Page 116 of More than Need

“Remind me to tell you about one of the first arrests that Quinn and I ever conducted. It’s a miracle we both survived it.”

Dawson couldn’t decide if that made him want to know more orless. A bit of column A, a bit of column B. Riley stood right in front of him, so it wasn’t like it had killed him. Or Quinn.

“Let me just”—he put his hands up placatingly—“talk to her first before she sees either of you.” He tugged Riley into the room and out of view. “If you hear screaming, use the window.”

“No one is going out the window.”

“Just stay here.” He’d wanted her here, and now he didn’t. If everything could slow down for two seconds so that he could think, he’d love that.

Sadie waited for him in the kitchen, standing beside the table with her car keys still in her hand. Dawson wouldn’t blame her if she planned on sticking him with them. He’d even stand still for her.

She looked him over with pursed lips. “You look like shit.”

“Not sleeping properly does that.” He didn’t look that bad, did he? Riley surely would have told him.

“Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?” she asked.

Fucking hell, this isn’t how he wanted this to go down. “Sadie, please—”

“No. No, I can’t do this with you.” She turned her back on him and then whirled back around to face him. “How could you? Myown brother, Dawson. The same brother who I didn’t even know about and who wantsnothingto do with me. I know we never made the sibling rule because I don’thavesiblings, and Marshall is… Marshall, but I feel like it’s a given, right?”

Dawson said nothing. He’d always found those kinds of pacts—and the movies that had them in it—kind of unfair and unrealistic. No matter how close friends were, dictating who they could and couldn’t sleep with—barring exes and current partners because they weren’t remotely the same thing—was the real line being crossed.

Riley wasn’t wrong when he said that what they did together wasn’t any of Sadie’s business. At the same time, Dawson knew he’d fucked up by keeping it hidden for so long. Besides, Riley and Sadie might share blood, but it didn’t make them siblings, not really. Riley’s refusal to have anything to do with her made Dawson’s actions so much worse.

“I’m sorry.”

“And that makes it okay?”

“Of course it doesn’t. I—” He cut off as footsteps sounded behind him. He already knew who they belonged to before Riley came around the corner.

“Fucking Christ, Riley, I asked you to stay in my room.” It hadn’t been a suggestion.

“Considering that you’re speaking about me, I have a right to be here,” Riley said. “And I think we should all be part of this discussion.”

“Oh my fucking God, are youkiddingme? You brought him here?” Sadie glared first at Dawson and then Riley. Dawson tensed when she turned her gaze on Gideon. “And who the fuck is this? Another long-lost brother who would prefer to fuck my best friend than even haveonesingle conversation with me?”

“Be very careful,” Riley warned, taking a step to move in front of Gideon and block her path. “If you bring him into thisconversation, and have nothing to nice to say, the problems we have will get a whole lot bigger. Don’t ever think about sharpening your claws on him.”

“Wait, Idoknow you. You were the one that escorted me out of the station. Did you come here to do the same thing?”

“We’re not here to cause issues.”

Instead of biting back the way Dawson knew she wanted to, she closed her eyes. When they opened again, unshed tears sparkled against her bottom eyelashes. Dawson felt about two feet tall, knowing how much he’d hurt her. He’d never meant for any of this to happen. He should have told her from the start, shouldn’t have let Riley make the ultimatum of not speaking about it and letting the elephant in the room get bigger and bigger until they couldn’t contain it any longer. Until it had no choice but to implode.

“Sadie, I—I’m sorry, I—” He couldn’t sayit was a mistake.Nothing he’d experienced with these men could ever be called that, and he wouldn’t say it even if it meant salvaging their relationship. He couldn’t let them find their feet again based on a lie. They needed to step forward, not back.

She turned and walked out without a word. Dawson’s heart dropped to the floor.

He went to follow her. They needed to get this out now, instead of letting it fester. He couldn’t let her run anymore, and he couldn’t keep hiding like a coward.

Riley grasped his elbow. “No, I’ll speak to her. Go with Gideon and finish getting what you came here for.” He strode out the door before Dawson could say a word.

“No one is going to die, right?” he said, glancing at Gideon.

“Riley knows enough to hide a body without getting caught,” Gideon helpfully answered.

Comforting. “I’m more worried about him than her.” This didn’t seem like the best time for them to have their firstreal conversation. Tensions were so high, Riley never held his punches, and Sadie didn’t listen well when angry.

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