“Cade—”
“I’m not even talking about the betrayal for her being my best friend. I’m simply speaking about how you could fuck her over like that. Knowing with every part of you how important she was to me. Like she was just another conquest for you and that cost me my best friend. I didn’t understand how you could fuck us both over like that and I spent years trying to forgive you because that’s what brothers do, right?”
“I didn’t expect that to backfire on me, Cade. I thought she’d just lose me. Not you too.”
“I could’ve handled you telling me you love her over what you did, Adrian. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I probably would have been pissed at first. Mostly because you snuck around and lied to me. But at the end of the day, you’re my brother and she was my best friend. I would’ve gotten over it.”
“I never meant to hurt her or you. I was just trying to do the right thing. It’s the only justification I have.”
“What happens now between the two of you is your business.”
“So if I wanted to marry her? Make some babies?” I hid back a smile. “You’d come to the wedding?”
He scoffed a chuckle. “I guess I’d be the man of honor.”
That was all that needed to be said before I added, “Let’s get a fucking drink.”
Paige
“Should we go check on them?” I questioned, sitting at their kitchen island.
“I think it’s fine. We haven’t heard anyone screaming, that’s got to mean something.”
I laughed. “True.”
Her cellphone rang. “Oh, shit. I have to answer this. It’s my cousin, Haven.” She swiped her phone. “Are you okay?”
“No!”
Hayley pulled her phone away from her ear, hitting the speaker button. “Teenage angst,” she mouthed to me. “Yes, honey, I know,” she agreed into the phone. “That’s what happens when you have five older brothers, Haven. You know they’re never going to let you out of their sight.”
“It’s not fair!”
“They’re horrible,” she mouthed to me again. “I know, sweetheart, but I’m going to have to call you back, okay?”
They said bye and hung up.
“Sorry about that. The things her brothers put her through. That poor girl. She’ll never be able to date. But anyway, how are you dealing with everything?”
“Better than I thought I’d be, but that’s probably because Adrian hasn’t let me leave his side.”
“Is he taking some time off work?”
“We’re talking about Adrian, so no. But I also work for him which is very unethical.”
“Wow. He’s your boss?”
“Just for the next four months.”
“What happens after?”
“My contract is up and I’m no longer his executive assistant.”
She looked at me funny.
“What?”
“Oh! Sorry.” She nervously chuckled. “I remember you were a business major, but I always thought you’d pursue art for some reason. You were so talented.”
“I haven’t drawn in a long time.”
“Did Adrian hire you knowing who you were or was that a surprise?”
“Definitely a shock.”
“You just showed up at his office for an interview and ta-da?”
“No. Although, I don’t think that’s any worse than how we ran into each other. Long story short, he was searching for an EA. My boss is pregnant, and she knows I like to stay busy as her EA. Her husband just happened to be friends with Adrian. I guess you could say he’s borrowing me.”
“I don’t think he has any intention of giving you back.” Her expression quickly turned somber. “Even back then he didn’t.”
“Hayley, we don’t—”
“I just need you to know I tried for years to get Cade to call you. I can’t tell you how many times he wanted to reach out to you, but then you moved away, and the timing never lined up correctly. He was devastated for a really long time. I don’t think a day has gone by where he hasn’t thought about you or Adrian.”
“Did you know?”
“About the two of you?”
“Yeah.”
She nodded.
“Was it that obvious?”
“Not to Cade.”
“How long did you know?”
“Probably since the first time we were all together.”
I jerked back. “Nothing was going on with us then.”
“It didn’t stop him from looking at you when he didn’t think anyone was watching.”
Nodding, I inhaled a deep breath. “Whose idea was it to name your baby girl after me?”
She softly smiled. “Cade.”
As if on cue, Adrian walked in, carrying a baby girl on his hip. She had bright blue eyes and pigtails. Her chubby little legs kicked while she drooled all over his suit jacket. He was completely unfazed, looking like he was made to be a daddy.
And my ovaries just exploded.
“Baby Paige,” he coddled her, standing in front of me. “This is your aunt Paige. You were named after her.”
I rubbed her back, loving her already. “Hi. You are so cute.”
She leaned her head on Adrian’s chest as Cade stood beside them.
“She’s a little shy at first. She’ll warm up to you.”