Page 8 of Worth the Wait

I cranked down the window and waved. “Get out of the way,” I shouted.

“I almost fought with four people to save you this spot. At least be thankful, dick fuck,” he said, like I was one of his old teammates instead of his brother.

“I will run you over and not think twice,” I said as I pulled in a little too quickly. I laughed as he had to hustle in order to avoid getting tapped by my bumper.

He slammed his hands on the hood of my old truck. “You almost hit me.” He looked shocked.

“I told you to move,” I said as I got out and whistled for Jasper to follow.

“When are you going to get rid of this thing? How the hell does it even still run?” He shook his head as he verbally bashed my car.

This truck was filled with memories of Addi, the way my head and heart were. I wasn’t ready to give it up.

“Not all of us need hundred-thousand-dollar trucks.”

The door of the jewelry store opened, and the bell clanged loudly against it.

“Will you two idiots get in here, please?” Thomas demanded.

I’d never seen him look so stressed out. His dark hair was tussled, even though it should have been way too short to even do that in the first place. The strands stuck up in all different places, and I had to bite back a laugh. My older brother was always so composed that it was kind of funny, seeing him this way.

Matthew and I rushed over to where Thomas stood, holding the door open for us.

“Marcel, can I bring Jasper in?” I asked.

The old man grumbled something, but it wasn’t a no, so we all went inside, my dog included. Jasper lay down and curled into a ball not far from the front door.

“Why do you look like you’re about to throw up?” I asked Thomas, who really did look unwell.

“I don’t want to screw this up,” he admitted.

I clapped him on the back. “You couldn’t possibly. Brooklyn will love anything you choose,” I reassured him, but even I knew that wasn’t quite true.

Women tended to have very specific ideas about the kind of engagement ring they wanted, and Brooklyn would not be an exception to that. Watching him look at diamonds and shake his head had me laughing. But I was so damn happy for him.

Even though they hadn’t been together all that long, we’d known from the start that she was it for him. My niece adored her, and Brooklyn never treated Clara like she wasn’t her own flesh and blood.

I didn’t think any of us would have settled for less when it came to our girl. Clara’s mom, Jenna, had died right after giving birth to her, so Clara had never known what it was like to have a mom until Brooklyn swept into her life, treating her with love and respect.

“The chick just got divorced, and here you are, trying to lock her down already,” Matthew piped up, only saying that kind of shit in order to get Thomas all fired up.

No one got him worked up quite the way Matthew did. He had a knack for it, and he knew it.

“She’s mine anyway,” Thomas growled, and Matthew shot a knowing smirk in my direction.

“Leave him alone,” I said.

Matthew rolled his eyes. “Neither one of you is any fun. Can’t even blame it on the fact that you aren’t getting laid anymore,” he said.

Marcel cleared his throat to remind us that we weren’t alone.

“I mean, at least I assume one of you is.” Matthew shot me a look. “You’re probably never getting laid again.”

“By choice, brother,” I reminded him because that was exactly what it was.

“How are we even related?” He shook his head like he couldn’t believe that I didn’t want to sleep with every girl I encountered like he did.

I knew that it wasn’t typical guy behavior, but the idea of sleeping around never appealed to me. Addison had been my first. I always thought she’d be my last. Which, yes, meant that she’d been my only, but I was perfectly okay with that, and I wasn’t currently in the mood to debate it.

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