Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
OPERATION GET EZRA AND SUTTON TOGETHER FOR REAL
KEN DOLL: Everyone to my room! Emergency meeting!
MACKEY: No.
CAP: No.
WEBBY: What’s the emergency?
KEN DOLL: Z is finally ready to listen and make a plan to make things real with Sutton! It’s all hands on deck!
CAP: That’s not an emergency. I’m already tucked in for the night, so you’ll have to go on without me.
MACKEY: I’m busy.
KEN DOLL: Sorry, Cap, forgot you’re old. What could you possibly be doing, Mackey? We’re on the opposite side of the country!
CAP: Fuck off.
MACKEY: None of your damn business.
ME: We don’t need all hands on deck.
KEN DOLL: FINE. Guess I’ll do this by myself since no one else is as invested as I am.
WEBBY: What room are you in?
The only thing Kendall’s missing right now is a whiteboard and red string.
I swear he hasn’t taken a breath in the last ten minutes. The minute Webby knocked on the door, Kendall ushered him inside and sat us on the bed before starting his spiel.
For a man who doesn’t want to be in a serious relationship, he’s got some fantastic ideas about how to win her over. The only problem is, I don’t need to win her over. I need to ease her anxiety about working together, and after tonight, about Davis.
The guilt swirling in my stomach over the hurt on his face has me thinking I might puke up my dinner.
How was I supposed to know he still had feelings for her a decade later?
It’s not like he ever talked about her. He never mentioned holding a torch for their relationship, or gave any indication that he would want her back.
If he did, why didn’t he do something about it? He must’ve known the chances of them running into each other again are slim to none.
Well, were slim to none.
“So after you take her to dinner, you—” A knock on the door interrupts the twelfth step in his unnecessary twenty-step plan. When he opens it, his back snaps straight. “Uh, Z? It’s for you.”
The door opens wider to show Davis standing there.
Ah shit.
“If you came here to hurt Z, I’ll tell my football player older brother to round up all his football buddies and we’ll make it so you can’t perform surgery ever again,” Kendall threatens, pointing menacingly at Davis.
“He’s not a surgeon,” I mumble.
My brother holds his hands up. “I don’t want to hurt him. I just… I want to talk.”
“Mhmm. We’ll see.” Kendall looks at me and when I nod, he looks at Webby. “Webby, let’s go to the bar to give these two space to talk. Text us the codeword if you need us.”
“What codeword?”
Kendall doesn’t answer as he and Webby slip out the door.
When the door shuts, Davis opens his mouth to say something, but I hold up a hand, motioning for him to wait. I check the peep hole in the door, waiting until I can’t see my friends’ shadows before I turn around.
“Kendall is nosey and doesn’t need any more ammo about my private life. How did you know what room I was in?”
“I asked the front desk. Had to show them my ID to prove we were actually related, but I told them you left something in the car and I needed to bring it to you. Mom and dad are waiting for me so I shouldn’t take too long.”
“Okay… Look, if you’re here to yell at me again, you can save your energy.”
“I’m not here to yell at you. I just…” He starts pacing the room, running his hands through his hair.
We have the same hair color, but I notice a few gray strands woven through his.
The stress of med school must really be getting to him.
“Sutton? Really? Of all the people in the world, you chose to fall for my ex fiancée?”
“I didn’t choose to fall for her,” I scoff. “I never planned on being anything more than friends. It just happened.”
“So the crush you used to have on her had nothing to do with you wanting to be her friend? ”
“You knew about my crush on her? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“What was I supposed to say back then? She was going to marry me. I didn’t think I had anything to worry about. Clearly, I was wrong.”
“Davis,” I say, hoping he’ll see that I would never have hurt him like that—back then.
“If we had gone through with the wedding, would you have tried to get with my wife?”
“Of fucking course not!”
“Okay well did you see her showing up in your life again as some kind of second chance for you to finally take your shot?”
“What? No, this wasn’t—I didn’t—Sutton just—”
“Then why do you want to be with her now?”
“Because I fell in lo—” My mouth snaps shut as I realize I can’t admit I’m in love with her to my brother. Especially when I haven’t said it to her.
Is my brother going to hate me for the rest of my life for this?
Sutton would never forgive herself if she caused that kind of rift between us, she’s too good to hurt someone like that.
I don’t want to hurt him either, but I can’t lose Sutton.
“Aw fuck. Really!?” He groans and inhales a deep breath, letting it all go at once. “I get it. Goddammit, I really wanted to stay angry at you for this, but I get it. She’s the easiest person in the world to love.” He finishes, his shoulders slumping.
“I didn’t know you still had feelings for her.”
“I don’t think I do. I think I was hoping I would, or she would, and it would be easy to fall back into what we had, but it’s clear we’ve both changed.
Our paths weren’t meant to combine, but they were meant to cross again.
I just never thought it would be because she’s dating my little brother.
” He lets out a disbelieving chuckle, scrubbing his hand down his face.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry it all blew up this way. But I’m not sorry about how I feel. If you want me to stop—”
“No, no I don’t want that. Mom and Dad talked to me and helped me see how I was overreacting. I’m sorry I’ve been a shitty brother. I’m sorry about how I acted at dinner. You deserve to be happy, and if Sutton makes you happy… You should take the shot, Ez. Don’t let her slip away.”
“I won’t.” I stand, and we give each other a quick hug. The queasiness I felt earlier dissipates, and hope takes its place. With Davis’s blessing, that’s one less complication to work through.
“If you break her heart, I’m taking her side.” He says sternly.
“I would expect nothing less.” I laugh.