Page 91 of Love at First Rep

Garrett nodded, and Rafe could have sworn he broke into detective mode right in front of him, Garrett’s gaze going from curious observer to hunter. It made a shiver run through Rafe’s body as he watched Garrett walk away from him, and Rafe stared far too long at his ass.

The clearing of someone’s throat broke Rafe’s trance. He turned to see his annoying older brother giving him a shit-eating grin.

“I’m happy for you, hermano,” Miguel said, and Rafe’s eyes widened. Was it possible his brother was being sincere for once? “You finally have someone to help you reach things on high shelves.”

False alarm.

Rafe didn’t say a word. He just nodded and put Miguel in a headlock.

Join our super special merc team, he said. It’ll be fun, he said.

Suddenly, another throat cleared, and Rafe and Miguel stopped their roughhousing.

They broke apart to see Garrett staring them both down. Rafe must have missed him walking over. He smiled until he saw the tension lining Garrett’s face.

“Uh, everything okay?” Rafe asked. A quick glance around the room showed everyone else busy with their tasks and out of hearing distance.

Garrett wrestled with his words before he blurted, “Does your mom know you’re alive?”

Rafe chuckled. “What? Of course not. She—”

“Uh, actually…” Miguel said.

Rafe turned on his brother. “You told her? After giving me so much shit about wanting to reach out to Garrett?”

Miguel winced and couldn’t stand still, his weight shifting between his feet.

Rafe’s voice came out hard. “Miguel.”

“Listen, you don’t know what she was like,” Miguel said. “I didn’t have a choice.”

Even though Rafe’s eyes were on Miguel, he could imagine Garrett’s rolling.

“Nobody ever has a choice,” Garrett muttered, exasperated. Rafe couldn’t blame him. There never seemed to be a choice for anyone.

“I’m sorry,” Miguel said, his eyes finally meeting Rafe and Garrett’s. His gaze jumped between the two of them as he tried to blink back the tears threatening to spill. That was unlike him, and it kept Rafe from losing his shit.

“It didn’t have anything to do with bureaucratic red tape,” Miguel started, using his bad news voice from when they were kids. “Mamá was… broken. I couldn’t get her to eat. She was hardly taking care of herself and spent all of her time crying over old photo albums. Every time I checked on her, I worried about what I’d find. If her broken heart didn’t kill her, I thought her grief would. I didn’t want to go to a second funeral that year. Plus, Rafe would be able to go home one day, but could you imagine if he walked through her door out of nowhere? She’d have a heart attack.”

Garrett opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. It took a couple tries before he said, “I, uh, I guess that’s fair. She was like a mom to me too, especially after she found out what I dealt with at my foster home. I wouldn’t want her to get hurt.”

Rafe’s heart broke thinking of his mamá and all the pain she went through. It sounded like her mental health took a beating after his fake death, and he didn’t blame Miguel for taking things into his own hands, even if it could have gotten him arrested for leaking classified information. It was a good thing their mom could keep a secret.

Miguel paused to take a deep breath and clear his throat. He directed his next words at Garrett. “They faked Rafe’s death because he was going so deep undercover, while I could tell people I was a military doctor and live as any other civilian despite working for the same people.”

Miguel continued. “She didn’t believe me at first. It took a while, but once she understood, she started living again. I’ve kept her updated about you with the basics but figured we could, uh, visit her after all this is done with.”

Rafe didn’t know what to focus on. He understood why Miguel told her, but he was wracked with guilt thinking about how Garrett had to live in the dark for so long. That made the decision for him. It wasn’t his fault Miguel told their mamá, but he hated how out of the loop Garrett must have felt. Rafe rushed forward and pulled Garrett into his arms. “I’m so sorry about all of this. All I ever wanted to do was tell you. I didn’t go a single day without thinking of you. I swear, much longer without you, thanks to these assholes, and I would have burned down the world to get you back in my life. After this is over, I’m going to show you how much I love you and how you’re my priority now. You’ll never be in the dark again. Please forgive me, mi dulzura.”

“Aww, you call him my sweetness? That’s so cute,” Miguel said, his gaze warm as he watched the pair of them, hands over his heart.

“That’s what that means?” Garrett asked, pulling back enough to see Rafe.

“Yeah, that’s what it means,” Rafe said, injecting as much love into his words as he could. “When this mess is done with, you’re in charge. I will do whatever you want to do. You want to join the team and go on missions around the world saving others? I’m in. You want to stay home and continue working for Cherrywood PD? I’ll find a job around here. Hey, maybe the police department is hiring. Do you think they’ll care if I can’t tell them anything about my previous work experience because it’s classified?”

Garrett snorted, and it melted all of Rafe’s worry. This whole situation was a mess, and Garrett had every right to punch Rafe in the face and walk out of his life for good. That told him Garrett’s love was real and deep and nothing could stop it. Not his dickhead brother, not the government, not anyone. Nothing was going to stand in their way any longer.

“We’ll have to see. I can’t even think about tomorrow, let alone the rest of it. My life has never been so… unpredictable.”