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There was just one problem. Gabe leaned against the bar across from us and greeted Sebastian, asking him how his renovations were going.

I couldn’t discover Abigail’s hidden layers, because my best and oldest friend would kill me. He’d nearly throttled me for being in her bathroom without a shirton.

Tuning back into the conversation, I slapped Donny on the back. “I think my brother needs to let off some steam,” I said to Sebastian. “If you’ve got more demolition to do, Donny’s your guy.”

“Hell yeah!” Sebastian said. “We’re demoing Albert’s old apartment downstairs. Going for an open-plan kind of layout, and we need to knock down all those walls.”

Donny straightened, glancing once at his old team on the TV, then back at Sebastian. “I could use a little pressure release right now.”

I grinned. It felt good to see Donny brightening, to know that I could still take care of my little brother. This was the way things were meant to be. The people I cared about could rely on me.

When Donny and Sebastian left to go knock down old walls, Gabe meandered back to my end of the bar and leaned his elbows on the wooden surface. He watched me for a moment, then said, “You were serious about this thing with my sister being fake, right?”

I paused for a bare second, but it was long enough for Gabe to narrow his eyes. Hurrying to cover up for my hesitation, I grinned at him. “She’s just doing me a favor, man.”

“Good.”

“Why good?”

Gabe leaned his palms against the bar, frowning at me. “Why is it good that you and Abigail aren’t actually dating?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, we’re not teenagers anymore. She’s been divorced for a while. You still on that overprotective bullshit?”

“Are you saying you want to date my sister?”

If I’d had the courage to be honest—to him and to myself—I might’ve said yes. I might’ve admitted that I liked the way she teased me, that I enjoyed making her laugh. I might’ve told Gabe that his sister deserved someone to treat her right, for once.

And she didn’t make me feel like I had to hold her world together. I could be around her and exist, and I was good enough just by being who I was. No one else made me feel that way.

But what came out was a snort and a, “Nah. I’m just saying, your sister’s going to date again eventually.”

“Yeah, but she’s not going to dateyou.”

I threw my hands up. “I’m just saying.”

“Saying what, though?”

I didn’t know. But as Gabe watched me, I knew that I couldn’t do anything to hurt him.

Gabe had been my best friend since we were in middle school. After Sebastian—my childhood best friend—left town as a kid, Gabe had stepped in, and we’d been tight ever since. He’d been there for me when my dad died, when I had to run around keeping the family afloat. Much like Abigail, with Gabe I could justbe. I couldn’t pay that back by telling him I was into his sister.

I wasn’t the type of guy who hurt the people I cared about. If someone needed to sacrifice to make sure that the other ended up happy, I was the one who’d go without. It wasn’t because I enjoyed being noble and selfless; it was because that was the way I was wired.

Yes, sometimes I wished that someone would take care of me.Sometimes I wanted to be seen, to feel likeIwas worthy of effort.

But that just wasn’t the way things were.

Gabe was my best friend. He’d been there for me for decades. I would always put that ahead of my own selfish desires.

But later, when I went back to Abigail’s and heard her voice floating down the hallway toward me, I couldn’t help the relief that swept through me at being able to see her again.

THIRTEEN

ABIGAIL

My eye was twitching again.

Blair clicked her tongue as she looked around my second living area, shaking her head. “This won’t work. I have eleven bridesmaids, and we need to do a video of us getting ready together! How Donny thought this place was a good idea, I’ll never know.”