Page 92 of Give In To Love
“Nope.”
He walked over to a box and pulled out a framed picture of me, Sammy, and Will from when I was around six. The three of us were shirtless and covered in dirt, having spent a couple of hours down at the creek. Sammy and I were sunburned, our noses red and our blond curls almost white from the summer sun, while Will was as tan as ever. Will’s face held a wide smile, while my and Sammy’s expressions were more reserved. Still, we’d been happy.
I’d spent that whole summer trailing behind Sammy and Will, trying to keep up as they did what nine-year-old boys did during a small-town summer. Bike rides. Trips to the pool. Swimming in the creek. Will had moved a year later and summer had never felt quite the same after that.
“Where’d you find this?” Sammy asked, brushing one fingertip along the surface of the glass.
“Olivia gave it to me a couple of years ago on my birthday.”
“I always wondered if you kept in touch with her.”
“I didn’t initially. But I ran into her when we celebrated Gram’s eightieth. Remember I told you TJ’s grandma is Mrs. McGee? We’d only been dating a short time, but TJ insisted on bringing me to the party, and I ran into Olivia there. We kept in touch after that.”
“I’m glad.” He set the frame back in the box gently. “I like him. TJ.”
“Yeah?” I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips, but I didn’t let it out yet. “He told me he stopped by to see you Tuesday.”
He raised a brow in surprise. “He tell you what we talked about?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “Nah. He said that was between him and you.”
He nodded, something like respect crossing his features. “I was a dick to you last week. And to him.” He nodded in the direction of the kitchen.
“You were.”
“Damn, you’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”
“Absolutely not.”
He shook his head but did so with a smile. “I’m sorry, Jimmy. TJ said you’re one of the strongest people he’s ever known. And he’s right. Your brand of strength is quiet, making it easy to overlook, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less fierce. I’m sorry if I forgot that.”
I hadn’t known how this conversation might go. I figured at some point we’d talk and there might be an apology on Sammy’s part. But those words—hearing him say I was strong—healed something inside me I thought had been broken my entire life.
“I also think maybe there’s a part of me that’s jealous,” he continued, surprising me.
“Jealous? Of what?”
“Maybe jealous isn’t the right word, but… You’ve always needed me. I’ve spent my whole life looking out for you. Protecting you. Fighting for you. What am I supposed to do now that you don’t need that anymore?”
“Be my brother? Be my friend? Hasn’t that been what we’ve been doing for years now? Other than you being an asshole to the guys I dated, we’ve been operating pretty independently for a long time.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
“Besides, you’ve got Will now. You can mother him instead.”
“I donotmother him.”
I chuckled at his affront. “You guys set a date yet?”
“Actually…” He looked around like he was checking to see if anyone was listening. “We did. It’ll be the day after Thanksgiving. We’re going to tell everyone at Zach and Jason’s Halloween thing.”
“Wow. That’s coming up soon.”
“It is, but we don’t need anything fancy, and we’ve waited long enough.”
“That’s great, man. I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks. But, um, I also wanted to ask you… Will you be my best man?”
