Page 107 of The More the Merrier

“She was attempting to keep everyone safe, sis.”

“Why does everyone just keep defending her, especially you?” I was so tired of seeing everyone else around me getting what I needed.

“Right. She should be shamed and sent away.” Gage nodded. “Is that what you want?”

“No.” I wasn’t irritated at my cousin, despite the way I’d acted. We talked about it after everything settled. I had more issues than I’d let on, grief being at the top of it all.

“You’re pissed because you would have done the same damn thing, but you don’t have anyone currently making you their priority. As upset as you were, I believe you were also a little jealous.”

“I’m not jealous of anyone!”

“So, you weren’t thinking about what it would have been like for you to be in a relationship with Dane and Tanner?”

My brother read straight through my bratty disposition and awful attitude. He was correct on all fronts, except it wasn’t the two men he mentioned. I stomped my right foot several times.

Gage took me by the shoulders. “It seems like I might be right.”

Tanner spanked me whenever I spiraled, but usually he sorted me out and went back about his business. Dane and I dated when he came back to Falcon Creek, way before Tanner. I attempted to shake Gage off me, but he could use me as a dumbbell and curl me, so nothing happened. “No! Not them.”

“What is the real issue here, sis?”

“I’m not worthy of anything. No one has the time to sort me out or make me a priority.” I’d thrown a lot of things at my brother in a short span of time. There was way more trauma to unpack, but there wasn’t time to do it tonight.

“You are worthy of everything.” Gage blew out a breath. “Did you say any of that to Dalton?”

“Of course not. What do you think? I’ll get into a throuple with Dalton and Grant and their rules will make me fall in line? I’ll become all gooey and sweet,” I gushed obnoxiously while batting my eyelashes.

“Drop the act, Kendall. It’s just you and me here.”

“I’m not acting!” I needed to be very careful and did my best to even out my breathing. Gage would only put up with so much before he called Tanner to handle my sass. However, Tanner currently had his hands full with two partners of his own and was still healing after his recent injury. I doubted he had time for me. No, that wasn’t quite true. Tanner always made time for me, but he was a handle first, ask questions later type of guy. Dalton and Grant seemed to be of a similar mindset.

“I’ve been telling you to stop chasing men who aren’t dominant, but you haven’t listened to me at all. You’ve been pursuing immature fuck boys who manipulate you for the past few years. Those boys didn’t give a damn about your wants, and less about your needs.” He let out a long breath, looking and sounding more tired than he had in a while. “Dalton and Grant are stand-up guys and exactly the type of men you should consider dating.”

Gage knew me better than I knew myself. I hated that we’d grown apart the past few months. That was all on me. “I’m closer to listening to your advice than you might imagine.”

“It’s not the worst thing to have someone else looking out for you, sis.”

“Fine, but this will not play out the way you think will.” I gave him a smug smile.

“My gut instinct tells me you’re going to have a hard time sitting down at Christmas dinner because you’ll have a hot bottom.”

“Whatever.” I twirled and opened the front door, attitude leaking out of my pores. “You’re about to be wrong for the first time in your life.”

“Sassy little thing.” His eyes darkened. “When’s the last time you spoke to Tanner?”

Nope. We weren’t going there for so many reasons. Scowling, I refused to answer his question and pointed to the half-open door. “Go.”

“I hope Dalton and Grant decide to flex more than just their muscles regarding you.” His tone turned serious. “I bet you’re treating yourself like crap to match your crappy attitude. If you’re like this the next time I see you—”

“I’m sorry.” I gave a half-assed apology as I interrupted him. Grabbing my purse from the counter, I shrugged. “They’ve both made some promises, okay? We’ll see if the two of them put their money where their mouths are.” I missed the opportunity to apply make-up and be on time, and Iwantedto arrive on time. “I promise I’ll talk to Tanner if this doesn’t go anywhere.”

“You don’t need to apologize, but you should talk to Tanner, regardless. Seeing him get hurt really bothered you. Trust me when I say he’ll help you process whatever’s going on in your head.” Gage walked me to my car and waited for me to get inside.

Chewing on my bottom lip, I kept my emotions bottled so I wouldn’t lose it all over my brother. He was right again, like usual. I was not okay. I’d been burying myself in work, so I didn’t have to feel the loss of our father. Christmas wouldn’t be the same this year. The first without his laid back carefree way of handling the holidays. The first without his famous loaded hot chocolate and tons of other traditions he’d started. Thanksgiving would have been impossible, and I begged my boss to allow me to work instead of facing the holiday. On top of that, almost losing Tanner had been too much to think about, let alone process, and I hadn’t shared my fears with anyone.

“Gage.” I hated the way I’d behaved in front of my brother. “I don’t want to think about myself anymore. Maybe we can go to the mall this week and pick out Mom’s Christmas gift together?”

“Sure, sis. We can do that.”

---