Page 58 of Mine to Hold
It was still weird to knock on my own door, but this was Teddy’s house now and it would stay that way. Whatever happened from here, I wouldn’t impose on her and her husband for long. They were newlyweds, and although I’d grown up in this house, it hadn’t been mine for a long time.
The door opened and my sister stood in front of me, wearing her pajamas and a very confused frown. “Colt?”
“Hey, sis,” I said, and her frown melted into a wide smile as she threw her arms around my neck.
“Colt! I can’t believe you’re here. Come on in.” She released me after hugging me for another beat, then led me in and closed the door behind us. “What are you doing here? I didn’t know you were coming. Why didn’t you let me know you were coming? Scott! Colt’s here.”
He came out of the kitchen, wearing pajama pants and a faded T-shirt with our college logo printed on it. Smiling when he saw me, he put out his hand. “Hey, Colt. What are you doing here? Teddy didn’t tell me you were coming. Otherwise, I would have put on real pants.”
“Because I didn’t know.” She pouted, but then winked and walked into the kitchen, waving for us to follow her. “Do you want some tea? We’ve just made a pot.”
“Yeah. Sure. Thanks.” I left my bags in the hall after shaking Scott’s hand, taking a seat at the breakfast nook. She fixed my tea and then carried her cup over to join me as she handed mine over.
Cocking her head once she sat down, she scooted up to make space for her husband but her eyes never left mine. “A surprise visit from the prodigal brother. To what do we owe the pleasure? No bullshit, please. Just give it to me straight.”
Without hesitating, I came out with the truth, afraid that if I didn’t just spit it out right away, I never would. “I slept with Emma,” I blurted to start off with. “Actually, I did more than just sleep with her. I was with her. Back in high school for a couple of months and then again for a few weeks before and after your wedding.”
When Teddy said nothing, I continued. “I never meant for it to happen. I swear it wasn’t like I was always perving on my baby sister’s best friend, just waiting for her to get old enough. I didn’t even notice her until my senior year, but I still didn’t act on it until after I graduated. Emma was just always around, you know? One day, I slipped up and I kissed her. I knew I shouldn’t be doing it, but after that one time, I couldn’t seem to stop and since she didn’t seem to want me to, we just kept doing it.”
I expected my sister to be upset with me for sleeping with her best friend. That was what I’d always been worried about, but as I spoke, she didn’t look upset at all. At one point, she even looked a little happy, which was odd, but I needed to get the truth out there before I started questioning her about it.
“We were sneaking around that whole summer, but then Mom and Dad died and we moved away, so I broke it off. Never even called her again until I saw her for the wedding and things started back up. Emma broke up with me, though. It’s over, but I still wanted you to know.”
Teddy didn’t seem surprised at all, and neither did Scott. In fact, as he sipped his tea, he didn’t even seem to be listening to us. My sister had obviously heard what I’d said, but none of it seemed to have shocked or even affected her at all.
“Theodora?” I prompted. “What is it?”
“Emma already told me everything,” she admitted, taking a small sip of her tea before she rolled her eyes. “But whatever, I already knew you guys were together that summer before she told me last week. That’s not the important part.”
“What’s the important part?”
“Really?” She arched a brow at me, blowing out an exasperated breath. “You’re one of the dumbest smart people I know, Colt Eldridge. Honestly. For a guy who’s insanely intelligent and logical, you can be so damn stupid.”
“I’m not stupid,” I protested. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re an idiot for not realizing that I don’t care if you’re with Emma, but what I do care about is you breaking her heart, and you’ve sure gone and done that.”
“I didn’t break her heart.” I scoffed. “You heard when I said she was the one who broke up with me, right? If anyone broke anyone’s heart, she broke mine. She doesn’t want to be with me.”
Teddy stared at me for a moment and even Scott snorted as he tried to hold back his laughter. My sister finally released a long, slow breath and shut her eyes.
“Boys are so dumb,” she muttered, almost as if she was talking to herself. When she opened her eyes again, she glanced lovingly at her husband. “Not you, sweetheart. You came around fast enough, but others? They’re dumb.”
“Could you please just stop talking about how dumb I am and tell me what the fuck is going on right now? How is it that I finally admit something to you that I’ve been too scared to tell you for years, and all you can say is how stupid I am?”
“Because you are stupid,” she said, frustration bleeding into the amusement in her tone. “Emma’s been in love with you since she was old enough to know what love is. You’ve just been too dumb to see it. Not only then, but now as well. She didn’t break up with you because she doesn’t want to be with you. She broke up with you because she wants a home, not a hotel room.”
“I tried to get us an apartment.”
She snorted, rolling her eyes again. “You know exactly what I mean, and you’re an idiot for throwing away a wonderful life with a beautiful woman just because of your career. You’ll be successful at whatever you do, wherever you do it. Why not pick the place with the woman you love in it? Unless that’s why you’re back? In which case, I retract everything I said about you being stupid now. You’ll always have been stupid before, but if you’re back here for her, then at least you’ve finally grown a brain.”
“Okay, so maybe you’re right,” I said. “I was a fool to have let her go in Paris, but thatiswhy I’m here. I’m going to win her back.”
For a long minute, my sister just looked at me, her eyes moving from one of mine to the other like she was trying to figure something out. “Before you do that, I need to know if you’re serious about her. As much as I knew you two were together in high school, I didn’t know just how deep it went for her. Now that I’ve realized it, I can’t let you try to win her back if I don’t know that you’re playing for keeps this time.”
“You’re my sister,” I said. “Shouldn’t you always be on my side?”
“I am, but I’m also trying to keep you from hurting yourself again at the same time that I’m trying to keep you from hurting her. If you’re not sure about this, you should stay away. Leave and go back to wherever you came from before she even knows you’re here.”
