Page 20 of Marrying My Brother's Best Friend

How did I let this happen? He turned me down eight years ago, and I should know better than to allow him to kiss me and sway me with words. Trevor’s not the kind of man who’ll love me. I knew that before I agreed to help him with this scheme.

So why isn’t my heart complying? Even though I know harboring these feelings for him is useless, I can’t help myself. With a sigh, I focus on my casserole again, and try to ignore the jolts of adrenaline spiking through me and awakening every nerve in my body.

I’m aware of Trevor’s eyes on me most of the time, and it doesn’t help me feel relaxed at all. I’m wound up like a bow on a string, and I hate the feeling because it reminds me of my last argument with Jace.

He knew this would happen. He knew I would start to feel something for Trevor again, and he tried to warn me.

His teammates are all chirpy around the dinner table while enjoying my pasta dish. It’s the one recipe from my mother’s collection I’ve perfected over the years, and I prepare it for guests most times to impress them.

Trevor glances at me from where he’s seated, and I offer him a fake smile, ignoring the tension rising in my veins.

“This is the best pasta I’ve ever tasted,” Trevor’s teammate Billy says as he looks at me.

“It was my mother’s recipe,” I answer, then glance towards Trevor again to find him staring at me, his meal untouched. Our eyes stay locked, and the air around us is tense before someone clears their throat and sparks another conversation.

“What do you think about the recent Harper Cory scandal?” one of them asks and glances at the faces of everyone at the table.

I quietly pick up my half-empty plate and head for the kitchen while they continue their discussion about the actor caught cheating on his wife with a colleague.

The news has topped the gossip columns all week, alongside news of my marriage to Trevor. So far, the paparazzi haven’t been able to get any good information about me from anyone.

The pictures of me circulating the media were from Golden Bay and a few pulled off my social media pages. Trevor’s life here in New York is completely different from what it was like back home in Golden Bay, with the press hovering around every second and even though it’s not entirely as peaceful as being in the beach town, it still doesn’t suck.

I’m lost in thought while doing the dishes, and I completely zone out from the voices coming from the large dining room a distance away. The boys seem to be having a swell time as they discuss the scandals, and I wonder if every night is like this with them.

After drying my hands on a towel, I head back to the dining room to clear the rest of the dishes and slow in my tracks when I hear Trevor speaking to his friends.

“Yo! That’s not a big deal. I mean, every guy cheats on his wife in Hollywood, don’t they? There’s no loyalty and most guys certainly want to get away with almost everything. Anyone who believes otherwise is living in a fantasy, man. It ends with one person getting hurt most times.”

“Not all relationships end that way,” I mutter from the doorway without thinking, and all five men sitting around the large dining table turn to look at me.

Trevor’s blue eyes hook on mine, and it feels like I can’t breathe as I shake my head. “My parents had a great love, and it lasted them a lifetime. Neither of them got hurt because the other party was unfaithful. I believe in a love that lasts forever…I want a love that lasts forever, and I think anyone who doesn’t should do so because love is beautiful. It’s the best thing that can happen to anyone if you ask me.”

Trevor clears his throat when I’m done, and he smiles at me before excusing himself from his friends. He curls his fingers over my arm and leads me away from the others into the kitchen.

After Trevor closes the door behind us and faces me, he shakes his head and asks, “What was that about?”

I arch a brow before tilting my chin to stare at him defiantly. “You’re in the best position to answer that. You’re the one who’s faking a marriage and being in love and yet you go around making statements like that? What would they think? How do you sell being in love when you’re telling people you don’t believe in the concept of love?”

“I wasn’t talking about myself, Gracie,” he says as he towers over me, then combs his fingers through his hair.

“But you were,” I cut in desperately in a hoarse voice. “You don’t believe in love, Trevor. You’ve made that abundantly clear to me before. We both know you meant every word you said out there.”

“I did,” he answered in the same edgy tone. “I meant every word, Gracie, because it’s the truth. Love only exists in fantasies and the books you write. In the real world, when you love someone, they hurt you. They cheat till you’re broken or try to control you and beat the living lights out of you when you refuse to do what they want.”

Tears brim in his eyes as he speaks, and he lets out a pained sigh before backing away from me. “My father beat my mother so bad, sometimes she couldn’t see when she ended up in the hospital. He was never faithful, he never cared about me or her…and when he finally left, I thought it would be better. She was too broken to even realize she was wasting away in his absence. She loved him that much, Gracie. She loved him to death, and it ruined her!”

His chest assumed heavy breathing, and watching his expression crumble as he withdrew from me sent a searing ache right through my chest.

I move to him without hesitating, wanting to only comfort him.

“Trevor…”

“I never talk about this,” he says as he squeezes his eyes shut and lets out another deep breath. “Jace’s the only one who knows about this. He knows me better than anyone. He knows why I’ve vowed to never let myself love anyone and be weak.”

My arms move around his body before he can withdraw from me completely. Trevor stiffens as I envelop him in a warm hug. I smooth a hand down his back to comfort him.

“Love doesn’t make you weak, Trevor,” I murmur as I pat his back. “It makes you stronger.”

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