Page 30 of The Bachelor

“True.” She nodded, smiling. “But I have room in my life for another one, just like, despite Macon being your best friend, you still have room for Declan, and he’s become more than just your mentor.”

Out of all the cousins, Jenner and I had always been the closest, and when things had become more serious between him and Jo, it’d happened to be one hell of a coincidence that I knew her cousin Macon and was good friends with him. He was just a few years older than me, and we’d played soccer together. Macon had two older brothers, Cooper and Brady, but they had graduated before I got to high school. Now that Jenner and Jo were engaged, the two families merged for most holidays, and we spent a lot of time with the Spades. I liked them all, but the dude I had the most in common with was Macon, for sure.

I groaned, “Declan’s a serious pain in my fucking ass—that’s what he’s become to me.”

She released my arm to slap it.

“Once I have my own team, maybe I’ll feel less of an urge to constantly strangle the motherfucker. The only thing that’s kept him alive is that you’re in love with him and you’d hate me for life if I offed the man.”

She gazed up at the ceiling, her eyes practically fucking hearts. “Every bit of the asshole I fell in love with.” She looked at me again. “I get thewanting to strangle himpart. When it comes to being a boss, he’s the absolute worst. But he’s also a genius—you can’t deny that.”

I rolled my eyes. “There’s something wrong with you.”

“No, there’s something wrong withyou. What will it take for you to settle down?”

“A miracle.”

“Which I believe in.”

I sighed. “Well, you shouldn’t when it comes to me. When was the last time I even had a relationship anyway? High school? And that lasted, what, a whole week?”

Her hands went to her chest, holding her heart. “Dana Wade. I’ll never forget her.”

I was mid-chew and almost spit out a chunk of ice. “How in the hell do you remember her name?”

“I was so jealous of the way she curled her hair. She had these long, bouncy ringlets that fell down her back. I couldn’t ever—”

“Stop.”

She shook her head, grinning. “My God, that feels like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?”

“Which is why you shouldn’t get your hopes up about me settling down anytime soon. It’s not going to happen, Hannah.”

Even if something were to grow with Oaklyn—it wouldn’t; I was sure of that—it couldn’t go down because of my sister.

Hannah wanted me to get locked into a relationship; she wanted to welcome that woman into her life.

She just didn’t want that woman to already be in her life.

“I’m not giving up,” she voiced.

The waiter delivered our next round, and I held the full glass in my hand. “You’re wasting your time, but you do you, sis.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know about that.” She took a drink, and her attention moved toward the center of the bar, her face lighting up as though she’d spotted someone. She set down her wine, taking a quick peek at me. “Don’t kill me, but I invited Oaklyn.”

“You two can’t stay apart, can you?”

“We can; we just hate to.”

Hannah held out her arms, and Oaklyn immediately fell into them, the two girls laughing as they embraced in a hug.

But that wasn’t the same sound that came out of my mouth.

Because I was bullshit.

A chill night with my sister was now turning into an evening of acting, trying my hardest to hide what had gone down between Oaklyn and me, attempting not to stare at her, revealing my attraction.

Since I found her so fucking irresistible, this challenge was going to be impossibly hard.

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