Page 46 of Sweet Torment (The Sweet 1)

“We have a special bond. Always have.”

I see realization developing on his face. “How long have you been messing around with her?”

“There’s always been something there, but we never acted on it. Not until two months ago. Not until I started tutoring her. But even then, I didn’t touch her. Tonight was… the first time.” Well, all of that isn’t exactly the whole truth, but he’s her brother. He doesn’t need to hear the specifics of what we have and haven’t done as long as he understands that I didn’t fuck her one minute before she turned eighteen.

Owen shakes his head. “Do you forget that we’ve been best friends our entire lives? I know you inside and out. And there’s no way I would trust you with her. You’ll break her heart.”

“She trusts me. She believes me when I tell her I’ll never betray her.” He might as well know the rest of the story. “And that’s why she said yes when I asked her to marry me.”

“I love him and he loves me.” Claudia holds up her hand. “See? It’s official. I’m going to marry him.”

Owen shakes his head. “Do Mom and Dad know about this shit?”

“Mom knows we’re in a relationship, but no one knows about our engagement, apart from you. It’s only been a few hours since he proposed.”

Owen closes his eyes and presses the back of his head against the wall. Saying nothing.

“O, can youpleasebe happy for us?” Claudia’s voice is pleading.

“Can youpleaseunderstand that I’m in fucking shock here?” He looks at me and narrows his eyes. “You always spoiled her and gave her most of your attention.”

“Because even then, I loved her. Not the way I do today, but it was still love.”

“You’re right. I knew something was there, but I never imagined it was anything like this. You were right to never tell me how you felt about her. I would have beaten your ass into the ground if I’d known you had anything like this going on in your mind.”

“Don’t turn this into something ugly,” Claudia says.

He gets up and stands over us. “I’m gonna need time to think about this.”

I kiss the side of her face and whisper, “I should talk to him alone.”

I get up and walk Owen to the door so that I can have a private word with him. I should make another attempt at helping him understand. “Try not to let the way you found out about us ruin the way you see our relationship.”

“You’re twenty-three and I found my sev… eighteen-year-old sister naked in your bed. It’s going to be hard not to let that sway my opinion of your relationship right now.”

Owen hasn’t reached that point in his life where he’s ready for love. He has no desire to settle down with one person. He still wants to fuck and forget. “You don’t understand what we have because you’ve not experienced it yet.”

“I’m not okay with this right now. Maybe I will be one day, but it ain’t gonna be today.”

“I don’t need you to be okay with this today. I just need you to be open-minded and hear what I’m saying to you: Claudia is my heart. My everything. I will never do anything to hurt her.”

“You better be fucking sure of that before you marry her.”

“I already am. There’s not a bit of doubt in my mind. We belong together.”

His brow wrinkles and the corner of his mouth pulls downward. “Sorry I beat your ass.”

Is he joking? “You didn’tbeat my ass.”

“Go look at your face if you think I didn’t, motherfucker.” Owen chuckles and I see a glimpse of my best friend—my best friend who is eventually going to be okay with Claudia and me being together.

I need to let him have this small victory.“Okay, you did. You beat my ass.”

Owen lightly fists me in the shoulder. “Damn right, I did. And I’ll do it again if the need arises. So be good to her.”

A little bit more light is revealed at the end of the tunnel, and I’m certain this is eventually going to be okay. “No worries.”

Claudia is sitting on the end of the bed chewing her thumbnail when I come into the bedroom. “That was horrible, Duke.”

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