Page 81 of The Desire

“Yeah, maybe so, but we are grown adults, Nic, who you don’t get to tell who they can be with. If I had told you Tori was off limits for any reason, would that have stopped you?”

He’s silent for a few seconds, and thankfully his shoulders drop slightly. He turns back toward me, but he is still pissed. Now I just need to find out if it’s with me or the situation I’ve just dumped in his lap.

“Not a chance, and you know it.” I can see the lines on his forehead are tight, and he is staring so intently that it’s like he is trying to read my soul. “Do you love her?”

“Yes.” And it’s as simple as that. I might not have told her, but in the center of my heart I know without a doubt that she is the only woman I have wanted to have more with, to be more, and can see me making a life with.

“Then sit down, we need to talk.” And although I can tell he still wants to kill me, he won’t, and I can trust that he will help me find a way through all this.

“Actually, fuck, what time it is? I need a beer, and if I’m drinking, so are you!” Storming toward his kitchen, he returns with two cold beers, passing me one and clinking his on mine.

“Here’s to the women who complicate life and drive us insane, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I can’t help letting a deep laugh escape me. “I’ll drink to that.” I take a long, deep mouthful of a beer that hits just right.

Nic has a few sips and has just been staring at me, and I can tell he’s thinking his plan of attack through before he finally starts the conversation.

“You can’t tell Flynn, not yet.” The protective friend already makes sure he lays down the ground rules.

“Obviously. He’s worse than I thought. Did you go over and see him?”

“Yeah, but don’t get off topic. So why now, of all times, why did you choose to tell me now?”

And that’s the ten-million-dollar question, isn’t it. I could make up some bullshit reason, but that’s not why I’m here. It’s time for the truth.

“Two reasons.” I take another gulp of beer, swallowing it and then taking a deep breath.

“I hated lying to you, but Elouise was scared of telling everyone, because of Flynn, our strong friendship group, Tori warning every one of us to stay away from her and forbidding Elouise to be with any one of us. And of course, she worried about what it would mean for the business if something went wrong. Plus, we didn’t want to confuse Blaise; he is only little and has had so much change, we didn’t want him to get even more attached to her than he is and then she walks away. Fat chance I would let her, but she didn’t know that then.”

“Christ, women are complex thinkers. Seriously, that’s a lot, and it’s only the first reason. What’s the second?”

I feel my adrenaline starting to rise again. “I’m a jealous fucker!” I admit it more aggressively than I should have and grasp my beer bottle tighter in my hand.

I leave the words just hanging in the air until Nic starts laughing a deep belly laugh. Putting his beer down on the coffee table in front of him, he continues to laugh.

“Victoria’s matchmaking,” he gets out between chuckles.

Not that I can see the funny side of it, I’m sure to him this is just a daily occurrence of the stupid shit his soon-to-be wife does.

“No way in hell Dr. Dipshit is getting anywhere near El, mark my words. If he even gets close to touching her on Friday night, then you will be bailing me out of jail for assault.” Standing, I walk to the window, just trying to calm my annoyance down again. Every time that guy’s name is mentioned it’s like something explodes in my brain.

“Take it from me, jail food sucks, and the steel seats are cold on your ass, so let’s avoid that if we can.”

“Don’t worry, I just plan on tying El to our bed and not giving her a reason to leave all night, and then the crisis will be averted. That work for you?” I need to lighten the situation up like Nic is trying to.

“Okay, firstly, El, is it?” The smirk on his face finally tells me this is all going to be okay, well, for now anyway.

“Yeah, that’s mine, and no, you can’t call her that.” I know it’s just a name, but a part of my personality that hasn’t really reared its head before now is that I don’t like to share.

“Noted. And secondly, don’t tell me shit like that. If you are with someone who has become like my little sister, never ever utter a word about your sex life with her, not even a hint. Got it?” He is a little more serious this time.

And it’s my turn to laugh at him, especially when Tori is the queen of oversharing their sex life or insinuating things we don’t want to know.

“Noted.”

My mind moves to what we need to sort out. “But now that you know…”

Nic cuts me off. “I already knew, or suspected and prayed like hell I was wrong. Not because I don’t approve, because fuck, I do, and I love you both. But just because it’s messy and you know how much I hate messy. Christ, I’m about to marry messy, and she’s enough for one man to cope with in life. And how Victoria hasn’t worked it out yet is surprising, but lucky for you both. Now continue.” He waves his hand in the air at me to keep talking.

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