Page 86 of By All Accounts
“Why not you?” Lincoln asked quietly.
A soft chime drifted out of his phone, and he was quick to silence it before shoving three more bites of food into his mouth.
“I have to run,” he said, pressing a bruising kiss against Hunter’s lips. When he broke away, he took another drink and came around the table, kissing me with the same intensity against the corner of my mouth. His lips were mostly against mycheek, but the affection was there, the promise, the friendship of it. Lincoln stayed until I relaxed and patted my hand against his hip.
“Thank you for your advice,” I murmured, brushing my fingertips against my lower lip.
“You deserve to be loved loudly,” he told me, straightening up to his full height, which wasn’t much. “And you deserve to love loudly too.”
And just like that, Lincoln was gone and it was me and Hunter alone at the table. I could feel my brother’s stare against the side of my face, and after my breathing returned to normal, I finally met his eyes.
“You never stood a chance with him, did you?”
Hunter smiled, shaking his head.
“You never stood a chance with them, did you?”
“No, I don’t think I did.”
“Then don’t waste it,” he said. “Don’t make it be something it’s not. Let it consume you if it wants to. All three of you. If it’s real, rings aren’t going to change it, alright?”
“I want to believe you.”
Hunter leaned over and snatched an uneaten piece of broccoli from Lincoln’s plate. “That’s a start, right? When do you see them again?”
“Whenever I want.”
Hunter hummed, chewing and swallowing the stolen vegetable. “That sounds very real and very serious already.”
“I hate you, I think.”
“I doubt that,” Hunter said, looking down at my plate and poking a carrot with one of his chopsticks. “Are you going to eat that?”
I slid my plate toward him. “Have at it.”
CHAPTER 30
FINN
Ispent the rest of the day ignoring Daniel and Sophie, trying to pretend I wasn’t in love with them. The next morning, I woke up before my alarm to find Daniel on my doorstep with two coffees in hand. I shuffled downstairs and opened the door, not overlooking the way his stare started at my face and drifted its way down to the waistband of my pajama pants.
“You’re up early,” I said, rubbing the side of my nose and stepping out of the way to let him in.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
I knew without being told it was my fault.
“Where’s Sophie?” I asked.
Daniel closed the door behind him, toed off his sneakers, and followed me into my office. He joined me on the window seat and passed me one of the drinks, still piping hot. I didn’t need to look to know it would have enough sugar in it; he and I were the same in so many ways.
“Your brother had her working until eleven last night. She’s still in bed.”
“Does she know you’re here?”
“I left her a note.” Daniel popped the lid off his drink and steam billowed out of it. He blew over the top to cool it, taking a tentative sip. “Are you okay, Finn?”
“Yeah.”
