Page 102 of Rival Hearts

I should have talked to him a while ago. I should have told him about sleeping with Alex when it had happened, but I’d been so worried he would be furious.

I was still worried about that, but now that I knew Alex was as serious about where this was going as I was, I needed to be open with my brother and tell him what was going on.

It just wasn’t the kind of thing I wanted to do over the phone, and Gabe would be away on his business trip for a few days longer.

The moment he got back, though, I would arrange to see him and talk to him about it. I wanted him to understand that when I was with Alex, I felt different from what I’d ever felt before.

He made me feel like I could do anything, but he also let me know that it was okay not to be okay and that balance—feeling invincible and still having permission to be vulnerable—was the kind of thing no one found every day.

What I felt when I was around Alex was strong enough for me to want to risk Gabe being angry because I knew it was something worth fighting for.

I’d always known it was important to fight for the right thing. So much so that I’d built a career out of it. But with this, it was personal, and emotional, and that was very different.

But still, it was right, and that was what mattered.

Alex and I were perfect together.

Chris had good reason to be worried, and I would follow through and make it right between me and Gabe. Seeing the Blackwoods together as a family made my heart ache. Not onlywere they so incredible with each other, but after the guys had given me a tough time, they’d drawn me in, and I’d never felt so at home, like I belonged, with anyone in my life.

This was the kind of family I wanted to be a part of. My own had fallen apart a long time ago, but this family was in the business of adopting and giving people a new lease on life.

Although I wasn’t a child who needed a new home, I wanted a new family, and these people made me feel like they could be there for me and they could be my family, too.

28

ALEX

Having Charlotte here at home was better than I thought it would be. I wanted my family to meet her—she was the kind of woman I didn’t want to hide from my parents, and it looked like they loved her.

Especially my mom, who’d spent a long time talking to her during lunch, asking her about her career and her interests in ocean conservation.

“You’re taking it easy on the booze today,” Ben said when he came to the bar to refill his drink. I filled a glass of gin and tonic for my mom. She stood with Dad and Charlotte, and from my vantage point, I caught Charlotte’s eye from time to time.

She glanced up at me, and when I grinned at her, she blushed before looking back at my mom, who was talking.

“Yeah, I don’t want to get wasted with Charlotte here. Poor form, you know.” I glanced at Ben.

“You’ve never cared before what women think of you.”

I shrugged and took a sip of the drink I’d slowly been nursing over the past while.

It was true. I never cared before what women thought of me. They all just wanted my money, anyway. But Charlotte was different, and she deserved me to treat her right. That meant not getting shitfaced when she was around, among other things.

“So, you’re serious about her, huh?” Ben asked.

“I don’t know,” I hedged.

“Come on, man. You brought her home—no reason to think that this is just another flavor of the week.”

He was right, of course. I’d never brought a girl home because I knew the moment they saw my parents’ house, she would want me to put a ring on it so that she could cash in on the family inheritance and ride the road to fame along with the family name that everyone knew. But Charlotte had never made me think she wanted my money. All she wanted was someone she could lean on, someone she could share her excitement with, someone she couldbewith.

And I wanted to be that person for her more than anything.

“Well, she seems to have gotten under your skin, too,” I said to Ben. “You’re actually being nice to me, which is a nice change.”

Ben shrugged. “So, maybe I like her and I think she’s good for you.” He glanced sidelong at me and sipped the drink he’d just filled for himself. “You look happy, and we all deserve that.”

It was nice of him to say. Very nice, actually. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Charlotte was here and I knew she had that kind of effect on people, I might have been suspicious that my brother wasn’t somehow trying to compete with me or nail me with insults.