Chapter 79
DERRICK
Afternoons at Sienna and Evan’s always hit a certain level of delirious chaos. It starts wholesome, kids laughing, everyone pretending we’re adults with our lives together, and always ends with half the group tipsy, sunburned, and emotionally unhinged.
Today is no exception.
Lunch stretches long and loud, the table overflowing with food. Tavish and Johnny have become fast friends and are talking about whiskey. Tyler and Gypsy Sisters are chatting away. Rowan is talking with Charlie and Axel about who knows what, while Callum is entertaining the girls.
Who I don’t see right now is fucking Chance and Arran.
My stomach sinks.
No.
I tell myself it’s nothing. Chance is probably vaping somewhere, and Arran might be in the bathroom.
But I can’t shake an uneasy feeling.
I take a long drink from my beer, hoping alcohol will calm me down, but it doesn’t.
Charlie walks past and kisses my cheek. “Are you good? You look like you’re on a mission.”
“Yeah, just going to check out the new veggie patch Sienna’s been going on about,” I lie, because my boyfriend doesn’t need to watch me unravel. He nods and sends me on my way, alone, thankfully.
I drift away from the main group, telling myself I’m just stretching my legs. I follow the side path toward the back garden, where the veggie patch has been developed. It’s a peaceful spot that looks out over the rolling hills.
When I turn the corner, I hear something.
A low laugh.
Shit.
No, please no.
My feet move before my brain does. I step closer, cautiously, like I’m approaching a wild animal.
And then I see it.
Them.
Arran.
And Chance.
They’re tucked between the fruit trees, partly hidden. And they’re not talking.
They’re kissing.
Actually, kissing.
Chance has Arran pinned lightly against the fence, one hand cupping the back of his neck, the other gripping his hip. Arran’s fingers are knotted in Chance’s shirt, pulling him closer, kissing him back with this soft, eager intensity.
My heart stops.
My lungs forget how to function.
My brain detonates.
This doesn’t look like a drunk mistake.
This looks like they’ve been building to this all day.
Chance slows the kiss, mouth lingering, breath brushing Arran’s lips as he murmurs something low that makes Arran blush a deep pink.
I can’t breathe.
It’s not jealousy.
Not like that.
It’s …
He’s my brother.
My new family.
And he’s my ex-rockstar situationship.
Together.
Like that.
The universe is fucking with me.
Arran pulls Chance in again, deeper, hungrier this time, and a quiet whimper escapes him, one I should not be hearing.
Nope.
Nope nope nope.
I back away so fast I nearly trip over a decorative pot. My hand slaps over my mouth to stop myself from making any noise. I reverse like I’m fleeing a horror movie scene, heart pounding like I’ve run a marathon.
By the time I reach the main yard, my head is spinning.
Charlie catches sight of me immediately. “Hey, what’s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost.”
I swallow. Hard. “I … uh …” Words. I need words. “I think Arran’s … busy.”
Charlie raises a brow. “Busy how?”
I glance around like I’m reporting a crime. “He’s making out with Chance.”
Charlie blinks. Once. Twice. “Sorry. What?”
I drag him toward a quieter spot behind the outdoor fridge. “I went looking for them as I noticed they were missing and um … yeah … they were … like together. Kissing. Full-body, intentional kissing. With mouths. And hands. And noises.” I shudder. “Noises, Charlie.”
Charlie processes this with the calmness of a man who has seen more than one version of my chaos. “Okay. Okay. Breathe.”
“I am breathing,” I snap.
“Barely,” Charlie says, raising a stern brow at me. “You’re panicking,” he says softly.
“I am NOT panicking,” I hiss.
He gives me a look that says you’re absolutely panicking.
I groan, covering my face. “Like, what the fuck?”
“It’s weird, I give you that.”
“What if Chance is just messing with him? I won’t have him hurting my brother. Even though we’re not blood, he’s still my fucking brother.”
Charlie nods. “I don’t know what Chance is playing at either, maybe you need to talk to him.”
“Talk to him?”
“Yeah. Let him know you won’t stand for it. Warn him like a big brother would.”
“Like a big brother would?”
When I look up, I see Arran returning to the party looking very flushed with his lips swollen, but everyone is in their own world, so they don’t notice him.
“Go. Now. I’ll distract Arran, you talk to Chance,” Charlie says. “You’ve got this,” he says quietly.
I don’t feel like I’ve got anything, but I nod anyway. Then I turn and stalk back toward the side path.
If Chance is smart, he’ll have slunk off somewhere to vape or pretend nothing happened. If he’s stupid, he’ll still be in the veggie patch like this is some kind of romantic music video.
I walk faster.
The laughter and chatter from the yard fades behind me. I round the corner into the veggie patch, and there he is. Leaning against the fence like he’s in a magazine shoot. Head tipped back, eyes closed, chest rising and falling slowly.
I don’t bother easing into it. “What the fuck are you doing?”
His eyes snap open. “Jesus, D,” he mutters, straightening. “You trying to give me a heart attack?”
“That depends,” I shoot back. “Are you done giving me one?”
He blinks, confusion sliding over his features for half a second—then it clears.
Realization hits.
“Oh,” he says slowly. “You saw.”
I bark out a humorless laugh. “Saw? Chance, I walked in on you kissing my brother against a fence in the fucking veggie garden of my best friend’s home.”
His mouth pulls into a wince. “Right. Yeah. That … sounds bad when you say it like that.”
“There’s no way to say it where it doesn’t sound bad,” I snap. “What the hell are you playing at?”
“I’m not playing,” he says immediately, voice firm.
I step closer, anger boiling over. “Is this some kind of revenge?”
“Revenge?” Chance asks.
“Yeah. Because I chose Charlie over you.”
His jaw tightens. “I would never do that.”
“Wouldn’t you?” I bite out. “Because last time I checked your track record with people’s feelings is not exactly stellar.”
His face flinches at that. A small, wounded twitch. Good. I want him to feel this.
“That’s low,” he says quietly.
“So is sticking your tongue down my brand-new brother’s throat.”
He pushes off the fence, anger sparking in his eyes now. “You don’t get to stand here and tell me what I can and can’t do. Not anymore.”
“Oh, I think I fucking do,” I shoot back. “That is my brother.”
“You’re not blood related,” he bites back.
“Not the fucking point. They are my new family. My family. Something I’ve never had before. And you don’t get to swan in and try to take it away from me.”
Chance’s face falls. “I …” He rubs the back of his neck nervously.
“You’re in the closet, and I’m assuming so is Arran because I had no idea he swung that way.”
“He’s in the closet,” Chance confesses.
“Fuck!” I curse as I start to pace.
“It wasn’t my plan, believe me,” Chance says.
“You can’t see him ever again,” I tell him.
“What?”
I shake my head. “I forbid it.”
“You forbid it?”
“Yeah,” I say, folding my arms in front of me.
“We are both adults. You don’t get to tell us what to do.”
“Yes, I can. Please. You could hook up with anyone, just not him.”
“Are you jealous?” Chance smirks.
I take a step toward him, it takes everything in me not to want to punch the asshole out. “Never. I won’t say I regret what we had together because I wouldn’t have realized what a catch Charlie was if I hadn’t gone through the shit you put me through.”
Chance flinches at my words. “I had problems, D.”
“And it seems like you still haven’t fixed them.”
“You don’t get to tell me when the time is right to come out of the closet.” Chance glares at me.
“You’re right, but I think you would be a hell of a lot happier if you did.”
Chance huffs. “I like women, D.”
My eyes widen. “Didn’t see you making out with a woman tonight, did I?”
“And I like men too.”
“That makes you bi, Chance. Which is totally acceptable nowadays. You can be a sparkly fucking unicorn if you want.”
“But I just can’t date your brother?” Chance smirks.
“No.”
“I like him,” he says quietly.
“You like him?” I scoff.
“Yeah. I do.”
“You don’t know him.”
“Didn’t take you long to fall for Charlie,” Chance bites back.
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“He’s not in the fucking closet.”
“Well, Arran is, and so am I, so that seems like a great match,” he says, continuing to push my buttons.
“You’re a fucking asshole.”
Chance shrugs.
“Here I thought you’d changed. Grown. Evolved.” My eyes look him up and down with disgust. “But you haven’t changed a bit, you’re still a selfish prick.”
I turn on my heel and storm back into the party, completely seething. Charlie rushes over to me and pulls me into a hug, and I try to hold my tears back.
“Stay strong. You can crack when we get home. I’ve got you.” I look up into Charlie’s kind eyes, and I realize there is no place I would rather be.
“I fucking love you.”
“I know.”
“I want to marry you, someday,” I confess to him.
Which makes him smile. “I do too.” He presses a kiss to my lips. “But, D, just to be clear, I’ll be the one proposing.”
I raise a brow. “Oh, really now?”
He nods. “Yep. So don’t fucking spoil it for me.”
“Okay.” I chuckle, my stress starting to subside.
“I want babies, though.”
“I know.” He grins.
“Lots of babies.”
“Define lots?” he questions me.
“Five.”
“That seems like a lot. Maybe we should start with two and see how we go,” he says gently.
“Two. I can handle that. Twins?”
Charlie sighs. “Looking at Vanessa and Christian and them dealing with twins, I don’t know …”
“Do you want biological kids or will we adopt?” I’ve had a couple of sessions with the agency to work out my options for having babies, but we haven’t really discussed it like we are now.
“I would like at least one biological, and then I’m okay adopting.”
“Me too.”
“Glad we got that settled. I love you, D. I am going to ask you to try to forget what happened tonight for your own sanity,” Charlie says.
“I need to talk to Arran.”
“Really?”
“You don’t think I should?”
“Not if he is in the closet. I don’t want you to lose this relationship,” Charlie cautions me. Maybe he’s right. “Just not yet. Next time.” I nod. He’s right, I don’t want to do anything that could jeopardize my relationship with my brothers.