Page 33

Riley

Almost a year later.

“Oh, God, baby, don’t stop,” I panted, gripping the edge of the mattress with one hand and jerking myself furiously as Nolan pounded into my ass. “Fuck, yeah… Fuck, I’m gonna…”

He groaned, holding my hips even tighter. “Come, baby. Come on. I want to feel it.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and pumped my dick for all I was worth. And just like that, I was there, crying out things even I didn’t understand as I came all over my hand and the sheet.

Behind me, Nolan swore, and then he pulled me back onto him, my ass flush against his hips, and he held me there as he came with a shuddering moan.

I released my breath and let my forehead touch the mattress. Nolan loosened his grasp on my hips. For a moment, we just stayed like that, trembling all over as we still vibrated from our orgasms.

Finally, he pulled out, and we both collapsed onto the hotel bed, sweating, shaking and panting. Nolan was on his back. I was on my stomach, not even caring that I was lying in the wet spot. I felt too damn good to be bothered.

He turned onto his side and ran his hand up my back. “You going to be able to sit comfortably tonight?”

“Pfft. Of course I am.” I raised my head and smirked. “You didn’t fuck me that hard.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Don’t know, Marine. You up for it?”

He laughed and gave my ass a light slap. We both knew he was more than capable of drilling me so hard I could barely move. I loved it when he did that, but he made a good point about sitting comfortably. Spending a few hours in a chair after he’d fucked me into oblivion—nah, I’d pass.

“Be right back.” He kissed my shoulder, then got up and went into the tiny bathroom, probably to get a towel and washcloth for us to clean up.

Alone for a moment, I closed my eyes and just basked in the bliss. It had taken a few months to work up to him topping me, but one night, we got there. Nolan had been fingering me while I’d lazily played with myself, and then he’d whispered, “Can I fuck you?”

“Yes, please,” I’d murmured in return, and moments later, he’d been balls deep in me. It had been slow and languid, and Nolan teared up after he came, and it probably ranked as one of the most amazing things I’d ever experienced. Not just having sex with the man I loved, but being with him—being as close to him as I could possibly be—while he took a huge step toward overcoming his trauma.

Since then, it had become easier and more about us fooling around than him dealing with his past. He loved being on top, and we’d experimented with different positions, different furniture—hell, he’d fucked me on a beach one night last fall. Sometimes, he still struggled to get into a headspace where he wanted to top, and that was fine. Sometimes he didn’t want sex at all. Also fine.

But every night, unless one of us had overnight duty, we were in the same bed, fighting the cats for space.

Something wet landed on my ass with a slap, and I yelped. “What the fuck?” When I reached back, I found a damp washcloth, and my boyfriend, snickering by the foot of the bed.

“Asshole,” I muttered, but I couldn’t help chuckling, and we cleaned ourselves up.

Nolan glanced toward the bathroom. “I’d suggest showering together, but you know what’ll happen if we do.”

I bit my lip. “I do. And it’s tempting.”

“Mmhmm, it is.” He kissed me lightly. “But we have to get going. And we both have to be able to sit comfortably for a couple of hours.”

I groaned theatrically. “Ugh. Fine .”

He chuckled and kissed me once more.

Nolan showered first, and then it was my turn. While I let the hot spray run over my neck and shoulders, the pressure lighting up the pleasant aches from a marathon roll in the hay with Nolan, I grinned to myself. The sex was amazing. The man I loved was even better. And life with him, well, it was fucking awesome.

That wasn’t to say life had been easy, but that had less to do with us and more to do with everyone and everything around us. The last year had been a roller coaster, mostly with his family. His parents and his younger brother were supportive, but the extended family was weirdly mixed. Some were furious with Nolan for bringing up his assaults now instead of when they happened, and they thought Matt and Sophia should be angry that their wedding had been interrupted over it.

Others predictably thought Nolan was lying. He’d had an affair with Leann and was now trying to put all the blame on her in the worst way possible. He was jealous of his younger brother being in the spotlight, or of his older brother for marrying Leann when Nolan wanted him for himself. And of course all the usual fallacies about how if he’d been able to have sex with her, then it obviously wasn’t rape. Some had even pressured Nolan to apologize to Andrew, which made no fucking sense to me.

Nolan’s “blocked” list on social media grew significantly in the wake of last year’s debacle.

Fortunately, he’d started seeing a therapist shortly after our trip to Seattle last year. She’d helped him make huge strides in dealing with the sexual trauma, the conflict within his family, and even the moderate PTSD he had from his combat tours. He still had a long, long road ahead, but he’d come a hell of a lot further than he’d thought he ever would.

He was edgy about the Marine Corps knowing he had a therapist, though, so he’d found a civilian who would do televisits, and he paid in cash so his insurance didn’t notify his chain of command (something we’d both seen happen). Officially, the military wasn’t supposed to prevent us from seeking mental healthcare anymore, or penalize us on evals, but we both knew it happened. Ironically, for all my own parents had wrung their hands over us suffering unofficial consequences of being gay, it was things like seeking mental healthcare that could hurt us more than anything.

So he kept it on the DL, and neither of us told anyone. Not even our families.

And speaking of family, the road ahead with mine had been bumpy to say the least. I remained no-contact with my parents, but my brother had wanted to keep communication channels open. Kevin still hadn’t wanted to choose sides, but he’d stopped pressuring me to make up with my parents. In fact, for a few months after I’d left California for the last time, he’d tried to persuade them to see where they’d gone wrong.

Eventually, I’d told him let it go. I didn’t want to drag him into the middle—I never had—and I wanted our relationship to be about us being brothers, not about him playing go-between with our parents. I had no idea if he still talked to them about me, but we didn’t talk about them. He’d keep me in the loop if there was a serious health issue, though, because he didn’t want me to be blindsided if something happened to one of them. Otherwise, it was just him and me, and we were probably communicating more now than we had in years.

In fact, Nolan and I had followed a similar trajectory on this trip as we had last time. We just hadn’t told my parents we were in town. We spent a few days with my brother and his family, and we visited some of my old friends. Then we came up here to visit Nolan’s family.

It hurt. I couldn’t lie. It sucked being estranged from my parents. But it was also a huge weight off my shoulders. Was this what closure felt like? Probably.

Maybe someday, they’d come around and decide I was more important than their hangups about queerness. In the meantime, in addition to my brother, I had Nolan, and his family had accepted me into the fold as if I’d been here from day one. I could live with that.

His mom had made some noise about wishing we lived closer, but she understood that we both liked Okinawa. In fact, she and John were coming to visit us in a few months.

We’d be there a while, too. I’d reenlist in a few months, and I’d be staying on Okinawa for another three years. Nolan was going to start negotiating orders for his own reenlistment soon; the detailer thought he had pretty good odds of getting reassigned to Okinawa, but she couldn’t guarantee anything yet. Either way, we’d figure it out. If we had to do the long-distance thing for a while, fine. We could make it work.

He’d also started going to school recently, working toward a Bachelor’s. He still had several years left before he retired, which gave him plenty of time to lock down the degrees he needed for a teaching career. I would start taking classes myself soon; I’d procrastinated a bit because I still didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I’d finally talked myself into at least getting the core requirements done. Maybe by the time I’d finished those, I’d have a direction in mind.

I just hoped that wherever the future took us—whether we were on active duty or venturing into the post-military civilian world—it took us there together.

“I still can’t believe your mom talked you into this.”

Nolan turned a grin on me, and he shrugged. “I compromised. I told her I’d only do it if they let both of us go out.”

“Still.” I gestured at the ice, the crowd, and the Jumbotron beyond the Zamboni gate. “This is a lot.”

“It is.” He touched my waist and kissed me softly. Then he raked his eyes up and down my body and winked. “But it was an excuse to get you into your dress uniform.”

My face heated, but I also shamelessly looked him up and down. “Like I’m going to complain about anything that gets you into your dress blues.”

He grinned and blushed.

I didn’t think my dress whites were that hot—the traditional Sailor uniform was what it was—but the Marine dress blues? Hoo, boy. The Corps knew how to dress their people. Put that scorching hot uniform on a body like Nolan’s? Good thing no one was expecting me to skate out onto that ice, or I’d fall on my ass while I checked out his.

A man with a headset approached us. “You gentlemen ready?”

We both nodded.

“All right.” He gave a sharp nod. “When the gates open and they roll out the carpets, you’ll walk out to the second one. Make sure you’re back far enough for the anthem singer”—he nodded toward her—“to stand in front of you.”

“Will do,” we both said.

He nodded again, and then he was talking into his headset.

The arena lights changed, and after a hype montage, the team’s opening lineup was introduced. While that was happening, a pair of black carpets were rolled out in front of the Zamboni gates. When the man with the headset gestured for us to go out, we did. I went out first with Nolan on my heels. On the black carpet, we stopped and faced center ice.

The Jumbotron shifted to Hometown Hero Salute , and the announcer said, “The Seattle Breakers would like to welcome Staff Sergeant Nolan Tyler and MA1 Riley Sweet.” The crowd cheered and applauded, and the announcer continued, “Staff Sergeant Tyler is currently stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa, Japan. He has been awarded numerous commendations and medals, and served two combat tours in Afghanistan.” He paused to let the crowd roar their approval. As that died down, he said, “MA1 Sweet is stationed at Naval Base White Beach, also on Okinawa, and his medals and commendations include two Navy Achievement Medals.”

Under his breath, Nolan muttered, “Showoff.”

I snorted, fighting hard to keep a straight face with the cameras pointed at me. From the way Nolan’s lips pulled tight on the Jumbotron, he was fighting the same battle.

“MA1 Sweet has served a combat deployment in Iraq, as well as two shipboard deployments to the Persian Gulf. Between them, Staff Sergeant Tyler and MA1 Sweet have a combined twenty-eight years of active duty service.”

The applause ticked up, and admittedly, my throat got a little tight. Sometimes I thought all the “thank you for your service” stuff could be more performative than anything, and to some degree, this probably was too. But it still got to me tonight.

Maybe being happy and in love had just turned me into a sap.

As the cheering died down, the attention shifted to the anthem singer. The announcer instructed everyone who was able to stand and remove their hats and helmets, and we stayed behind the singer, both at attention. When she’d finished, the announcer said, “Thank you for your service, Staff Sergeant Tyler and MA1 Sweet.”

This was where we were supposed to turn and head back into the Zamboni gate behind the singer, but Nolan turned toward me instead. I was about to gesture for him to go the other way, but…

Oh. Fuck .

We suddenly had a spotlight on us, and—grinning broadly—Nolan went to one knee. The crowd caught up in the same instant I did, and they roared so loud, I almost didn’t hear him say, “Will you marry me, Riley?”

I could barely even hear the crowd at that point. Was this real?

This man, whose trauma had turned him into a wallflower who didn’t like attention or spotlights, was right here… down one knee… in front of thousands…

Asking me to marry him.

As if I even needed to think about my answer.

“Yes,” I said, though I doubted he heard me. He got the message though, because his smile was huge. As soon as he was on his feet, I threw my arms around him and kissed him, and I genuinely thought the fans were going to shake the place apart.

“Oh my God, I love you,” I said, hoping he heard me over the noise.

From the way he smiled, yeah, he heard me.

We shared a quick kiss, then retreated into the Zamboni gate so we didn’t hold up the game longer than we already had.

“Congratulations, gentlemen!” the announcer called after us.

We turned and waved, and—yep, there we were on the Jumbotron again.

Finally, we were off the ice and behind the closed gate. As soon as we were away from the cameras, I pulled him in close again. Fuck military bearing. Fuck being in uniform. I was marrying the man I loved, and I didn’t give a damn who saw me kissing him right then.

“So, that’s a yes?” he asked with a laugh.

“Are you kidding me? Of course it’s a yes.” I kissed him again, then gazed into his eyes. “Last time we were here, you said hell no to just going out there.” I tipped my head toward the ice. “But now…”

His smile was the most amazing thing in the world. “That was then.” He touched my face. “Now I want everyone to know I’m in love with you.”

Holy shit. He was going to make me break down sobbing right here.

I held it together, though, and I kissed him one more time just before the arena staff herded us out of the tunnel and to an elevator. It took us up to the level where we could get to our seats. We didn’t have far to go, but it took us ages to get to where Nolan’s parents were sitting with Matt and Sophia. Every couple of feet, we were stopped by people who wanted to say thanks for our service, but also to congratulate us and tell us we made an adorable couple. I must’ve looked like an idiot, smiling that big.

It didn’t stop when we got to our seats. A camera found us a second before Nolan’s parents did, and the whole arena got a good look at my soon-to-be-in-laws congratulating us before we settled into our seats. We’d barely sat down before there was a chorus of “Aww.”

Nolan looked up, then he laughed and facepalmed.

I followed the trajectory of his gaze, and… dear God. They had us on the camera with an animated heart around us. We both laughed and shook our heads, and when Nolan wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my cheek, I thought the crowd would blow the roof off the place.

“Oh my God,” Nolan said, still chuckling.

“Right?” I paused. “And this arena has a Kiss Cam, doesn’t it?”

Nolan snorted. “Yep. It does.”

“Think we’ll end up on it?”

He and his family— our family—just laughed.

And yep, we ended up on the Kiss Cam that night.

Twice.

The plan had been to watch the game, then go back to our hotel and celebrate being engaged.

Halfway back to the car, though, Carol’s cell phone had pinged, and she stopped dead, staring at the phone. The rest of us also halted, exchanging concerned glances in between watching her.

“Everything okay?” Matt asked.

“It’s…” She looked up, and she locked eyes with Nolan. “Your brother wants to see you. As soon as possible.”

I felt Nolan’s spine go rigid.

“Why?” he asked.

Carol shook her head. “He didn’t say. But he said it’s important.”

Nolan looked at me, eyes wide. He swallowed hard. Even decked out in his Marine dress blues, every inch the badass, his vulnerability and uneasiness were heartbreaking.

I rested my hand on his back. “It’s up to you.”

He held my gaze, chewing the inside of his cheek. Then he turned to his mom. “Can we meet him at your house tomorrow?”

“Of course,” she said quickly. “Whatever you need.”

And that was how we ended up in Carol and John’s living room the next afternoon, facing off with the brother Nolan hadn’t spoken to since before Matt and Sophia’s wedding.

It was reminiscent of that confrontation with the family last year, except it was only the three of us. That, and Andrew was a far cry from the man who’d decked Nolan in the restroom the night of the rehearsal. He looked… hell, he looked broken . All the anger had drained away, and now he was just lost and exhausted.

And as he wrung his hands, no wedding ring caught the light.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who noticed, either.

“You’re not wearing your ring,” Nolan said quietly.

“No. I’m not.” Andrew looked down at his hands, and he ran a fingertip over the tan line where the gold band used to be. “Leann and I… We’re separating.”

“Oh.” Nolan’s tone was even. No gloating. No vindictiveness. Maybe a question, or I might’ve been projecting because I sure had a few.

Silence hung over us all for a long time before Andrew finally spoke.

“I’m sorry, Nolan.” He stared at the living room carpet between us. “I… When everything came out, I didn’t want to believe it. But now…” He trailed off shaking his head.

Nolan and I glanced at each other. His face was unreadable.

Looking at his brother again, he asked, “Do you believe me?”

Andrew kept his gaze down, and he answered with a slow nod that seemed like it might shake him to pieces.

Beside me, Nolan swallowed, the click audible in the heavy silence.

After another uncomfortable moment, Andrew asked, “What happened—what she did to you—is that why you didn’t come to my wedding?”

Nolan shifted in his chair. “I, uh…” He stared down at his hands. “I had orders for a combat tour. It wasn’t my choice. But, I um…”

“If you hadn’t had orders, would you have come?”

Nolan chewed his lip for a moment. Then he met his brother’s gaze and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to miss your wedding, but I couldn’t—”

“No shit, you couldn’t,” Andrew whispered, and for the first time since we’d sat down, he met his brother’s gaze. His eyes were faintly wet, and his voice wasn’t quite steady. “I was so angry because I thought you just bailed, and—now that I know what happened. And the worst part is that looking back…” He winced and shook his head. “Fuck. All the signs were there.”

“They were?”

Andrew nodded. “Yeah. How did…” He paused to collect himself, and managed enough to ask, “How did I miss that my wife was a predator and a—God, a fucking rapist?”

“Did she admit to it?”

“No. But her story kept changing. First she said nothing ever happened between you two. But then I asked her why she accused you of raping her if nothing happened, and she tried to go back to that. Then she tried to frame it as her cheating on me with you. Like…” He exhaled and shoved a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. Maybe she’d caught on that I didn’t believe her? That I was seeing the holes in her stories? So she tried to hurt me with it. Say she’d cheated right under my nose with my own brother, and…” His shoulders fell. “That’s when I knew you were right. The stories—they just didn’t add up. And I mean…” He laughed without a trace of humor. “Why would my gay brother sleep with my wife? But the truth was so awful, and… God, Nolan. She fucking ruined your life.”

“No, she didn’t,” Nolan said with an edge of defiance. “She derailed it, that’s for sure. But I’ve made the most of where life took me.” He took my hand, and a small smile materialized. “It definitely hasn’t been all bad.”

I smiled back and squeezed his hand. Under any other circumstances, I’d have said, “Of course it hasn’t. If you hadn’t enlisted, you wouldn’t have your cats.”

But the air between him and his brother was too fraught, and a tension-breaking joke probably wouldn’t be welcome right now, so I kept my mouth shut.

After a moment, Andrew rubbed the bridge of his nose, then dropped his hand to his lap with a smack. “It also turns out you’re not the only one.”

Nolan sat straighter. “What do you mean?”

His brother swallowed hard. “The kids. Two of the three aren’t…” His eyes welled up as he looked away.

My stomach flipped. I could see where this was going.

“Two of the kids aren’t mine,” he finally whispered. “And they’re not full siblings, either.”

Nolan paled, and I squeezed his hand. He almost choked on his voice as he croaked, “There was a chance—I always wondered but didn’t know how to say—that Zoe could be… I mean, the timing…” He winced as if his own words were physically painful.

His brother barked a caustic laugh. “Yeah. Leann came right out and said she was shocked as hell that Zoe turned out to be mine.”

Nolan’s eyebrows climbed. “She is, though?”

Andrew nodded. “Yeah. The other two…” He trailed off. “Leanne won’t tell me who the fathers are. I—I don’t even know if she knows, or if…” He winced.

Nolan lost some more color. “Do you… Do you really think she did this to other guys?”

“Yeah, I do. Because…” Andrew paused, and he deflated even more. “Because the whole shitshow gets worse.”

Nolan and I exchanged wide-eyed glances.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Andrew said, “We managed to keep things on the downlow for a long time. I didn’t think anyone outside the family knew, but… I guess rumors got around recently. Someone heard what happened—what you accused her—what she did , and… anyway, it got back to her office.” He pushed out a heavy sigh and sat back. “And… there’s an intern in her office. Young guy.”

The horror dawning in Nolan’s expression mirrored what was coiling in the pit of my stomach.

“She did it to someone else?” he whispered.

With a pained grimace, Andrew nodded. “He just came forward—I don’t know, a month or so ago. He’s planning to press charges. Says he’s got hard evidence, and…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

Nolan closed his eyes and wiped a hand over his face.

“One of her coworkers gave me a heads up,” Andrew went on, sounding absolutely drained. “She said there’s at least one more. A former intern. Maybe two. I… We don’t know how much evidence they have, but apparently they’re making statements.” He swallowed. “They might be pressing charges too. Or at least be witnesses in the other guy’s case.”

“Holy shit,” Nolan whispered.

“Yeah.” Andrew’s voice was barely audible. “Would you testify against her?”

Nolan stared at him. “Are you asking because you want to talk me out of it?”

“No.” Andrew shook his head slowly, and his eyes welled up as he said, “No, I want you to testify.”

Nolan blinked. “You do?”

His brother dropped his gaze. Staring down at his wringing hands, he said, “I get why you’re not pressing charges. It’s… I mean, it’s your word against hers. There’s no evidence. It’s been—fuck, it’s been how many years?”

Nolan shuddered. “Not nearly enough.”

“No,” Andrew acknowledged. “Definitely not. But enough that I could see it being an issue with a jury. So I get it. Why you don’t want to press charges. I wouldn’t want to drag you through that either. But… this kid—I guess he’s got recordings on his phone. Audio, I think. If he’s got that, plus you and the other two testifying that it happened to you…” He paused and swiped at his eyes before meeting Nolan’s gaze. “She doesn’t have to get away with this, Nolan.” He winced as if he realized what that sounded like. “I don’t… I don’t mean this is on your shoulders, or that you have to do it. But this is your chance to get some justice.”

Nolan hung his head and exhaled. He had to be completely overwhelmed by everything; I couldn’t begin to imagine what was going through his head right then.

I wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

Andrew went on. “They said the best they’ll get her on is third degree rape. It’s a class C felony, and prison time is a possibility, but the lawyer doesn’t think she’ll go to prison.”

“Of course she won’t,” Nolan said flatly. “They told me the odds of getting a conviction at all were slim. Because how do you convince a jury that a woman raped a man?”

“I know. It sucks.” Andrew sighed. “But the lawyer does think that with multiple people testifying, that’ll categorize her as high risk on the sex offender list. She’d be a Level 3—the kind that are likely to reoffend.”

“So she’d have to register?”

Andrew nodded. “I’m not sure for how long, but it would be at least a few years.”

Nolan rubbed the back of his neck and pushed out a breath. “What’ll happen to the kids?”

“The two that aren’t mine?”

“Yeah.”

“My name is on their birth certificates,” Andrew said. “I’m the only father they’ve ever known.” He shook his head. “I’ll never forgive Leann for anything she did, but it wasn’t their fault. As far as I’m concerned, I’m still their dad. Nothing will change that.”

That seemed to shake something loose in Nolan.

“She liked to hold that over my head,” he admitted softly. “That Zoe might be mine. That was—the night of the rehearsal, when this all went down, I wanted to tell her to get paternity tests. I thought, fine—call her out, tell her to do a paternity test, and then she can explain why I’m the father of your kid.” Nolan deflated again. “But she kept dangling that thing about accusing me of assault. And also… I was so scared I’d fuck up Zoe’s life.”

“I get it,” Andrew said quietly. “I… God, I can’t even imagine being in your position.”

“It sucks.” Nolan looked right in his brother’s eyes. “I need you to tell me straight—did it take the other guys coming forward for you to believe me?”

“No,” Andrew said without hesitation. “No, I… I meant what I said. Her story started falling apart, and I figured it out. I was in denial for a while—too long—and I was fucking ashamed that I’d—God, Nolan. I’ve been married to your fucking rapist this whole time. I didn’t know how to process all that.”

“I’m sorry,” Nolan whispered. “This all blew a giant crater in your life, and—”

“Don’t.” Andrew shook his head. “I wish you’d told me sooner, but… I mean, I get it. And I can’t promise I’d have believed you. I didn’t believe you last year, even though I can’t think of a single reason you would’ve made up something like that.”

Nolan still looked pained, as if all the shame were tumbling back onto his shoulders.

I squeezed his arm. “This isn’t on you, baby. None of it is.”

“I could’ve said something.”

“She could’ve, you know, not assaulted you.”

“But I could’ve—”

“Don’t do that to yourself, Nolan,” Andrew said unsteadily. “If any of this is on you, then even more of it is on me.”

Nolan stared at him, eyes wide.

Andrew exhaled. “The signs were there. They’ve been there all along. I just didn’t want to believe them. Who wants to admit they married a woman who was capable of…” His face crumpled, and he pushed out another breath. “Jesus fuck, Nolan…”

Nolan regarded him silently for a moment. Then he got up, and he tentatively crossed the room. When he stopped, Andrew sat back a little, as if he thought Nolan might take a swing at him. Instead, Nolan gestured for him to get up.

Andrew hesitated, but then he did, his knees shaking visibly as he rose to face his brother.

And then… Nolan hugged him.

Andrew sagged against him. He didn’t make a sound, but I could almost feel him breaking apart in Nolan’s arms.

“I’m so sorry,” he finally said.

“I know. Me too.” Nolan loosened his embrace. “I know it’s not my fault—what happened—but I’m sorry it’s thrown your whole life out of whack too.”

Andrew’s shoulders slumped. “That’s on her. Not you, and not me. I’m just sorry you had to carry it for so long.”

Nolan worked his jaw like he was trying not to get emotional. “Can’t change the past. All we can do is move forward.”

“Yeah.” Andew managed something in the ballpark of a smile. “Guess that’s true.” He turned to me and came closer, extending his hand. “Thanks for having my brother’s back, Riley. I’m glad he had someone in his corner.”

I rose and accepted the handshake. “Don’t mention it.”

He nodded, and as he released my hand, he rolled his shoulders. “I, um… I should get going. My babysitter charges a fortune, and… Anyway. Thanks for talking to me. I’ll be in touch about everything with the lawyers.”

“Sounds good,” Nolan said.

The brothers shared one more quick embrace, and Andrew shook my hand again. Then he left and Nolan and I sat in silence in his parents’ living room for a long time. After a while, I touched his hand. “You okay?”

“Yeah. It’s… It’s a lot.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Like…a lot .”

“No kidding.”

“I definitely feel vindicated, though. It’s bothered me all this time, thinking he really thought I’d either lied about what his wife did, or that I—” He made a disgusted face. “That I’d ever hurt her or anyone else.”

“Sounds like a big weight off your shoulders.” I nodded toward the door Andrew had gone through. “Do you think you’re going to stay in contact with him after this?”

Nolan chewed his lip as he seemed to think about it. “I don’t think my relationship with him will ever be the same, but I think we can fix it. It’ll take a lot of time and work, but I’d rather put in that time and work than lose my brother.” He laughed softly. “Guess I have a lot to talk about with my therapist when we get home.”

“Yeah, probably. But I’m sure she’ll help you.”

“She will.” He rubbed his eyes, then turned to me. “I’m sorry this put a damper on everything. We’re supposed to be celebrating getting engaged.”

My heart fluttered at the reminder. Had that really been last night?

Sliding my hand into his, I said, “We got engaged, you’re finally getting some justice for what she did to you, and you’re getting your brother back. Plus now you know your niece isn’t your kid.” I squeezed his hand. “Seems like we have a lot to celebrate, even if some of it’s heavy.”

He searched my eyes, and after a moment, the smile I loved so much cracked through. “Yeah.” He brought our hands up and kissed the inside of my wrist. “I guess we do.”

“We do. Including the heavy stuff, you know? Because no matter what happens now, no one’s ever going to forget what she did. And they’re never going to let her forget it.”

He nodded, pushing out a breath through his nose. “I know. I wish I could believe she’ll get some insane sentence in prison, but just knowing she’ll never escape the stink of what she did is… it helps, you know?”

“I bet it does. It’s not as much justice as you deserve, but it’s something .”

“It’s more than I ever thought I’d get.” He rolled his shoulders. “Andrew’s sending me the information to talk to that intern’s lawyer. I’ll deal with that tomorrow.” He cupped my face in both hands and kissed me softly. “Right now, all I want to think about is my new fiancé.”

I grinned just before he kissed me again. “I like the sound of that.”

“Me too.” He ran the pads of his thumbs over my cheekbones. “I love you, baby. And—thank you. For the millionth time. For having my back.” He swallowed. “And believing me.”

“Always,” I whispered. “And I love you too.”

“I would hope so.” He grinned. “You’re kinda stuck with me now.”

I laughed and pulled him all the way to me. “Goes both ways, baby.”

He chuckled, holding me close and burying his face against my neck. “Did you think any of this would happen when you suggested we fake being boyfriends?”

“Oh, wow. That seems like forever ago.” I smiled and stroked my fingertips along the shaved side of his head. “And no, it’s not what I thought would happen.” I pressed a kiss to his temple, then added, “I’d say this was the best-case scenario.”

Nolan lifted his head, and his smile made my knees go weak. “Yeah.” He caressed my face. “Definitely the best-case scenario.”

Then he kissed me, and everything in my whole world felt right.

I knew a lot of this wouldn’t be far from his mind any time soon. It wouldn’t be far from mine, either. That was fine. As much as it had to suck having the past churned up again, it was for a good reason this time. It was forward motion.

Today, Nolan was a step closer to piecing back together everything his sister-in-law— ex -sister-in-law—had broken apart. Wheels were turning to bring Leann’s victims at least some kind of justice. Regardless of what happened to her, the family was on Nolan’s side now. People believed him. They supported him.

Nothing left to do but move forward. We had a wedding to plan and a future ahead of us.

And we had the rest of our lives to look forward to.