Page 70 of Falling For My Best Friend's Brother

“Neither am I.” His voice was soft, as if he’d somehow forgotten that I'd watched him kissing another woman tonight.

He stepped forward, closing the distance between us until we were only a hair's breadth away. “You’re an anomaly, Nina. An enigma. You blew into my seemingly perfect and peaceful life like a storm and broke down every single wall I put up, and you did it unapologetically, and it pissed me off. So much that I tried to push you away. I thought being mean to you would get you to blow right back to where you came from.”

He placed a finger under my chin and lifted my head to look at him. Sapphire to green. Green to sapphire.

“But I’ve come to find that you’re stubborn,” he said softly. “You’re beautiful and kind and exquisite and maddeningly stubborn. You tore through my defenses with your relentless warmth. I didn’t know how to handle it.”

I wanted to scream at him, to ask why he’d put me through all this, but his words had stolen the air from my lungs.

He continued, voice low, thick with emotion. “I was wrong, Nina. You drove me crazy with your goodness and contagious carefreeness. And because of that, I was harsh on you. I clung to my own fears and let them drive me to push you away. But you deserve more, and I don’t know if I’m capable of being the man you need.”

My throat tightened; my chest caved. I was going to break down all over again. I just knew it. “You don’t get to decide that for me.” I would not cry. Not in front of him this time.

“I know.” Knox breathed, pressing my body flush against his, his eyes never leaving mine. “I know that now, and I’m sorry for even trying.”

I wanted to believe his words, but the pain was too raw. “No. I’m done, Knox. I won’t continue to hurt myself anymore. It’s too much. So you can let go of the guilt and go back to her. I forgive you.”

“Can’t you see? I don't want anyone else but you.”

I scoffed. “But you had no issues kissing her and rubbing your hands all over her.”

He shook his head. “She kissed me. I was going to stop her before you showed up.”

I was up to my neck with this. “I’ve heard that before, Knox. Listen, you don’t owe me anything. It’s not like we were in a relationship, right?”

“Princess…” He reached for me, but I quickly stepped back, evading his touch.

“I will not be with a man who’s ashamed of me.”

His eyes widened a fraction. “Ashamed?”

I tried to swallow, but the lump in my throat wouldn’t budge. “Isn’t that why you didn’t want Lindsay to know about us? Why you were so adamant that we couldn’t have more than sex? Why you refused to have sex in my room because you thought it was messy? Why you keep going back to Claire?”

Exhaling, he wet his lips. “I’m not—” He stopped. “I wasn’t… I’m not ashamed of you, Nina. I’m ashamed ofme.I let my insecurities control me and I was ashamed of how ugly they are.” For a second, he inclined his head to the side, seemed to think about something, then let out a hurried laugh. “I could never be ashamed of you because… I love you, Nina Burton.”

My blood ran cold. I was certain my face had lost all its color. I could only stare at Knox with my mouth open and my heart thundering so loudly inside my chest that I could hear it through my ears.

“What?”

Knox’s eyes shone with the depth of the emotion in his words as he continued talking. “I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. I love you so fucking much today that it’s impossible to love you more tomorrow, and yet I know I will.

“I love all your quirks. I love how loudly and widely you laugh, and I love how cute you look when you sleep. I love how you care for the people you love and how selfless you are. I love that you're young and even if you suddenly sprout out white hair, I'dlove you too.” He chuckled. “I love that you’re a rich, spoiled little brat with no sense of responsibility, and I love that you have so much fight in you.”

Well, so much for not crying in front of him. It was always waterworks with this man. “Knox…”

“I love your body. Fuck, I haven’t been able to stop thinking of how good you look naked.” He snaked a hand around my waist, then lingered on my stomach.

I covered his hand with mine, my heart thundering in my chest. This was it—there was no backing out now. His words were still bouncing around in my head, and I felt the tears threatening again. "Knox, I have to tell you something," I said, my voice shaking just a little. I looked up at him, his face full of love and that damn smirk I couldn’t resist. "You're not just in love with my body anymore. You’re gonna have to start loving it when it’s housing a tiny human. Our tiny human." I watched his face carefully, biting my lip nervously. "Knox… I’m pregnant."

Knox sniffled, nodding. The smile that overtook his face was the widest I’d ever seen on a person. “We’re going to have a baby?”

Smiling, I nodded. “We are.”

“Do you know what gender it is?” He looked so cute with his eager eyes dancing over my body.

I laughed. “It’s too early to know. In a couple of months.”

Knox broke out laughing with glee, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me up so he could spin me around. I giggled, feeling way lighter than I had earlier. It was ridiculous that an emotion could affect one so strongly that it could change their mood. Crazy shit.

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