This was so not how I pictured telling my brother about Jase and me. Not while I was in bed with his best friend or when Avery stood in the corner, now looking like she would rather be standing on her head while getting a bikini wax.
“We’re together.” I cleared my throat. Couldn’t I have at least had time to brush my teeth before having this conversation? “Jase and I are together.”
My brother stared at me like I’d told him I was now dating his pet turtle. “Bull. Shit.”
“Excuse me?” I said.
“You are not with Jase,” he said, ignoring Avery when she reached for his arm. It was then that I noticed her left hand—her ring finger did not have a big old rock on it. “No girl is with Jase—not longer than a night or a hookup here or there.”
Jase stilled. “It’s not like that with Tess.”
My brother cut him a dark look. “That’s my fucking sister, Jase. This isn’t some fucking random girl. Don’t forget that I know—I know shit and you’re not getting my sister—”
“Whoa!” I shouted. “I’m not ‘some fucking random girl,’ and it’s different between us.”
Cam snorted. “Fucking Christ, Teresa, are you stupid?”
It literally was a nanosecond. One moment Jase was beside me, and the next he was off that bed, standing in front of my brother. Might make me a bad, bad girl, but I got a bit hung up on seeing Jase in his half-naked glory. The tight, black undies hugged the muscular curve of his ass like a glove. His thighs were perfectly formed, wide but not too much. The cords of the muscles in his back rippled and tensed, causing the knots of his tattoos that reached along his side and shaded into his back to move.
“Now, you can be pissed off at me all you want, Cam, but don’t get in her face. Not after what—”
“Don’t fucking step to me.” Cam got up in Jase’s face, and my stomach plummeted. I scrambled out from under the covers, tugging the shirt down as my brother’s face reddened. “That’s my little sister—”
“I’m not a kid, Cam! And you know Jase is a good guy, so stop being such an ass. We were going to tell you, but—” I gasped as I put my weight down hard on my right leg and my knee started to turn.
Jase whirled and started toward me. “Tess—”
“I’m fine.” I bent over slightly, placing my hand over my knee.
Cam cursed. “Look at what you did.”
“He didn’t do anything,” Avery said, her eyes wide. “Cam, I think we need to step out for a few and give everyone time to cool off.”
“I agree.” Jase gently pushed me down until I was sitting, which put me at eye level of his crotch, and this whole situation just got fucked up on a multitude of levels. “I think we both need to calm down.”
“Like I give a fuck,” Cam spat back, running a hand through his hair. He turned halfway, shook his head, and faced us. “How long? How long has this been going on?”
Jase straightened as he turned to my brother. “The first time I kissed her was a year ago—”
That was all he got out.
Like a speeding bullet, Cam shot forward. Avery shouted in alarm, and I lurched from the bed, but it was too late.
Cam’s fist connected with Jase’s jaw, spinning him back. He hit the wall with a loud curse and slid down, clutching his jaw. “Fuck,” Jase grunted.
I cried out, dropping onto the floor next to him. My leg screamed in pain, but I ignored it. Grabbing Jase’s arm, I glared at my brother. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
He was breathing heavily as he lowered his hands, blinking rapidly. Avery kept a hold on his straining upper arms. “He shouldn’t—”
“He shouldn’t what? Be there for me? Treat me like I should be? Be with me? Because he’s doing all those things. So too fucking bad, because he is and I love him. So you can go fuck . . .” I trailed off as tingles swirled down the back of my neck. Slowly I turned to look at Jase. Blood drained from my face so fast that I thought I might pass out. What did I just say? “Oh God . . .”
The right side of his jaw was red, but he stared up at me, his eyes a bright silver. “What?” he whispered.
I loved Jase. I knew that. I’d fully accepted that, but I hadn’t been ready to tell him and especially not in front of my brother after he’d just hit him.
This was so unromantic.
“Come on, Cam, let’s give them some space.” Avery tugged on his arm, and for fuck’s sake, my brother finally listened. He stumbled around, letting her lead him out of the room like he was in a daze.
I watched the door close and debated on running out of the apartment. Maybe Avery’s was unlocked and I could go hide in her closet. For like a week. I did not just admit that I loved him. Please God, let him think I said something else—anything else. Like maybe I dove you. That was better.