Page 103 of You, Me, and Forever

He knew I wanted to know more, but he wasn’t going to give me anything until I outright asked.

“Correct.” I cleared my throat. “Now tell me about this proposal. How are you going to do it? And are you sure she’ll say yes?”

“Fuck you,” my brother said. “You know she’ll say yes. She’s already moved back in to the house. It was never about us not being happy; it was about me not prioritizing our relationship. So yes, I feel very confident. And I’m going to keep it simple.”

“The St. James brothers never keep anything simple. You are the most over-the-top, bougie motherfuckers I know. Let’s hear it.” Connor tipped one shoulder up and chuckled.

“I’m doing it tonight. I rented out Francois’s French restaurant for the evening. It’s her favorite, and they canceled all the reservations and relocated them to their other location, and I offered to cover their dinner tabs for the inconvenience.”

“You needed an entire restaurant?” Connor asked.

“Of course I do. Peter Arquette is over there now, setting up a makeshift jewelry store with his best engagement rings. I hired Mom’s party planner, Penny, and she’s currently over there covering every square inch in twinkle lights. And I flew in that blues band that she loves to play while we eat.”

“Very subtle,” I said with a laugh. Connor gaped at him.

“You know what, Myles?” my brother asked.

“No, but I’m guessing you and your new zest for life are going to tell me.”

“Life is short. We have more money than we will ever need. So why are we spending our lives working and not living? I’m all about balance now.”

“Oh, wonderful. You come on board to work for the St. James Corporation, right when you decide to be more balanced? Lucky me.” I rolled my eyes.

He nodded, giving me this look that was filled with empathy. “Our past doesn’t have to define us. Our parents’ fucked-up relationship doesn’t have to define us. We can learn from the mistakes they made. Just because it didn’t work for them does not mean it can’t work for us. Dad’s a selfish prick. We’re not like him.”

“Well, Myles has his moments.” Connor smirked. “But I agree. There’s a big teddy bear under that gruff heart of yours.”

“What the hell is this meeting even about? I thought we were going to discuss the high-rise. I have a meeting with Jackson this afternoon to go over the drawings. I didn’t know I was coming to some sort of fucked-up therapy session.”

“I guess we’re having an intervention. You’ve been a dick to everyone at the office ever since you got back. With Samuel coming on board, I thought the two of us could talk to you about it.”

“Holy shit,” I whisper-hissed. “I was kidding. This really is an intervention?”

“Well, I also wanted to share the news about my engagement. But yes, even Brianna noticed when we had dinner with you last week. She said you don’t seem like yourself. I think you need to deal with it, brother. You can’t run from it.”

What the fuck is happening?

“I haven’t been that bad,” I said, glancing between them.

“On a scale from one to ten, one being the best behavior you’ve ever had and ten being the worst, you’re at a solid one hundred and seventy-five, Myles. And you need to figure it out.” Connor shrugged. “All joking aside, at the end of the day, you’re the best guy I know. And I can see that you’re miserable, and I don’t want that for you.”

Samuel had a big grin on his face. He loved this sappy shit. “Agreed,” he said. “You went to Blushing to buy a hotel, and you found the love of your life. Just fucking own it. You can make this work. People do it all the time. But we don’t want to see you lose the one person who you finally have actual feelings for—because trust me when I tell you, I thought you were too closed off to ever allow it to happen. And if you just act like an asshole for another couple of months, it’ll be too late. Because she’ll move on. And then you won’t have anyone to blame but yourself.”

I pushed to my feet abruptly and pointed at each of them. “Fuck you both. You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve got a meeting.”

Time was all I needed.

This would pass.

So I’d tone down my asshole behavior and just fake it until this feeling went away so these sensitive pricks would stop analyzing me.

It was time to stop thinking about Montana Kingsley every goddamn second of the day.

Chapter Twenty-SevenMontana

“Okay, we need to brainstorm,” Violet said, snapping her fingers in front of me to get my attention. “Come on, girl. We need a hashtag for Leigh and Scotty Lee.”

She stood at the whiteboard, marker in hand, ready to write.

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