Page 26 of Only a Kiss

He smiled at her and then pulled her into a hug.“Thanks, kiddo.”

He glanced up at me while his arms were still wrapped around her, and I fought to keep my face neutral, to not show him how hard this was for me.He made it look so easy.

But of course it was easy for him.He wasn’t in love with me.

That sharp pain in my chest expanded.I knew what I was getting into when we started this.I always knew I’d develop feelings; I hated that I was the only one.

I moved back to the car and started unloading our stuff, not as excited about this weekend as I’d been in the past.

“He’s having a hard time with this,” Wyatt whispered as he joined me at the back of Jenna’s SUV while she was still over talking to her dad.“Jenna’s been his whole world since the kid was born.He’s always put her first.”

I knew all of this already.“It’s okay.He’s right.It is just a fling, so there’s no point thinking about it further.”I was proud of myself for how easily the words slipped off my tongue—even if it was all a lie.

Wyatt frowned at me, but I didn’t give him a chance to say anything more and moved toward where we always set up our tent.Maybe I needed to start taking my own advice and treat this like a fling, or at least take the emotion out of it.I didn’t think I was capable of that at this point, but it was worth a shot.

Hell, it was probably the only way I’d make it through this weekend.

Footsteps followed me, and I glanced back to see Wyatt walking over with one of Jenna’s bags.

“I could’ve gotten that,” I said.

He looked over to where Jenna was still talking to her dad, but Travis’s gaze was locked on us.Then Wyatt turned back to me and lowered his voice.“He didn’t mean it, Sadie.”

I could pretend I didn’t know what he was talking about, but that felt immature, so instead I let out a heavy sigh and focused on pulling our tent out of the bag.

“That didn’t make it any easier to hear.And it wasn’t entirely a lie.It is a fling, one he obviously told you all about.”I shot a look at him and he shrugged.

“He told me less than you might think, but I’m observant.I also usually get him to come to brunch with me on Sundays when I’m not busy with work, but he’s been surprisingly busy the past few weekends.”

My cheeks heated, but I stayed focused on my task.

“Sadie.”The seriousness in his voice pulled my attention away from what I was doing, and I glanced up to see him staring me down, his gaze so like his brother’s but much more intense.“Whatever lies you’re telling each other are none of my business, but I know my brother, and this isn’t a fling for him.Not even close.”

But it had to be, or else that meant he was forced to choose between me and Jenna, and that was really no choice at all.His daughter had always been his number one priority.Wyatt knew it as well as I did.

Whether we were lying to ourselves or not, I was going to be the casualty in this, and maybe that should’ve made it easier to walk away from him, but it didn’t.

Nothing about this was easy.

And that knot in my stomach made me think things were about to get even more complicated.

Don’t put your goddamn foot in your mouth

TRAVIS

I watched Sadie talk to Wyatt and fought against the desire to stomp over there and stake my claim.He was there under the pretense of helping her unload the vehicle while I’d roped Jenna into helping me get the food stuff all organized for dinner tonight.The rest of the group went down to the lake, and we would head down there shortly.But right then, I was hyperfocused on keeping one eye on my meddling brother and the other eye on my daughter so she didn’t notice how fucking torn up I was about denying how much Sadie meant to me right in front of her.

Sadie kept her chin held high, and anyone else might not have noticed the subtleties of her features, but I’d made it a point to learn every nuanced expression in the last month that we’d been seeing each other, and I saw the devastation in her eyes.

I saw the way my words hit her like a slap to the face, and now my gut ached and twisted like someone ripped out my insides and made me watch as they stomped on them.

She was so much more than a fling, but Jenna’s reaction to Wyatt joking around only made me even more paranoid about her picking up on the chemistry Sadie and I had.

My gaze wandered back to the object of my desires only to catch her tip her head back and laugh loudly at something Wyatt said.He chuckled as well, and my gut clenched as fire roared to life in my body.I’d never once been envious of my brother, but right now, I was.The fact he could laugh and joke so freely with her when it should’ve been me made me see green.

But I’d always been the responsible one.If I changed my MO, Jenna would think it was weird and then she might question why I couldn’t fucking stop staring at her best friend.

Goddamn, I needed a drink.

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