie holds his arm. “You don’t know that.”

“Well, he better not come back,” he tells her and me. “Because if he does, I really am going to kill him.”

Joel walks out the door. I go after him.

“I love Ryker. Does that not mean anything to you? Does my happiness mean nothing to you?”

He doesn’t answer. He just leaves. I grip my hair in frustration.

“It’s okay.” Natalie stands beside me and rubs my shoulder. “He just needs time. He’ll come to his senses. You’ll see.”

I say nothing.

Natalie squeezes my shoulder. “He loves you. And Ryker loves you. I’m sure he’ll come back.”

She gives me a hug and then goes after Joel. I ponder her words as I go back inside my cottage.

Does Ryker love me? He’s never told me so. And Joel seems to be sure he doesn’t. What if he doesn’t come back for me? What if Joel’s right and he regrets being with me?