Which was never a good sign.
“What are you guys doing here?” I didn’t even try to hide my suspicion.
“Can you eat with us?” Lennox asked, ignoring my question.
“No, but I can sit with you guys until someone else comes in.” They gave me mutual looks of approval so I grabbed them menus and sat them in the bar area not far from the host stand. I crawled up onto a bar stool while they looked over the menus briefly and then simultaneously looked up at me.
They were terrifying and they knew it. This was a tactic they used on me often. I was so over it.
“Stop bullying me, why are you here?” I demanded bringing out another smile in both of them.
“Hey, have you noticed anything off with Beckett?” Grayson asked thoughtfully.
Now this was something I did want to talk to them about. “Yes! I think he’s into my friend Britte,” I confided in them. “He won’t stop bothering her.”
“What do you mean he’s into her?” Lennox asked, amused by this.
“Like he made out with her and now won’t stop texting her.”
“Wait, he’s already hooked up with her?” Grayson’s eyes grew big. I knew the feeling of disbelief acutely.
“They only made out,” I clarified for Britte’s sake. “Britte has some standards; she wouldn’t just sleep with Becks.”
Grayson and Lennox gave looks of disbelief, but I wasn’t about to argue this with them.
Finally Grayson asked, “Does she like him?”
“No, she’s terrified of him. I don’t think he knows what to do with feelings, so he’s scaring the crap out of her,” I admitted, feeling kind of bad for Beckett. Although not bad enough to dish it out to my Grayson and Lennox.
They howled with laughter. “He’ll figure it out, Els.” Lennox promised when they settled down.
“Sure,” I shrugged noncommittally. If I told them my true feelings, that I hoped he just moved on and left Britte alone, their fierce loyalty would come out and they would all but join arms with Beckett in an attempt to woo her.
I was her friend; I could never let her fall into a relationship with one of my brothers. Friends don’t let friends date their emotionally unavailable, womanizing brothers.
“Did you give Hunter that letter I gave you?” Grayson asked casually, but I noticed how still and quiet Lennox grew.
“Yep,” I answered simply and then glanced back at the door. Please let there be customers. Please let there be customers.
“Good,” Gray answered.
The waiter for this section popped up just then and took their beer orders of Old Milwaukee. They ordered an appetizer too and then when the waiter was gone, they turned their attention back to me.
“I met him tonight,” Lennox stated, still not revealing any emotion.
“Who?”
“Finley Hunter,” Lennox shot Grayson a look out of the corner of his eye that showed there was no way I could win this.
“He likes you,” Grayson announced.
“Oh, gosh, not this,” I shook my head getting ready to stand up and walk away.
“We know that because he told us, Els, so sit down,” Grayson snapped and I did but more because I fell back into my seat out of surprise.
One day I would grow a spine. It would probably have to be in a convent away from all these alpha males, but one day….
“He stopped by Gray’s apartment earlier, while I happened to be there,” Lennox explained. “He had wanted to talk to Gray, but he got both of us instead.”
“What are you doing in town anyway?” I demanded suddenly too nervous to hear how their story was going to play out.
“I can’t visit my brother?” Lennox looked offended.
“No.”
“It doesn’t matter what we were doing, that’s not the point,” Lennox all but growled. “Your boyfriend stopped over to explain to Grayson that he was going to start dating you and he wanted your family to be aware of him.”
“What?” I gasped.
“He laid it all out there for us, Els,” Grayson nodded in agreement. “He all but demanded we accept him.”
“Oh my gosh,” I groaned. This night was getting weirder and weirder. “We’re not dating, he’s not my boyfriend.”
“But he will be?” Lennox asked firmly.
“Maybe,” I allowed. If I got over the debt. If that was what he really wanted. If that was what I really wanted…. “Not like today or tomorrow or anything. But possibly in the future.”
My brothers stared me down, both of them, Lennox with his steely, dark blue eyes and Grayson with his brown. They were so intimidating, each in their own way. And I realized at that moment that I only wanted to please them, to do anything but disappoint them. Still, I wouldn’t let them take Fin away from me. It took me until now, or maybe it happened this very sEcond, but he was too important to me to let my family stand in the way.
And suddenly I didn’t need to run from my family anymore. I just needed to take a stand when something was finally important enough to stand up for.
“I like him, Gray, Lennox. I really like him. Don’t get in the way of this,” I beseeched in a polite but deadly voice.
Lennox cracked a smile first and said, “We weren’t going to.”
“Come on, Els, we’re not that bad,” Gray sounded offended.
Ugh. Brothers.
“We kind of like him,” Lennox continued. “We won’t ever let him know that though.”
Gray added, “We’ll definitely have to make his life a living hell, but you have our approval.”
“Thanks guys,” I smiled at them adoringly as if their opinion actually mattered. And maybe it did, but just a little bit.
“We need two things from you though,” Lennox interrupted my moment of familial bliss.
“Hmm?” I was suspicious once more.
“Don’t tell Beckett,” Lennox said.
Grayson echoed, “Yeah, don’t tell Beckett. He won’t be as accepting as we are.”
“Plus, it sounds like he has his own problems right now,” Lennox grimaced.
“Done.” They didn’t really need to convince me of that. “What’s the sEcond thing?”
“Let dad help you with tuition,” Grayson’s voice dropped down to his serious octave. “It’s killing them that you don’t want their help.”
“You can still live on your own, work on your own, do whatever you need to do, but just let them help, Els. Alright?” Lennox asked in a kinder tone.
I sighed but thought it over. I got what they were saying. And I didn’t want to cause my parents pain but I did want to be independent. Did accepting their help make me less independent? I didn’t know. But I did know that they didn’t run my life and they hadn’t for a long time. Accepting help wouldn’t be like handing over the reins to my future, it would be exactly what it sounded like, accepting help.
But I couldn’t let my brothers see what a pushover I was. Or they would think they got their way with everything. I finally agreed, “I’ll think about it.” They gave me nods of approval and then I remembered a question that had been bothering me for a while. “Hey, Gray? Fin said he owed you a debt, that you did something for him that he needed to repay you for. What is it?”
Grayson thought that over for a while and then gave me a sharp look. “You should probably hear this from him, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.” He shrugged for effect and then took a breath, “His freshman year he was struggling, really struggling. His grades were behind, his track career was headed down the drain and he seemed stressed all the time. I knew him from the gym, our workouts coincided and so we saw each other often. He needed money; that was his biggest issue. I guess he has some family problems or something. We would talk every time we saw each other, nothing deep or personal but we knew what was going on in each other’s lives. One day he was different, he said he didn’t need to worry about his family anymore, he had a way to make money. All he needed were a few backers. I backed him.?
?? Another shrug.
“You backed him?” I asked in disbelief.
“I invested. I helped him out initially. He looks at it like this big favor, but I’m making money now so it’s all but forgotten to me.”
“You’re making more money now,” Lennox cut in with a sly smile.
They didn’t seem to want to elaborate that, and I was too dumbfounded to ask any more questions. “You’re good men.” I finally said and I meant it.
They both gave me adoring smiles and then their food was delivered along with their beers. I left them to their food so I could get some work done, but I never avoided their table. And when I had some down time I stopped by to talk and laugh with them. They talked to me like a grownup, not like the little girl I still felt like around them sometimes and it was nice.
For once in my life I was actually glad they stopped by to see me.
Chapter Eighteen
Still dumbfounded by Grayson’s revelation and Ty’s pep talk I knew I needed to stop by Fin’s house before I left for my parents. It was finally spring break and I was spending four whole days at home. My mom and dad were begging me to stay the entire week, but I felt like four days was being generous enough.
I hauled my suitcase down to my car and then ran back up to get my phone charger and say goodbye to Britte who was leaving later in the week to spend time at her mom’s in northern Minnesota. “Britte, I’m leaving!” I called once I found my phone charger.
She walked out of her room, hair askew in a high side ponytail that had seen better days. Her eyeliner was smudged under her eyes and her two day old pajamas were stretched out and baggy.
“Yikes!” I couldn’t even hide my terror. “What happened to you?”
“Moving kicked my ass,” she groaned on her way to the kitchen.
Moving Britte in had been one of my better life decisions. Not only did she pay her share of the rent on time and in full, she also bought groceries. That she was willing to share! Right now she was opening a can of red bull and pouring herself an industrial size bowl of Captain Crunch.
“So you can’t shower?” I asked, amused by this dulled but none the less gorgeous side of Britte.
She grunted something unintelligible and then said, “Your brother is emotionally exhausting me.” She finally confessed around a huge bite of cereal. “After he moved the couch yesterday he actually stayed around to talk to my dad.”
“What?” I gasped.
“Apparently because of the whole baseball thing, they have a lot in common,” she winced. “Beckett told my dad he was going to look him up on Facebook.”
“Oh no,” I shook my head in disbelief. “Your dad has Facebook?’
“It gets worse.” She set her cereal bowl down and dropped her head into her hands.
“How can it possibly get worse than that?” I whispered.
“After my dad left, Beckett wanted to stay and talk to me!” She was shaking her head now, her face still covered by her hands.
“What did you talk about?” I asked carefully. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to know. In my entire life I had never known Beckett to want to talk to a girl. Especially a girl he didn’t have to talk to in order to hook up with her in the first place.
“Nothing!” she dropped her hands in defeat. “I told him we had nothing to talk about. And that he was reading way too much into a drunk make out!” She looked at me wide-eyed and then dove back into her cereal.
“And what did he say?”
“He said I would come around and then got up to leave. This made me panic just maybe a little bit because I shot back with, ‘Why would I come around when I don’t even remember making out with you in the first place?’” She winced again at the memory and I echoed her.
“Oh, no. Did you piss him off?”
“Uh, yeah,” she admitted dryly. “He didn’t even say anything; he just looked at me like I disappointed him and left.”
“Well, at least you didn’t have to talk to him. You did save yourself from that inevitable train wreck.” I sympathized.
“That’s true,” she nodded thoughtfully. “I feel bad though.”
“Because you do remember kissing him?” I asked carefully.
“Um, yes. It has all come back to me, in hung-over bits and pieces of reckless drunkenness. I know you don’t want to hear this Els, but you’re brother has a right to be so cocky. Good lord,” she sighed and then took another huge bite of cereal.
“So what’s the problem?”
“It’s Beckett! This box of cereal is more emotional availability than him. Plus, I get the feeling he just wants to soothe his wounded pride. It pissed him off that I didn’t remember him right away and then that I didn’t fall right into his arms as soon as he put minimal effort into getting my attention. I’m majoring in Bio-Chem, I don’t have time to play games and I really don’t have time for Beckett. He’s used to being the center of everything, I hardly believe he’ll understand when I say no to watching him work out in the gym with all his other fan club girls because I have to study six hours just to pass my homework instead. Never mind what it’s like around midterms and finals. We are too different. That’s all there is to it. Plus, he’s your brother. How weird would that be?”
“Super weird,” I agreed. All of her points hit their target and I had to wonder what Beckett was thinking. Britte was probably right, his pride was wounded and he was desperate to rebuild his ego. “Do you think he’ll leave you alone now?”
“Oh, yes,” she nodded emphatically.
“What about your dad? Do you think he’s really planning on friending him?”
Her face paled at that thought and she groaned before answering, “I don’t know, they really seemed to hit it off.”
I laughed at that, and then tried to stop laughing but that only made me laugh harder. “My brother is so weird.”
Britte laughed too this time, “Agreed. So what about you and Mr. Hunter? A sleepover? That’s not very strictly business.”
“Oh gosh,” I sighed. “It was, not, um, exactly planned. On my part at least. Fin might have been planning it from the beginning. He’s sneaky like that.”
“Sounds like he’s smitten,” She smiled dreamily at me.
I blushed. “I don’t know what is going on. I’m so confused. I talked to Ty about it last night and he basically told me I was crazy to be making such a big deal out of this whole seven thousand dollar thing. And then Lennox and Gray stopped by to see me so they could also tell me I have their approval.”
“What?” Britte shrieked out. “Start from the beginning. How does Ty know Fin? And how do Lennox and Grayson know anything about this?”
I sighed and then started from the beginning like she asked. I confessed everything about Fin’s family and how Ty and him knew each other. And then I went into the crazy story about how Grayson and Fin knew each other and how Fin stopped by and actually stood up to not only Grayson but Lennox too.
When I finished she just looked at me, mouth hanging open. This moment was very similar to when I told her the story about Tara and stealing all of my furniture and sending me into monumental debt.
“Say something, B,” I pleaded, hoping she would have sage advice for me.
“I don’t know what to say,” she finally admitted. “I have all kinds of new respect for Fin and even Ty and Gray. But I get your side of the story too. You feel like you would be literally selling out. And now it’s more about helping Declan than even paying Fin back. Maybe you should talk to Fin about it?”
“That’s my plan. I’m going to stop by before I head home.”
“Good luck,” she said sincerely. She walked around the kitchen counter and gave me a sweet hug.
“Thanks. Have fun in Minnesota!” I drawled out the “o” like only those from Wisconsin and Minnesota could and then I squeezed her tight. “I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Love ya,” she said when we finally let go.
“Love you too!”
I
walked down to my car more confused than ever. Britte’s concerns with Beckett started to resonate a little too close to home. Were Fin and I just too different? He was a great guy and I was absolutely crazy to pass this up, but would I still feel good about everything between us if I gave in?
“Ellie? Can we talk?”
“Ah!” I screamed. Colton was leaning against the trunk of my car, elbows bent behind him and hands spread out on the faded blue paint. His electric blue eyes were bright with emotion and I recognized his expression as “deeply concerned.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he apologized and then straightened up to standing.
“No, it’s Ok, I was just lost in my own head.” I shrugged. What was he doing here?
“I saw you load up your bag and then run back inside,” he explained. “I thought you’d be right back down.”
“Oh, sorry,” I flushed, feeling irrationally bad for leaving him out here for so long. “I got sidetracked inside. You should have texted or something.”
“You haven’t been answering my texts,” he accused in probably the most pathetic voice I’d ever heard.
I cleared my throat because that was true but I didn’t know what to say. “What do you need, Colton?”
“I miss you,” he admitted softly.
What? “Colton, are you serious?”
“Of course, I’m serious. Ellie, you were a big part of my life and then suddenly you aren’t ever around anymore. I try to talk to you and you start making out with other guys, I try to text you and you ignore me. I miss you and it’s driving me crazy! I just want things to go back to how they were.”
“Colton, you cheated on me!” I could not believe this. He could not be serious.
“That was a moment,” I glared at him until he amended his argument, “those were moments of pure stupidity. I love you, Ellie. We grew up in love together. And we can pretend that there’s someone else out there for us, but we both know, in the end, we’ll come back to each other. I need you Ellie-belly. And I know you need me too.”
He sounded so sincere, so tragically remorseful that I almost wanted to believe him. The tiny, miniscule, wretched vindictive part of me cheered that he felt so terrible after hurting me. But the rational, kinder part of my brain reminded me of how I felt about our relationship, how I had given up long before Colton cheated.