Page 82 of Inevitable

“What are you doing?” Ellie asked. She was clutching her purse to her chest, glancing left and right. Drew wasn’t sure why. Was she afraid somebody would rob her in broad daylight? Or was she worried somebody might recognize her?

Drew’s mouth went dry.

Explain! a voice inside him ordered. Say something. Anything. Fucking do some damage control!

Ellie’s eyes took in the scene in front of her. Bas and Ezra, still standing just a bit too close together. Bas’s hand, still somewhere just above Ezra’s ass. Drew’s lips, swollen from the kisses he’d just received.

Drew had never intended to hide his relationship with Bas and Ezra from his family, but he had sure as hell hoped he’d have some time to figure out how to break that news to his family. Especially now that they had tentatively started to build their relationship again.

This was so fucking bad. Ellie did not look happy now that she was beginning to get over the first shock of finding his brother in a lip-lock with two men.

Drew still couldn’t seem to come up with anything to say.

“What are you doing here?” Drew finally asked.

Ellie’s eyes snapped away from Bas and Ezra.

“What am I doing here?” she repeated. “What are you doing? Drew. Oh my God. Are you three… What are you? What is this thing?”

She must have been really upset. Ellie wasn’t one to take God’s name in vain.

“We,” Drew said in a measured voice. “We’re…”

Ellie was shaking her head, eyes firmly fixed on Drew now.

“Why are you doing this? What are you thinking? Mom and Dad are never going to accept this. They’ve worked so hard to come to terms with you, and this is how you thank them? Unbelievable!”

The last words were practically spat into Drew’s face.

“I’m…” Drew had no idea how to explain anything to Ellie. Ellie, who had always been on his side. Ellie, who had suffered just as much as Drew when their family fell apart. Ellie, who didn’t seem to be willing to listen or even try to understand right then.

“I’m, I’m, I’m,” Ellie mocked. “You can’t even say it, can you?” She patted her hand at her perfectly styled hair, her jaw clenching as she looked at Drew, and slammed her foot down like she was a toddler having a tantrum.

“Why do you have to ruin everything? We were fixing things, and now if Mom and Dad find out, our family will be broken beyond repair. Do you think they’re going to give you infinite chances?”

“They might understand,” Drew said, voice pitifully hopeful.

Ellie let out a harsh bark of laughter.

“Why should they? You’re basically asking them to condone cheating. You’re asking me to say that this… this… this thing is right.”

It seemed Bas had had enough because he stepped forward.

“Hey!” he barked. “Don’t make judgments on things you don’t understand. You’ll just end up looking ignorant.”

Ellie sent Bas a narrow-eyed look. “You have no place in this conversation. This is between Drew and me.”

“Wrong. Everything that concerns Drew is about us, too.”

Ellie’s gaze flicked between Bas and Ezra for a second before she looked away again. This time when she spoke, her voice was almost menacing.

“Are you really willing to throw your family away for this? I won’t stand on your side on this. This is too much to ask of me.”

“You can’t—” Ezra started to move forward, but Drew shook his head.

“Ez, don’t.”

The man’s jaw clenched, and he took a step back.

---