Page 21 of Unleash You

Perfect. Now I made someone feel like crap and Wesley was nowhere in sight. I guessed the superhot dress could only do so much. I had to win Wesley over on my own.

6

Four Little Words

Wesley

“That was a fast drink.” Zack caught up to me downstairs.

Few people knew the access to the basement and wine cellar below, so we had the living area all to ourselves. I plopped myself down on a leather club chair and took a long swig of bourbon. When did I become such a coward? Four little words were all I needed to say to Anabelle: I wrote the letters.

Before I could open my mouth, Josh showed up. If I’d stayed another minute in the same room as Anabelle, I might do something stupid, like kiss her. I had kept my distance for that very reason. Until I told her the truth, I didn’t deserve her company.

“What happened, man?” Zack sat on the armrest of the upholstered sofa across from me.

I surveyed Derek’s wine cellar stretching the length of the far wall. How many bottles would it take to get rid of the pain in my chest? “Josh showed up. He’s Anabelle’s boyfriend, or something like that.”

“He’s not a boyfriend. Don’t be melodramatic. What did you do?” Zack leaned forward. My brother had a knack for coaxing truths out of me. I couldn’t lie to him.

“Charlie hates his sister.”

He groaned. “Jesus, what’s wrong with him? It’s been eight years. He can’t keep doing this to her. Teenagers talk back to their mothers all the time.”

“Right. Over the years, I thought I’d be able to change his mind. I felt sorry for Anabelle. She was young when it happened. She was left all alone.”

“Mom and I tried to make up for that. So what did Charlie do this time? Does he regret not sending her to a school that was on the other side of the world?” He pursed his lips, shaking his head. Zack never agreed with the friendship I had with Charlie. Yeah, he was an asshole to his sister, but only because he was hurting too. I’d seen that many times while we were deployed. He never got over his parents’ death.

What I never understood was why he pushed Anabelle away too if he missed his family. Was he afraid he’d lose her? But if so, how was this different? He hadn’t seen her in years, and they were thousands of miles apart. “I think he’s afraid to lose family again.”

“Maybe, but he’s still in the wrong here. What happened?” Zack asked.

“Soon after he sent her away to a boarding school in New York, she started writing to him. To apologize. He opened the first few, tore them to pieces, then tossed them in the trash. The letters kept coming. After you took off to South Africa, before we were deployed, I decided to answer one of her letters.” I met his gaze, waiting for him to tell me what an idiotic thing that’d been to do.

“That was kind of you.” He kicked his leg out and slid down to sit on the cushion.

“As much as I’d like to let you think that of me, I don’t know why I did it.”

“You knew she had a thing for you. Were you looking for praise or something?”

“You tell me, Dr. Phil.” I raked a hand through my hair. “I remembered her as a little kid. But after a few exchanges, I formed a different idea of her in my head.” I made her out to be this superwoman, talented and smart. The day she’d returned home, I realized she was everything I thought she was and then some. “Jesus Christ, I think I have feelings for her.”

Zack beamed at me. “About time. So what now? Why are you here telling me this and not her? Go.”

“I can’t.” I leaned forward. “She doesn’t know I wrote the letters.”

“Oh fuck. This whole time she corresponded with you thinking you were Charlie? Thinking he’d finally forgiven her and that things were back to the way they were?”

“Yes, to all of that.”

“Then tell her. Right now.”

“She’s going to hate me.” I pressed my index finger and thumb to my eyes. How did this get so complicated? When I was in Venezuela, our relationship was as easy as breathing.

He rubbed his chin as if considering how bad Anabelle would take the news, or how heart-broken she’d be. “Possibly, but you still need to tell her. I’d start with the ‘I love you’ part.”

My pulse spiked as I glanced up at him. “I never said the wordlove.”

“I know. I said it so you wouldn’t have to.” He shrugged. “Go, brother.”

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