Page 78 of Oathbreaker

I want to bristle at the order, purely out of principle.

But his words are sweet.

And they get even sweeter when he asks,

“But does this mean you’ll come to dinner with me tomorrow?”

Twenty-Four

Colt

Date night.

I’m more excited than a teenage boy getting laid for the first time.

Not that I give a shit about sex—Briar and I have plenty of time for that. I just can’t believe we’re going out on an honest-to-goodness date.

How long have I waited for this? Six years? Maybe more?

Back then I was in Afghanistan and she was in college. She was writing me letters and that’s when it really started. The letters weren’t just nonsense from a giggling college girl, though there was a little of that too. Instead, they were filled with hopes and dreams—the kind I started wanting to share with her.

It wasn’t black and white back then. Dash would have had my balls in a vise if I so much as hinted at something with his little sister, but it was there, simmering beneath the surface, threatening to turn into a full-blown inferno.

And the fantasy that came to mind most often was a picnic on the beach—so that’s what I have planned for tonight.

We dropped Frankie off at Royal and Jade’s place, and I’ve just turned Briar’s SUV toward the beach. Supplies are in the back, thanks to Jade, whose help I enlisted since I don’t know where anything is around here.

“Are we going to the beach?” Briar asks as I head south.

“We are.”

“It’ll be chilly once the sun sets.”

“I have blankets.”

“Multiple?” She seems amused.

“One is for us to sit on. The other one is in case you get cold.”

“We could have had a quiet evening at home—with unlimited blankets.” Ever practical, Briar points this out.

“But then we would have been dealing with Frankie, and as crazy as I am about her, this is adult time. We need it.”

“We do.” Her hand slides across the center console, searching for mine. Warm fingers seeking out connection. The bond that’s existed almost since day one.

“It’s funny how I kind of always knew this was our destiny,” I muse, knowing she’ll understand what I’m trying to say.

“Even when I was a bratty teenager?”

“You were never bratty. Dash made it seem like you were because he’s your brother and he didn’t want to think about you as a woman, so he put you in the slot little sisters go in. It was different for me. Obviously, it took a while for the connection to make sense…for me to realize it wasn’t about sex or being good friends, you know?”

“But it was,” she says gently, squeezing my hand. “Because that’s kind of what a relationship is, right? Having a best friend you want to have sex with?”

“I never thought of it that way, but yeah, I suppose so.”

We pull up to a small, secluded beach that’s almost deserted now since it’s late in the day. Jade told me about it, and when I looked it up, it was perfect for what I had in mind for tonight. Nothing fancy—that’s not how either of us roll, at least not often—and somewhere we can be alone.

“I’ve never been here,” Briar says in surprise.