Page 47 of Promise To Marry You
Hunter, Heidi, and Lily, who’ve been standing off to the side for the Donnelly verbal sparring match, all nod immediately. Max gives Cam and I a quiet smile of acknowledgment, but Kat naturally walks up and pulls Cam into a hug.
“Got it, Beck. But I’m gonna hug her and you becausedevelopmentsare exciting.”
Cam drops her arm from around me to hug my sister back, and as much as I want all of her affection for myself, it feels really good to see her so easily wrapped into my family’s dynamic.
“Thanks, Kat,” she says quietly, her eyes finding mine over Kat’s shoulder. The warmth I see in them settles me. One more brick has come down from the walls around her heart.
The Western Hockey League team that Jude is the head coach of, the Westport Ravens, dominates their first game of the playoffs. For a team in their first season, they play like experienced pros. He’s mentioned before that a few of his players have the potential to hit the big leagues, and I can see why.
And my brother is clearly in his element, standing behind the bench, calmly leading his team to an easy 5-2 win over a team from the mainland.
After the game, we all end up at a bar in Westport. Sawyer and I offer to get a round of drinks while the others secure a table big enough for our group. It strikes me in that instant how much things have changed over the last couple of years. We’ve gone from five, with Jude not even living in the same country, to nine. My siblings are all happy and settled, and while we’ve always been close, there’s a new level to our friendships that is all courtesy of our partners. Max is more relaxed than I’ve ever known him to be, Jude smiles and laughs, and with Hunter in the mix, Kat joins us brothers more than she ever used to.
Still, I get why Sawyer might be struggling. He’s never wanted to settle down and has made it clear for years that he thinks relationships and love are bullshit. None of us really know why, not even me.
As we wait for the bartender to fill all the drink orders, I lean on the bar top and study my twin. On the surface, he’s got his usual carefree, slightly arrogant smirk. It works for him; I’ve never known him to go home alone if he doesn’t want to. But there’s something else there now. Something I’ve never noticed.
“Dude, you know I was joking earlier, right?”
His gaze shifts to me, and the wariness I see in his expression sends a pang of guilt through me.
“Sure, man, of course.”
“Seriously, Sawyer. You’re my twin. You’ll always come first.”
The eye roll he gives me is subtle, but it’s there. “Nah, that’s not true. Not if you and Cam are seriously starting something. It’s cool, though. I know you’ve wanted her for fucking ever. Just don’t let yourself get hurt.”
The brush-off stings. “I’m not going to.”
“You sure? Because you still look at her with hearts in your eyes. And yeah, she might be willing to explore things or whatever the fuck you want to call it, but does she want forever with you, like you do with her? I don’t buy it, Beck. A person doesn’t go from friends only, no matter what, to falling in love, just like that. She’s grieving and needs comfort, and you’re the easy option. And once she’s good and ready to move on, what’s stopping her?”
The bartender chooses that second to set the tray of drinks down in front of us. While Sawyer pays, I stare at him, trying to work through the pile of shit he just dumped on me. When he picks up the tray and turns to head to the table, my hand shoots out to stop him.
“I get that you might not believe in love, but you have to stop shitting on everyone else’s relationships. You did it with Kat and Hunter, and you’re doing it with me. And I’m telling you now, fuck off with it. I can make my own decisions, and if I want to explore this with Cam, risky or not, that’s on me. If you can’t accept that, then too fucking bad.”
It’s hard to keep the pain and frustration out of my voice, and I guess I don’t succeed entirely, given the way Sawyer’s eyes narrow at me.
“Fine. But when shit goes sideways, you’ll know I was right.”
Turning away from me, Sawyer walks back to the table, leaving me standing there, wondering how the fuck he’s managed to get so twisted up inside.
Chapter twenty-three
Beckett
No matter how hard I try, I can’t shake Sawyer’s words. They stay with me all throughout our time at the bar with my siblings. I keep glancing over at him, but the fucker won’t even look my way.
When we get back in the car to drive home, I don’t know what to say to Cam. I know she picked up on the tension, hell, everyone did. But I know Cam is smart enough to realize that our relationship has something to do with it.
I keep waiting for her to say something, but it isn’t until I turn off the highway into Dogwood Cove that she breaks the silence.
“I gotta say, out of all your siblings, Sawyer was the last one I thought would have an issue with me.”
I exhale loudly but keep the cursing toward my brother inside my head. “He doesn’t have an issue with you. He has an issue with relationships in general. He was the same with Kat and Hunter, and even a little with Max and Heidi. The only one he didn’t seem to have a problem with was Jude and Lily for some unknown reason. But I’m guessing because it’s me, this is hitting him hard.”
“And that’s an excuse for him to be a jackass?” she fires back.
“Absolutely not. That’s why you picked up on something weird tonight. Because I told him to fuck off with his shit.”
