Page 60 of (Un)Spoken

Cole’s eyes turned dark. “You think you need to stand between us? She’smysister.” He stared at Victoria over my shoulder. “I’ve been calling you for the last hour, and this is where you were?”

“I’m sorry, my phone died. We were just about to come to your house,” she said, her voice raising with nerves. “Is everything okay? Is Emilia okay?”

“She’s fine,” Cole said, his voice lowering. “She’s inside with Alex right now. We came here to save you the drive. But when I couldn’t find you…” His voice trailed off, his anger now reverting to fear. “I didn’t know where you went, and I was so fucking afraid something happened to you. So, I was coming here to ask Adam if he saw you last night.Clearly, he had.” His eyes narrowed at me again. “Tori, go inside. This asshole owes me a fucking explanation.”

“Excuseme?” Victoria barked, taking a step closer to him.

“Please, Tori,” he said, his voice softening as he looked at her. “I’m sorry, I’m just…” His voice trailed off as he glared at me. “Could you please go inside? You can check on Emilia while Adam and I talk.”

Victoria’s shoulders stiffened, facing off with her brother without an ounce of fear. Now that she knew Emilia was well, a force came out of her, ready to defend us at any cost.

She stepped around me, her finger pointeddirectly at him. “Get that look off your face, Cole. If you want to talk about our relationship, you can talk tobothAdamandme. This isn’t some boys’ club where I don’t get a say in my own love life.” She turned and motioned for me to join her. I didn’t hesitate, too shocked by what I just witnessed to argue. She wrapped her hand in mine and pulled me next to her. “Because yes, Adam and I are together. If you have anything to say about it, you will talk tobothof us.”

Cole placed his hands on his hips, inhaling slowly before staring back at us. “How long?”

Victoria said, “None of your business,” while I smirked and said, “Since your wedding.”

She elbowed me, but I just shrugged, not willing to lie to Cole a moment longer. Plus, I had nothing to hide, not when it came to this girl. I was all in, and Cole and everyone else needed to know it.

He groaned, turning to face away from us. My heart cracked at the sight. My feelings were all twisted up, and I felt an odd sense of loyalty to Cole while also hating that he was putting us in this position. But while Cole might have won out before, now, my loyalty was to Victoria—a fact he would hopefully get over quickly.

I squeezed Victoria’s hand once before releasing it and stepping closer to my best friend. “Look, man, I’m sure you’re pissed?—”

“I’m not pissed,” Cole answered as he stood up a little straighter. “Okay, I’m notonlypissed. I’m also fucking confused. Why her, Adam? Out of all the women in town who are dying to sleep with you, why did it have to be my little sister?”

“Because it’s Tori,” I said. “Listen, I tried like hell to fight this, tried to push her out of my mind, but from the moment she stepped into town, I was drawn to her. She’snot only beautiful, but she’s smart, confident, and makes me see the bright side of things. Every time she looks at me, I feel like the luckiest damn guy in the entire world. So no, it couldn’t be anyone else. Because there is no one else like Tori.” I risked stepping another foot closer to him. “You told me not to give up what was making me happy again.” I turned over my shoulder and met Victoria’s eye. “It’s her. Her and Emilia.” I shifted back toward my best friend. “And I get it if you need time to accept this. But I’m not going anywhere, not even if you disagree with it.”

Cole placed his hands on his hips and cursed under his breath. He directed his attention to Victoria. “And you feel the same way?”

She nodded. “I do. I didn’t want to get involved with Adam either. I was content with just Emilia. But being with him…” She exhaled slowly. “It’s made me happier than I’ve been in years. So no, we’re not ending, no matter what you say.”

Cole shook his hand, squeezing his brows together with his forefingers. “I get that, Tor, I really do.” He smiled softly at his sister. “Look, if I promise not to hit him, can I talk to Adam alone for a couple of minutes?”

She narrowed her glare at him. “Best behavior?”

“Don’t push your luck, trouble.”

Victoria slid her gaze over to me, silently asking if I was alright talking to Cole. I nodded. I wasn’t not going to lie—his promise not to hit me made me feel a little better. “Fine,” she scoffed. “I’m going to head inside. Call me if anyone starts bleeding.”

We waited until she crossed the yard before Cole turned toward me. While his glare wasn’t as angry, it still wasn’t the usual expression he wore when we hung out. I’d known the guy for most of my life, and there was noquestion—he was pissed. But I could take it, all his anger. None of that was going to change anything.

I crossed my arms over my chest as I leaned against the pole. “Let’s get this over with. Say what you have to say.”

“Do you love her?”

Cole’s question shocked the hell out of me. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but between the lack of sleep and the unexpected interruption, my mind wasn’t working at peak performance. I ran my hand over my face, trying to buy myself some time while I put my feelings into words.Did I love her?I sure as fuck did. I felt it every time she glanced my way, every time she took my hand. I’d never loved someone more than I did last night, when we destroyed any remaining walls between us.

But there was something so wrong about admitting it to Cole before I had a chance to tell Victoria.

“I care a lot about her, Cole, but I can’t say anything more than that until I tell Tori how I feel. She deserves to hear those words before you.”

He nodded, shifting to take a seat on the bottom step. His elbows rested on his thighs as he wrung his hands together. I continued, “Look, I know I’m not the kind of guy you’d want with your sister–”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Cole didn’t let me finish my thought. “Why the hell would you think that?”

“My history,” I answered, feeling like I was exposing all my raw nerves. “I know what the media says about me. But that’s not who I am; at least, not who I want to be with Tori. I respect her too much to ever hurt her.”

“Jesus, man, I fucking know that,” Cole answered. His dark eyes met mine, and I could see the truth in his expression. “You think I don’t know what kind of man you are? You fucking dragged me out of the gutter and made sure Igot help. You stuck by me even when you had no reason to. I owe you my life.”

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