The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps breaks my eye contact with Trey just in time to see Aaron jog onto my porch. You can see the minute he sees Trey because his jovial expression switches to panic. His eyes run skittishly between us, skimming over our connected hands and back to Trey.
My tongue feels twisted, my throat completely choked up. I never wanted these two to meet. I never wanted to be in this position where my heart reaches out to two men. But does it? Does it really reach out to two men?
They’re two different chapters in my life, two chapters that are now colliding in the worst way possible.
Silence stretches between us for what seems like a lifetime until Trey stands, his hands leaving mine, and steps toward Aaron, as if he’s trying to get a better look at him. How do I explain Aaron to Trey? I wring my hands together, wracking my brain for some kind of words when Trey says, “Aaron?”
What?
How the hell does Trey know Aaron? Confused, I look between the two of them, trying to understand their connection, how they might possibly know each other. Did I show Trey a picture one time? That doesn’t seem like something I would do, especially since ex-boyfriends are meant to stay in the past.
I’m about to question Trey when Aaron deflates right in front of me and says, “Trey.” It’s as if he knows Trey. Well, I guess he did see his picture that day on the mantel. His shoulders slump, his hand pulls on the back of his neck, he’s showing all the signs of being defeated. But why? Why isn’t he by my side? Where has confident Aaron gone?
I capture their attention as I stand. I take them in, trying to connect the dots. Aaron avoids looking at me, and Trey is puzzled as to why Aaron is on the porch. But when their eyes meet mine, their vivid blue eyes, my heart catches in my chest.
Oh my God.
No. Surely not.
With my voice shaky, my body humming with awareness, I ask, “Trey, how do you know Aaron?”
Without skipping a beat, Trey says, “He’s my biological brother.”
I know the earth spins on its axis at a consistent pace, never slowing down and never speeding up. I know this is a true scientific fact, but I swear to you, at this moment in time, with both Aaron and Trey staring at me, their eyes burning a hole in my soul, the earth stands still, the air stagnant around us. For a brief moment in time, everything around our little threesome pauses as I try to wrap my head around what Trey just said.
They are brothers. The two loves of my life are brothers. And from the looks of it, from the guilty expression Aaron is wearing, he’s known.
He’s fucking known. It’s written all over his face.
When? How long? A million questions roll through me as my mind flashes back to a few weeks ago, when Aaron was in my house, waiting on a rent check from me. He was in my living room, when I came back, I saw him looking at a picture of Trey and me. Did he know then? He must have. And he kept it a secret this entire time, never bothering to tell me?
Turning to Aaron, I state, “You knew, didn’t you? You knew I was dating Trey, that I was dating your brother, and you didn’t say anything.” My voice gets louder, angrier as I press him with my questions.
Aaron doesn’t look me in the eye, instead, he avoids me at all costs, his feet shifting beneath him. “I knew,” he admits, his voice full of sorrow, so quiet I almost didn’t hear him.
Trey looks between us, trying to understand what’s happening, and then realization hits him. “Aaron. This is Aaron? The guy who broke you, shattered your heart? That’s this Aaron?”
I nod.
“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” I’ve never seen Trey so distraught. Even when I eventually shared my relationship with Aaron, he was angry, but quietly supportive. I can only attribute this out-of-character display of fury to his emotional state. He looks ragged. A little lost. Trey turns to Aaron, and I see rage starting to flex in his arms. “Do you realize what you did to her?” Trey’s voice rises, and I worry about the neighbors. “Do you understand the kind of mental dent you put in Amelia? Her ability to love, to let people in?” Growing angrier by the second, Trey steps up to Aaron, only a few inches shorter than him and says, “You’re a fucking asshole.” And before I can stop him, Trey pushes Aaron off the porch, causing Aaron to stumble backward and fall to the ground.
Not giving Aaron a chance to get back up on his feet, Trey charges after him, saying, “Why the hell are you here?” Trey pounces on Aaron, straddling him and lands a punch to his face. I scream, placing my hands over my mouth for a brief second before I go after Trey, but when I reach them, Aaron flips Trey to his back and cocks his arm. I grab hold of his pulsing bicep but struggle to hold it.
“Stop,” I cry out. “Stop right now.” Tears fall from my eyes as I try to hold Aaron back.
“Go ahead, punch me, fucking do it. I know you’ve wanted to do it for years. Just fucking do it already. It won’t change anything, though. You’re such an asshole.”
Blood drips from Aaron’s nose, his eyes are trained on Trey, and fury radiates in every muscle of his body. For once in my life, I feel afraid of Aaron.
“Do it,” Trey says, egging him on. I’ve never seen this behavior in Trey before. He seems to be more than angry at Aaron for what he did to me. He is . . . taunting him. But why?
“Stop it,” I repeat. They’re both so lost in their own world.
Aaron pauses and pushes off Trey. I scoot back and watch as Aaron flips the hood of his sweatshirt over his head.
“You’re not worth it,” Aaron says before walking toward me. The look in his face can only be described as utter devastation. In a low voice, he says, “I’m sorry, Amelia. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Not giving me a chance to respond, he takes off toward his truck and pulls keys from his pocket to unlock it. The truck roars to life, and in the matter of seconds, he’s taking off down the road, leaving only his sorrow in his wake. What just happened?
Bewilderment, anger, pain, and doubt overwhelm me. The biggest question is why. Why did he hide what he knew? Why didn’t he stay to help me understand, especially after he’d told me less than an hour ago how much he loved me and I was his forever? The worst thing? These feelings are horribly familiar. Watching him leave me, feeling confused, hurt, and angry.
What just happened?
Chapter Twenty-Six
AARON
I bang on the door right after I swipe at my nose again. There is blood all over the arm of my grey sweatshirt, and it keeps coming, probably because I’ve made no attempt at stopping it. I knock again, this time a little louder, growing impatient. Shifting on my feet, my hood still cast over my head, I ring the doorbell.
Finally I hear footsteps approach and the door unlocks. Tucker appears, shirtless, looking irritated as shit until he takes in my appearance.
“Smalls, what the hell?”