Chapter 18 #2
“Well, yes and no,” Ari grumbles, but there’s no anger in her words, at the same time I say, “Worked a little too well.”
“What does that mean?” Theodore asks, placing a hand on his wife’s elbow to help calm her down.
After a quick peek in my direction, Ari sits straighter and rushes the important part of all this out.
“I’m pregnant. Fourteen weeks. Yes, it’s Dean’s. No, we didn’t plan this. Yes, I’m happy. We both are.”
The room falls into a silence so painful, I resist the urge to speak up first. Ari clutches my hand in hers, shoulders stiff as a board while she holds a staring contest with her mom.
Katherine is the one who finally breaks it.
“You’re…” Then she squeals. Louder than she did before and higher than I would have thought possible. “I’m gonna be a grandma?”
She’s crossing the living room, practically falling into Arianna’s lap as she wraps her into a hug so tight, I wonder if it’s possible to cut off blood supply to the baby. While the two of them cry and hug, I look over at Theodore first.
He moved quickly, already standing behind his wife with his arms out and ready to catch her if she slips. When he looks at me, relief pours through my veins at a pace that leaves me dizzy.
With a hand still held out behind Katherine’s back, he pulls me into a half hug. “Congratulations, Son.”
It’s such a simple statement. Something he’s said to me countless times before when we’ve won a game or when I’ve gotten nominated for an award.
However, this time, the words hit completely different.
Katherine swoops in, silently trading off with Theodore so he can go hug his daughter and peppering me with all the things she gets to buy now.
I’m just about to check in on Ari when motion across the room catches my eye.
I watch Landon’s back disappear through the kitchen, frowning. When I turn back to Arianna to find her staring at the door her brother just left through, tears lining her eyes and a frown taking over the once happy moment, I follow him.
When I find the kitchen empty, I slip out the back door and find him stepping up to the waterfront. I don’t say anything as I approach, but there’s no doubt he heard me coming. Slipping up beside him, we stand side by side in silence for a couple minutes, looking out over the calm of the bay.
“How mad are you?” I finally ask when the quiet becomes too much.
Landon sighs, dipping his hands in his pockets while mindlessly kicking at some of the pebbles. “I’m not mad.”
“Coulda fooled me.” I snort. “You hurt your sister’s feelings.”
“Yeah, because you know all about what my sister is feeling,” he snaps and my eyebrows fly up and I almost take a step back.
Landon is a peacekeeper. He’s the guy in the locker room who can sense when a joke is about to be taken too far and pivots the conversation. He’s the one who can stand skate to skate with a man bigger than him screaming in his face and won’t even flinch. Landon doesn’t raise his voice or get upset.
Until now.
If this were any other situation, I’d probably be backtracking. I’d be bending over backward to help make things better. Because Landon being upset or angry just feels wrong.
In this moment, however, I refuse to let his anger get back to Arianna.
Straightening my shoulders, I turn my body toward him. “Yes, I do know all about her feelings. And I can tell you with one look at her back there, that you proved every single one of her fears right.”
He at least has the decency to flinch, but I can tell there’s still more he needs to get off his chest, and that I’m about to be his punching bag.
“She’ll be—”
“I swear, if you’re about to say the word fine, I will shove you into the bay. Will she be okay? Absolutely. I’ll make sure of that.” I cross my arms, trying to ease the disappointment running through my veins. “Just because she’ll be okay, doesn’t give you the right to upset her.”
“So I’m supposed to get over the fact that my best friend has been sneaking around with my sister for…how long have you even been seeing her behind my back?”
“Kinda and just over two years.”
His eyes bulge so wide, I almost want to laugh.
“Two years?” Landon finally looks at me, his jaw working overtime as he grinds his teeth. “Bullshit. I’ve seen you flirt with women every time we go out. There’s no way—”
“What you’ve seen is me being friendly, and in some cases, it was under the guise of distracting you when I thought for sure you caught me checking out Ari’s ass. Oh, don’t look at me like that.” I roll my eyes when his face turns red at my admission that I’ve checked out his sister.
Considering she’s having my baby, I’ve done more than just look at her.
Not that he needs to hear that. Instead, I work on defusing the situation.
“From the second I got with Ari, everyone else…didn’t matter.
If you saw me flirting, chances are that I was actually hyping up one of the guys.
” I shake my head. “I get being upset. I do. You’re my best friend and I never wanted to lie to you or anything.
But when a girl like Arianna asks you to keep your mouth shut… you listen.”
He finally chuckles at that, understanding just what I mean about his sister.
“I’m not upset…” He runs a hand through his messy, red curls, tugging on them while he goes on. “I mean, yes, I am, but it’s mostly because I thought we were all closer. I thought you guys trusted me enough to know I wouldn’t…”
“Act like a dick?” I finish for him with a quirked eyebrow.
Landon curses under his breath, hanging his head so his chin rests on his chest. I sigh, stepping up beside him and nudging him gently.
“I mean this as nicely as I can. None of this is about you. It’s about Arianna.
It’s about what she wants and needs, not about if we trusted you or not.
It’s not that we didn’t think we couldn’t come to you.
We didn’t tell you because we were focusing on doing what was right for us and our relationship as we went along.
Up until she got pregnant, what we had was nobody’s concern but ours.
You’re my best friend, man, but Arianna is my priority. So is the baby.”
His breath hitches at my words, but I’m not finished.
“I never stood a chance when it came to her. We were always going to end up here. Come on, dude, you know her. How could you expect anyone to meet her and not become completely enamored by her? Can you really be mad at me for seeing her and wanting more?”
Landon’s shoulders drop as if my words physically hit a mark to make him see it from where I’m standing.
When he finally looks at me, I don’t bother trying to smile or lighten the mood.
Instead, I let him see everything I’m feeling.
This time, when his eyes widen again, it’s at the realization I came to a while ago.
“You love her.”
It’s not a question, and I don’t bother trying to deny it.
“Without a doubt.”
He watches me for a beat longer before glancing back over his shoulder toward the house. He sucks in a deep breath, face crestfallen as he faces forward once more.
“Shit,” he grumbles.
“Yup.”
“I fucked that up.”
“Yup,” I say again because there’s no point trying to sweep it under the rug.
“It’s weird. I’ve always been happy for her, without hesitation or questioning her decisions.
If she made an announcement, I would immediately clap for her.
She never needed me to be a protective big bro.
She just wanted me in her corner as much as she’s been in mine.
” He pauses, knocking a rock into the water.
“This time, though, it’s like I could see how badly she wanted me to be happy for her, but I just couldn’t.
Not because I’m not happy for her, but because I was overwhelmed with… I don’t even know what.”
“Jealousy? Anger?” I slap his shoulder, jostling him as I finally crack a joke. “Oo maybe this is what women mean when they say men ruin everything!”
That gets a small laugh from him, and I finally give in to the urge to throw an arm over his shoulder.
“You realize you owe her an apology, right?” I ask, needing to hear him say that he’s going to make it right with his sister.
“I know,” Landon says. “I just…need time.”
My arm falls from him, that earlier disappointment rearing back at full force. He scrubs a hand over his face.
“It’s selfish. I know it is. All I keep thinking about, though, is that neither of you felt that you could come to me.
I’m replaying all these different times that we were all together and wondering what I did to put a wall between us.
Something I did made you feel like I wasn’t a safe place and would turn you guys away. ”
“Which is exactly what you’re doing.” I point out.
“No, I’m—”
“Telling me that you need space to process the fact that your sister is going through the biggest change of her life. You’re choosing to focus on an insecurity rather than celebrate a monumental moment, one you won’t get to redo.
You’re taking your hurt feelings out on her at a time when she needs support more than ever before.
” Shaking my head, I back away. “I’m not saying your feelings aren’t valid, but using your insecurity as a defense is sad.
Arianna didn’t want her brother to know that she was using his best friend as a fuck buddy.
Until this year, I didn’t want to admit that I fell head over heels for my best friend’s sister.
We had our reasons for keeping things private, and when it became relevant to include you, we did. ”
I start walking away, needing to put distance between us before I follow through on my earlier threat to push him into the bay. Pausing at the deck, I speak just loud enough for him to hear.
“You’re right about one thing, though. You are being selfish. Something I didn’t think was even possible. And if you don’t get your head out of your ass quickly, you’re going to damage the relationship you have with your sister permanently.”