Page 221 of Filthy Beautiful
Last thing I wanted to do was hurt her any more than I already had, by giving her the ugly play-by-play of what just happened between me and Cary.
So I went over to her and took her in my arms.
She slid her arms around my waist. “How did it go?” she asked gently. And of course, she knew her brother. She knew me.
Which meant she already knew how it went.
“Not great.”
“Shit…”
I took her head in my hands, gently, and smoothed her hair back off her cheeks with my thumbs. I kissed her softly.
“Should I call him?” she whispered. She peered up at me, and the concern in her eyes was obvious.
But I couldn’t stand the thought of her calling him… and calling him… and getting no answer.
Or having him pick up—and giving her shit or something.
“Maybe in a few days, okay? Give him a little time to cool off.”
“What happened?”
I sighed. “In a nutshell… he’s pissed at me.”
Her eyebrows pinched together, the concern growing. “You talked to him?”
“Sort of. Mostly I yelled at him through a door, so that was fun.”
“Xander…” She squeezed me tight. “You did the right thing, okay? You went to him. You tried. If he’s gonna be mad at you or shut you out, that’s his choice. He’ll get past it. You’re his best friend. You’ve always been there for him, and he knows that.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“I’m proud of you, for what it’s worth.”
She gazed up at me with those beautiful honey eyes of hers. I saw the affection, the admiration in them. I felt it. But I didn’t really feel worthy of her pride right now.
“I told him I love you.”
A smile spread across her face, slowly. Her eyes sparkled with joy. “Um… You said that you love me… for the first time ever… to my brother? Through a door?”
Okay. She had to bust my balls on this. I got that.
I mean, I would if I were her.
She burst out laughing.
I sighed again. “Like you said. I’m terrible at this.”
“I think you really are.”
“But I do love you, Court.”
Her smile grew, and she gazed at me with such happiness… I hadn’t seen her look that happy in a long, long time.
“I love you, too,” she gushed. Then she pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed me. I kissed her back, slow, just enjoying the feel of her in my arms. For once, we weren’t fighting. We weren’t tearing off each other’s clothes, either.
That was fun, too.
