Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 119093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
“They are,” Brody agrees. “I was hoping you’d get to meet my brother and sister… next time.” Brody pulls me onto the couch with him and snuggles me into his side. I sigh in contentment, having missed this so much while I was away.
“I know it’s late, but can we talk?” Hayden asks, instantly sobering me.
I nod and pull away from Brody, wanting to be in my right mind while we talk.
Hayden pushes out a harsh breath and sits on the coffee table in front of me. “I need you to know before I start that Brody wasn’t okay with me keeping it from you, but I put him in a shitty situation, and he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
I nod in understanding, already knowing this because he said it when I first found out, but I can respect Hayden for trying to keep his best friend out of this. When they said if I didn’t want to be with one of them anymore that they’d respect it, they obviously meant it, and I can tell by the way Hayden’s talking, even if he believes we’re over, he’s trying to save Brody from the same demise.
“The day I met you, I was sent by my father to convince you to let us buy you out of your lease,” he admits. “Until I walked through the door, you were just business, but something crazy happened when I saw you… Like instant attraction.” He shakes his head, smiling softly. “All business was thrown out the window, and all I wanted was to take you out on a date.” He smirks. “But you weren’t having it.”
Brody chuckles under his breath. “She was having me, though.” He winks, and I bark out a laugh, remembering how that went down.
“Only because I made a deal with Lacey,” I tell him. “After I turned down Hayden, she convinced me to give the next guy who asked me out a chance, and that was you.”
Brody’s features pinch together, and Hayden laughs.
“I should’ve walked away,” Hayden says, steering the conversation back on track. “But when I went in there again to talk to you, I couldn’t help myself. I had to try again, and you said yes.”
He smiles sadly. “I knew it was a conflict of interest, but I kept telling myself I’d figure it out. I spent hours, hell days, finding better, more profitable properties to present to my dad, but he was hell-bent on buying you out because he’s not used to being told no.”
“It probably doesn’t help that I called the cops on him.”
Brody and Hayden laugh.
“No,” Hayden says. “That definitely didn’t help.” He takes my hands in his and massages circles into my palms. “I never once told him I would convince you to buy out. I kept saying I was handling it, and in my head, I honestly thought I could get him to change directions. The properties I found had better locations and would be easier to get permits for. But he’s stubborn, and at this point, he’s only refusing to look at a different property out of spite.
“I went to him and told him that I care about you, that I’m falling in love with you, and asked him to please reconsider. When it became clear that business would always come first—even ahead of his own son—I quit.”
My brain freezes at the word love. It’s too soon to be falling in love, right? Yet that’s exactly what I’m feeling. I’m falling for both of them…fast, and that’s why when I found out about Hayden, it hurt so badly. Because it only hurts when you care.
“My dad isn’t going to stop coming after you,” Hayden says, his lips curving downward. “But there’s nothing he can do. The lease can’t be broken unless you agree, which you won’t be doing. Benitez can take you to court, but he most likely won’t win.”
“And if he does,” Brody adds. “I have the best damn attorneys on retainer that will fight him.”
“We won’t let them take Heart’s from you,” Hayden agrees, “regardless of how things end up between us.”
My heart squeezes behind my rib cage at how selfless and thoughtful they are. “I appreciate that,” I tell them both, “but it’s not your fight. It’s mine. And I won’t take it lying down.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Hayden says. “Your fight is ours. If you’ll let us fight beside you… with you.”
“I want you both beside me, but in order for this to work, we have to communicate honestly. I understand you didn’t directly come after me, but sometime in the past several weeks we’ve been dating, you should’ve told me. I would rather find out from you than someone else. And I’d rather be hurt by the truth than be ignorant to the lie.”