Page 113 of My Ex's Brothers

“Yeah,” I say. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“No reason, I guess,” he says, biting his lip. He shuts the car off. “Hey, uh…the game’s next week. You plan on coming?” The way he asks feels like he might be asking me something else, but I’m not sure what.

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” I say honestly.

He nods. “Well, its a couple days away, so if you need my parents to watch Lyla, we should probably ask?—”

Of course. I close my eyes and nod. When I open them I see the hope in his eyes.

Suddenly I realize it’s not just a game to him. He wants me there to watch him. To cheer forhim.Dane wants his girlfriend at his home game. My heart aches, realizing how much this actually means to him.

After all he’s given me, all he’s done…how could I tell him no?

I offer him a small smile as I lean across the center console and kiss him. He doesn’t expect it, and he startles, but only for a moment. Soon enough, he relaxes and kisses me back in that slow, deep, sweet way I’ve grown to love.

Dane is so different than Tripp or Richie, or even Dex.

He’s deep and warm and intense. It’s hard not to get swept away by him once he shows you his true colors. Once he shows you his confidence.

“Yes,” I say against his lips. “Yes, Dane, I’ll go to the home game. For you.”

He smiles against my lips. “And Richie,” he adds, humor in his voice. “He needs all the cheering he can get on the bench.”

I laugh, shoving him lightly in the chest. “You are a menace, Dane Rose,” I tell him.

He opens the door, jumping out as I open mine. When we meet one another on the lawn, he pulls me close, wrapping his arms around me.

“Aren’t you worried your parents are going to see us?” I ask, my cheeks blushing as he kisses me.

“You embarrassed to be seen with me, Amelia?” he asks, but it’s teasing. Taunting. There’s no venom or jealousy or animosity at all.

“No,” I say and it’s the truth.

“Good. Because I want people to see us. Together.” His words are soft. “I want everyone to know how much I love you.”

Those words shouldn’t hit me as hard as they do. It’s as if somehow he’s pulled the words right out of my throat.

“You don’t have to say it,” he says. “I just…wanted you to know. I know things have been complicated.” He laughs and I can’t help but feel like I’m going to cry. My eyes prickle with the beginning of tears. “But if I’m being honest, Amelia, I’ve loved you for a long time. So I just want you to know that, okay?”

I nod as he kisses me once again, and I grab his face. Suddenly, I don’t care about anything else. Not if people will talk or gossip, or if our relationship is appropriate or makes sense. The reality that Dane Rose loves me, loves my daughter…

It’s enough.

It’s more than enough.

“Okay,” I say, worried that if I try to speak, I’ll just start crying. It’s not the word I want to say. Far from it. But right now, I can barely breathe let alone speak, so I’ll have to tell him when I’m not falling apart at the seams. He smiles, grabbing my hand, and I’ve never felt so understood.

“Come on,” he says as we walk through the door. Lyla’s giggles and coos echo in the Rose’s large estate, and I can hear voices carrying. They aren’t yelling, but they are elevated enough it makes me worried.

“Mom? Gary, who’s here?” Dane asks, tugging me by the hand around the corner. His stunned voice echoes my surprise. “What the?—”

And then I see him. As we round the corner to the kitchen, I look into the eyes of the man who ruined my life.

He’s holding our daughter in his arms, his dark gaze focused on me.

“Amelia.” Dex’s smooth voice cuts through the air.

“What the fuck ishedoing here?” Dane says, his hand still holding mine tightly.

---