Page 52 of Their Greatest Strength

“There will be. It will be real in the eyes of everyone but those of us who know the truth.”

Blakely taps her fork to the side of her plate. “You’ll be at thewedding, right, Nate? I only agreed to doing a small ceremony, but I want you there.”

“Hell yeah, I’ll be there. Real or not, you’re getting married.”

She visibly relaxes, and seeing her loosen up helps me do the same. It’s a good sign. A promising one.

“And you’re okay with moving into my place?” I ask Nate.

His eyes bulge at the reminder of the topic I breezed over earlier. “Yes! Totally cool with that. When are we doing that, exactly? Because the eviction notice said we only have?—”

“Nathan!” Blakely explodes, fear written across her face as clear as I’ve ever seen it on anyone.

Worry gnaws at me. “Eviction notice?”

Blakely pushes away from the table and wraps an arm around her middle. “Not everything has to be public knowledge.”

“It’s not public! It’s just Jamie,” Nate defends.

I stand and face Blakely, leaning a hand against the table. “I’m your fiancé. If you’re in trouble, I want to help.”

She avoids looking at me, and I don’t say anything about it. Don’t tease her or make a lame joke. Odds are that right now, she’d kick me out if I did.

“Blakely doesn’t like letting other people help with anything. I’ve been asking to use my savings to pay for my football, but she refuses,” Nate explains.

I shake my head. “I’ll be paying for all of that now.”

She glares at him and then me, her mouth parted around silent words before snapping shut.

“How long do you need to pack your stuff?” I ask.

A smile spreads slowly over Nate’s face. “Are you saying that we can move in soon?”

It’s Blakely that I focus on, even as she tries to pretend neither her brother nor I are here right now. I get her reaction completely. While Nate was only trying to help, having me know something as sensitive as them being kicked out of this place has made her put her walls up. Maybe she expected me to judge herthe way she feared I would last night, or it’s just taken her by surprise. Either way, I’m trying my best not to show too much of a reaction to it, even if I’m crawling out of my skin with worry.

I meet Nate’s waiting eyes and put on a relaxed front. “Today, preferably. If your sister is okay with that.”

“Today?” she guffaws, hands now on her hips.

“Do you want to stay longer? I have my brother’s wedding in three days and a game Saturday, but we could make it work for Sunday if you’d prefer.”

Nate deflates, and Blakely notices immediately. Her inhale is deep, sounding like it’s almost painful.

After what feels like forever, she looks at me. The war in her eyes puts me in motion.

Shoving my hesitation down, I make the decision for her and hope to God I haven’t made the wrong one or overstepped in a way that’s going to set me back a couple of weeks of progress.

“You got a bag, Bandit? We’re getting out of here.”

Her shoulders droop, relief travelling across her features. I feel real fucking good getting that reaction from her. It’s almost like I can read her just as well as she can read me.

She’s had to carry a heavy load on her shoulders for years, having to be the one to make the hard decisions. I think she might enjoy handing that responsibility over to someone else from time to time.

“Yeah, Jamie. I have a bag.” She focuses on where Nate’s bouncing in place. “We both do.”

17

BLAKELY

---