Both boys turned their adorable faces to me. “We’re gonna knock out his teeth.”
“Oh, please don’t. I like them where they are.”
“I cannae make any promises, Auntie.”
Taylor and I both laughed as he got to his feet. Then, without warning them, he tossed both boys over his shoulders and strode out of the house.
“Come see me, hen. I promise it’ll make you love me even more.”
I wasn’t sure that was possible.
“Love looks good on him.” The gentle voice of Taylor’s sister reached me from the hallway.
I turned to face her, but she wasn’t smiling. “I didn’t expect him to...”
“I know. I overheard you. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but the boys needed their helmets, and they left them in the game room.”
Guilt swirled in my stomach. “It’s complicated.”
“I’d say it’s pretty simple. You needed money for something. He had it. You took advantage and got him to marry you.”
“No, that’s not exactly how it worked.”
“But he did give you money. He’s giving you everything he has. Do you even really love him?”
Oh, this was going south real fast. “It was supposed to be temporary. A year. To get him out of a contract and to get my bakery a new kitchen.”
“Sounds like you benefited more than he did. Are you going to try and saddle him with a kid too? Get yourself a nice child support check every month?”
She couldn’t have hurt me more if she’d hit me. “I’m not pregnant.”
“Yet.” She wrapped a shawl around her shoulders and held tight. “I’ve seen this story play out more than once. Handsome athlete, pretty girl, whirlwind romance. You’ll use him up and bleed him dry. He deserves more than someone who had to be paid to marry him. You’re no better than a whore.”
And there it was. The absolute truth. I’d known it all along. Our arrangement was more for my benefit than his, and all I’d done until this trip was fight with him and actively try to pick at him. All he’d wanted was me.
Tears pooled in my eyes, but I forced them back.
“My brother might play at being the cocky arsehole, but he’s tender and breakable, Becca. He needs someone who’ll care for him, not hurt him. He’s been through a lot with our dad. And when I say a lot, I mean it. Please don’t break him. If this isn’t serious for you, end it now, before you ruin him.”
“I love him. I really do.”
Sadness flitted across her face. “I hope so. For his sake.”
Then she brushed past me, helmets in hand, as she followed in Taylor’s wake. I stood there, shaking as my gut churned.
Pulling out my phone, I video called my sister as soon as I was alone.
Clara answered on the first ring, even though it was the middle of the night.
“Becs, what’s wrong?”
I stepped out into the morning mist and wiped my eyes. “I’m in love with him.”
“And that’s a problem?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”