Page 11 of Her Brother's Best Friend

Luke’s voice is low. He’s sitting beside Kyle, leaning in close to my brother and whispering something in his low tone. They are so quiet my bare feet make thick paddling noses on the wood floor, and Kyle glances around Luke’s side.

His mouth is hard, and his eyes dark. I’ve never seen my brother this angry before. “Why didn’t you tell me some asshole put his hands on you?”

Luke turns in his chair, and I catch the pleading expression on his eyes.

“Luke took care of it. I didn’t want to worry you about something that was over.”

“You should have told me.” Kyle stands, and my whole body heats in shame. “You both should have told me. Cass is my sister. If someone’s putting her in danger, I take care of it.”

“I know you would,” I start, but the way Kyle’s gaze narrows on me, I lose my nerve.

“I know you’re pissed.” Luke leaves the chair and blocks Kyle from me again.

“Pissed?” Kyle steps around Luke and stands in front of me. He’s seething with anger, and it seeps into my skin. “Do you love him?” His voice has a bite I’ve never heard from him. It makes my knees weak, and my heart thumps hard against my ribs.

“I think I do,” I answer. I’ve never been able to lie to my brother. It’s been him and I against the world for so long he’d read it on me the second I speak the words.

Kyle can’t even look at me. He’s focused on something off to the side. “Why don’t you take the day off today, Donovan. I don’t want you in the shop today.”

I reach for Kyle’s arm, hoping to stop him from walking out, but as soon as my fingers touch him, he jerks away.

“Kyle, please. Stay and talk about this with me.”

He doesn’t answer. He’s halfway to the door when Luke’s hand lands on my shoulder, and he tells me in quiet words to let Kyle leave.

This is precisely where I didn’t want to be. Stuck in the middle of the two men who mean the world to me. I don’t want to give up either, and I shouldn’t have too.

“Kyle needs to grow up,” I say as soon as the front door closes behind him. “I’m not his kid sister anymore. This is so stupid.”

Luke turns me around and wraps his arms around me, pulling me into his chest. “Give him time. He’ll come around.”

I lay my head on Luke’s chest and close my eyes, breathing in his scent. I want him to be right more than I’ve wanted anything before in my life. But, I don’t think Kyle is going to come around.

How do I choose between the brother who’s protected me my entire life and the man who wants that honor for the rest? How do I not hurt them both and still get what I need?

Luke touches the top of my head and he strokes my hair, and I’m afraid this might be it.

Today I might have to tell him goodbye for good.

Luke

Cass hasn’t answered my texts for days, and Kyle’s not been in the shop all week. The only words we’ve shared is his voice mail about taking a last-minute vacation, and I’d need to hold down the fort.

More like he can’t face me, and as long as I’m working, I can’t be with Cass. I had no idea he felt so possessive of her. Or that he held so much power in her decision making. Cass and Kyle both have been a part of my life, at least the life I want to remember. They’re the only people in the world who know my past. My parent’s drug use. The half a dozen fosters I had until the Lumas took me in for the last two years of my time in the system.

Why Kyle went to college to earn a degree, I stayed back and laid the groundwork for the bike shop. I also kept an eye on Cass, though I never let either of them know. I watched her struggle with her identity. Date guys who didn’t appreciate her. Fall in and out of friendships with peers. I watched her grow up from the sidelines, and I kept my hands off because I didn’t want to lose the bond I had with them both.

Now it seems I can’t have either one, and I’m fucking wrecked by that thought. But it’s the realization of something far more profound that has me closing the shop early and heading to Kyle’s. He may have written me off, but it’s killing me to think he’s shutting Cass out the same way. She needs one of us on her side, and if she isn’t going to pick me over Kyle, Kyle needs to man up and forgive her.

Kyle’s bike is parked on the street, but he doesn’t answer the three times I knock. Good thing he’s a creature of habit, and I know his back window isn’t locked. The dude loses keys so often he quit making new ones and instead uses his bedroom window like a front door.

I’m inside in seconds, and there’s no sign of Kyle, but the apartment is alive with energy. The lights are on, and the humidity of a recent shower hangs in the air. Something shifts in the hall and I step out in time to see a shadow dart into the kitchen.

“Really, man?” Seven years of ride or die friendship has come down to hiding from each other over a disagreement. I’m irritated as hell when I turn the corner into the small galley. “You’re going to throw seven years away like--” My voice catches in my throat as soon as I see the huddled form tucked tightly in the corner, on her knees, and holding a switchblade to my balls.

“Fuck, Cass.”

Her face is raw emotion. Tears pool at the base of her eyes and begin to spill over colorless cheeks, and she’s shaking. My heart is in my throat, and I choke on it, trying to say her name. “Cass.” I regain my composure to keep from scaring her more. She already looks like she’ll break. “Baby. What’s wrong?”

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