Page 25 of Secret Twins for My Ex's SEAL Best Friend

“Check, by the way.”

I stared at him for a second. I could see what he was getting at. He wasn’t just saying it. That wasn’t his style. How did he know? Was it that obvious how attracted to her I was?

“I just…you know how I am about that sort of thing. I care about women’s safety.” I moved my king to take his precious king and grinned triumphantly.

Jeremy shook his head. “You can’t do that. My bishop will take your king.” I looked down at the board.

Fuck, he’s right.

“Listen, Robby, I’ve always admired that about you. But it isn’t healthy to try to control other people’s lives that way. What happened to Quinn was…” he shuddered, “…awful. Of course you’re having trouble moving on from that or putting it in a box.But it was an isolated event. It is not the usual outcome. We’ve talked about this.”

“Yeah. We sure have,” I grumbled, staring at the board, but his talking was making it hard to concentrate on my available moves.

“I’m sorry, Bobby, I’m getting too far into therapist mode again, aren’t I?”

“A bit,” I said gruffly, proudly moving my bishop to take his queen instead. I looked up with a grin.

“I’ll back off. Besides, checkmate.”

Checkmate? What the fuck—how?

Before I could look and verify that he really had beaten me, he pulled back with a flair of his hands, greedily excited about his win, and knocked over his mug onto the board. Pieces flew as coffee spilled onto the beautiful wooden set with the velvet inlay.

“Oh, shit!” he cried out, jumping from his chair and scrambling to grab his cup.

I helped him clean, but my mind was elsewhere, even as a friendly barista hurried over with napkins.

I was thinking about what he’d said, about my worry for Delia being connected to Quinn. Of course it was. I could never separate Quinn from the people in my life that I cared about.And I did care about Delia. In my own way. Even if it meant that I had to be someone completely different around my friend, even if it meant I had to live a double life.

Suddenly, a pain shot through my mouth. “Shit, Robert, you’re bleeding. Did I hit you with a piece or something?” Jeremy asked, pointing at my face.

I brought my fingers to my mouth and realized that I had bitten clean through my cheek. The stress of my secret was getting to me.

If no one else would punish me, I would punish myself, apparently.

eleven

Delia

Monday rolled around, and it was time for me to return to what I truly loved to do: help people.

Mondays through Fridays were so full for me, with school and my hours at the counseling center, but I never felt tired of it. I may get tired, but not tiredofit. Knowing that I was working toward a degree and a career helping veterans heal from their traumas made it all worth it.

The hardest part of my day wasn’t listening to people’s problems. It was usually seeing Jeremy and pretending not to be hurt, just looking at him.

I had trouble trusting men after my dad, and Jeremy had really hurt me. But I knew he meant well, and he was my supervisor, so I got through it.

One day, when I had my own practice, I would look back at this time in my life, and it would seem so far away. I just knew it.

Or I hoped anyway.

I drove to the counseling center on autopilot, my mind on Robert. The way he had manhandled that man at the bar had turned me on, though I hated to admit that to myself. I wanted to be more evolved than that, but seeing him be so protective was sexy, whether it was primal or not.

I tightened my grip around the steering wheel as I thought of that look in his eyes as he held that man by the collar, the pure anger and disgust I’d seen in them. It had hurt to see that look turned against me a moment later.

And the way he’d brought up our kiss.What did it all mean, really? How was I supposed to feel? What was I supposed to think?

A more evolved woman would ignore him, Delia. He’s your ex’s best friend. It’s too messy. Jeremy is still in your life, and you care about him.

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