“I’m just so angry.”
“What do you mean?” Kayla furrowed her brows.
“I love him… and I think that I can have what you two have with Donovan—no, I don’t think so, I know it. I can feel it in every fiber down to my soul.”
“Well, thank fuck for that,” Duncan shouted from the kitchen table while filling his glass with wine.
“But I don’t know if I can get over it, you know? What if I can’t be with him even though we’re so right for each other?”
“Only one way to find out, Kate.” Duncan smirked before taking a sip of his wine.
“Yeah, I know. But….”
“Go sit with Dunc, sis. I’ve got it covered in the kitchen. Can you take these to the table?” Kayla asked while handing Kate the roasted potatoes and parsnip.
Kate smiled as she was shooed away by her big sister. She walked over to the round, oak kitchen table, placed the food on top of it, and sat opposite of Duncan. He poured a wine for her, and she gladly took a sip even though her stomach was still empty.
“So, I understand you don’t know whether you can get over it. I really do. You’re probably scared.”
Kate let his words sink in. She noticed his green eyes watching her intently while she contemplated her next words.
“No, that’s not it. I’m not scared of your brother. I don’t think he could really scare me. I know, I probably should be scared after what he did. I’m more angry, I guess. I mean, he ignored me when I moved out here. He treated me like I was nothing to him. And all the while, he was head over heels for me? I don’t know Duncan…. How can I trust him? He says one thing but does the exact opposite. He went through my phone and my email. He… he had his eyes on some very private things. I hate feeling like my privacy is violated. But I hate it even more that after all this, I still want him.”
Duncan chuckled. “Well, I guess he did violate your privacy, so that’s normal, eh? I would question your sanity if you didn’t care about that. But I want to play devil’s advocate for a bit, if you’ll let me.”
“Oh no, Dunc. You can’t make excuses for your brother. There’s no excuse for what he did, and you know it,” Kayla shouted from the kitchen.
“Thank you for clearing that up, buster. Geez. You don’t need to come at me. I just wanted to tell your sister what I think motivated my brother to act this way.”
“It’s okay, Kayla. Please, Duncan, continue,” Kate said.
“Thank you. So, as I was trying to tell you, I know for a fact my brother’s been in love with you from the minute he laid eyes on you. Even before you two met, he saw a picture of you, and I’ve witnessed him fighting his feelings for you ever since. I know he’s a dick. Yeah, he’s never had a girlfriend before. Never had someone coming to a family dinner, someone he took home to meet us. He never had someone he truly cared for, besides his family that is.
“Donovan is one cold son of a bitch, I’ll tell you. Never been rattled or brought down from his high horse when he talked shit about his brothers falling in and out of love while growing up. And then… you come along. He took one look at you, and he just couldn’t shake you.”
“But—” Kate started, but Duncan held up his hand and interrupted her.
“Yeah, I know. He tried to distance himself from you. He tried to fuck you out of his system—”
“Dunc!” Kayla shouted again from the kitchen.
He chuckled and said, “I’m sorry, wildflower, but that’s what he did before they got together last month.”
Kate took another sip from her wine and twirled the glass before setting it down on the table. The wine swirled around in the glass, and she stared at the droplets trailing down underneath the rim.
She sighed. “I know. I guess he wanted to stop his obsession with me or something like that. I hate it, you know? I hate thinking of him struggling with his feelings for me. He took a front row seat on what’s been going on in my private life, and after finding out what I’m all about, he did nothing but run away from me as fast as he could. I mean, now I know that he’d been prying into my private life, I just have to ask… am I so hard to love?”
Duncan stood up and walked over to Kate. He crouched down next to her and placed his arm around her shoulder. “Fuck, sis—may I call you sis?”
Kate’s cheeks reddened as she nodded.
Kayla had to interrupt again. “Why are you calling my sister that? She’s not your sister.”
Duncan rolled his eyes and smirked at Kate. He made her feel like they had an inside joke. She chuckled at his antics. Kayla joined them at the table with the ham from the oven, and Duncan took the wine bottle from the cooler to pour her a glass.
He kissed Kayla’s cheek and set the bottle back in the cooler. After he retook his seat, he placed his arm over the back of her chair and then looked over at Kate. He cleared his throat and started. “So, I don’t know who hurt you so bad, Kate, but fuck, you have to know we all love you—”
Before he could continue, Kate held up her hand to stop him. She’d heard this all before. She was used to the motivational speeches from her siblings and parents. They all told her that John had been an asshole and she’d deserved someone way better. Having this good old talk with her sister’s boyfriend was embarrassing.