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I take a deep breath. “Now that my brother is back, what happens?”
He turns to face me. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t have to be my brother’s keeper anymore. So what happens between us now?”
He pauses as though in thought. “That depends on what you want.”
“How does it depend on what I want?” What else is there to question? “This was my brother’s plan from start to finish. This should be self-explanatory.”
He hesitates. “Under normal circumstances, yes. But there’s more to it.”
“What are you talking about?”
After cleaning off the dishes and setting them in the dishwasher, Jake sits down next to me again. He takes my hand in his. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.”
I stay silent, as though waiting for a bomb to go off.
“I’m in love with you. And I have been for a long time.”
So when he said he loved me midorgasm, he meant it?
I gasp. “Y-you have?”
“Yes. That’s why I say it’s up to you. I don’t intend on leaving unless you tell me you don’t feel the same.”
I’m about to say something, but Jake continues. “Before you say anything though, I need to come clean with you about something else.”
I squeeze my hand. I study his anxiety-filled expression. He must be scared about how I’ll react. “I understand.”
He sighs deeply. “On New Year’s, I said Jonathan told me to move into your apartment to keep an eye on you. That was a lie. I just said that to convince you it was his idea and not mine.”
Is he saying what I think he’s saying? “You mean…my brother never told you to move in?”
“He was never involved.”
“So… So…” I can’t find my words. Not only did he move in with me for god-knows-what reason, he also lied to me about my brother’s involvement. “But why?”
“Why did you think I kissed you on New Year’s?”
His words make me put two and two together. He’s in love with me and he moved in with me because…he’s in love with me.
“You did all of this…for me?”
“And I’d do it all over again if it meant I’ve won your heart.” He pulls his hand away from mine. Immediately, I miss his touch. I start to open my mouth in reply when he hands me my phone. “If you don’t believe me, call your brother. He’ll confirm everything I’m telling you.”
If he’s been lying to both me and Jonathan, wouldn’t me calling my brother risk his friendship with him? “What about my brother? If I told him, you could lose everything.”
“Call him,” he assures me.
Opening my phone, I scroll through my contacts until I find my brother’s number.
I look back up at Jake for confirmation. He can’t be serious. Does he know what he stands to lose? My brother will want to feed him his balls when I tell him this.
He gives me a firm nod.
Okay, his funeral.
I click on his number and lift the phone to my ear. It rings once…twice… Then it stops before the third.