After a five-minute brisk walk, I pushed up the incline and the speed, and started running. I focused on the skyline ahead of me, switched my mind off, and let my legs do the work. My thighs pumped up and down like pistons as I ran, my feet thudding on the belt.
My phone rang, but I ignored it. It rang a second time, and then a third.
I was training. I would get back to anyone who needed me. My training time was the time when I zoned out, forgot about the worries of the world.
The day had started off great. But then Brooke had contacted me, asking for money, and if that wasn’t a way to fuck up a day, I didn’t know what was.
I was sick and tired of my ex, mooching off me. All she’d wanted from the start was money. But I’d been too stupid to see it. Losing me hadn’t been all that tough on her—sure, she wasn’t Mrs. Conrad anymore, but she still got what she wanted. She was still firmly connected to my pocketbook. Seven years later, I still wasn’t rid of that ball and chain.
Thinking about Emily made me feel better. She was everything Brooke wasn’t—funny, creative, independent. Selfless. And it made her so much more beautiful than she already was. Because her beauty didn’t only go skin-deep. It had taken me a long time to learn to love again, totrustagain. But I was glad I’d taken that leap with Emily. It was early days, still.
But I knew what I wanted when I looked at her. I wanted forever.
Someone hammered on my front door.
“Parker!” a voice shouted and the hammering sounded again.
What the fuck?
I turned off the treadmill and walked to the front door. Another bout of hammering.
When I opened it, Ryan barreled into my apartment. He swung for me, but I ducked away just in time. Ryan stumbled, and I shoved him just to get him to lose his footing. When he hit the ground, he jumped up and tackled me, shoving me against the wall.
“What the fuck, Ryan!” I shouted and kneed him just to get him to back up. When he did, he grabbed my shirt and got right in my face.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he shouted at me.
“What the hell, man?”
“Did you think I wasn’t going to find out?” he shouted again. “She’s my fuckingsister!”
My stomach dropped. Oh, shit.
“Look, man. I was going to talk to you.”
“When? After you eloped with her?” Ryan finally let go of my shirt but he didn’t move, still cornering me against the wall.
“What are you talking about?” What the hell had gone down at their family lunch? “We’re not close to eloping.” I shoved Ryan away to give me space. He looked like he wanted to go for me again, but he bit back. Thank fuck, because I didn’t want to have to punch him in the face if he tried to swing for me again. We didn’t know which of us would win in a fight because it had never come to that.
And I didn’t want to find out now.
“But you’re fucking her, aren’t you?” Ryan asked.
I bristled at the way Ryan spat the words, making it sound dirty. This was Emily, not just some good lay on a night when I needed to take the edge off. But I took a deep breath. The atmosphere was electric with Ryan’s anger, and I had to stay calm, or he would explode. The last thing I wanted was a fight.
“I’m in love with her, Ryan,” I said carefully.
Ryan balled his fists. “You don’t do love! You hate the idea of having a woman in your life. You just sleep around. Hell, that’s what we both do. And now, you’re dragging Emily into this?”
“I’m not just sleeping around,” I said. “With her, it’s real.”
Ryan laughed bitterly. “I’m your best friend, you asshole. I know how you feel about shit like this. Don’t you dare fucking tell me it’srealwhen I know you don’t believe in all this bullshit anymore. I’ve seen you out, remember? I know how you pick up girls one after the other—you just fuck and forget.”
“I don’t do it like that anymore,” I said. “Maybe for a while after Brooke, but I’ve slowed down. And now that I have Emily—”
“You don’thaveEmily!” Ryan shouted again. He was so angry that his anger rolled off him in hot waves. “You’re not to see my sister again.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That’s not up to you.”