“Can we go now?” I ask, looking up at him.
He smiles down at me with those soft eyes no one else ever gets to see. “Anything you want.”
Chapter 24
KODE
“Where’s Tria?” Dane asks as he steps inside my house.
I’ve been dreading this conversation since the funeral five days ago. I’m surprised it has taken him this long.
“She had a business meeting with her new team. She’ll be back soon.”
He looks around as we near the living room, his eyes falling on the several items that prove a girl is living with me. Tria’s lip gloss is on the coffee table, her running shoes are setting by the glass doors, and her girly candles are here and there in certain places. If he thinks this is obvious, then he should see the master bathroom.
“I talked to Dale and the guys. They apparently figured it out a while back. Call me stupid or blind.” His face is expressionless, and his voice is even, which makes it impossible to read his mood.
“You’re about to get married. Your mind is a little preoccupied,” I say mildly, trying not to be the one to spark a feud first.
He leans back, propping his ass on the back of my sofa, and stuffs his hands into his jean pockets while studying me.
“Dale seems to think you’re in love with her. Why Tria, Kode? You fucking hated her. Why would you go after Tria?”
He’s obviously reining in his anger, because he’s definitely not happy with the fact I have the other Noles sister. The one actually made for me.
“Well, you kind of can’t help who you fall for, Dane. Falls aren’t usually planned. If they’re planned, they’re called jumps.”
I expect a grin or something, but I get nothing besides crickets. Well, this conversation is going great.
“Dane, I’m not going to apologize for—”
“Do you love her?” he asks, interrupting me.
Though I really don’t want to have this conversation with him before I have it with my girl, I guess I sort of owe him an explanation.
With a heavy sigh, I prop up beside him and stare at the wall. There’s now a picture hanging there—Tria and me in bed. It’s just a face shot with me kissing her cheek while she snaps the picture. But it’s probably my favorite thing in the house right now.
“Yeah. I do. And I get it now, Dane. I don’t know how you didn’t kill me when you found out about what I did.”
His eyes widen in surprise, and to my astonishment, he laughs. It’s a low, rumble of a laugh that seems to vibrate from his chest.
“Man, you really do love her.”
It’s almost painful to look back at all the time I wasted thinking I was in love with Rain. It’s easy to get confused, but after you’ve had a taste of the real thing, there’s no mistaking it ever again.
“Yeah, well, I haven’t told her that yet. Her dad just died five days ago, so I don’t think it’s the best time.”
Dane nods slowly, and then he reaches into his back pocket to extract the envelope that is hanging out. He hands it to me, and I read the messy handwriting on the front that has my girl’s name on it.
“What’s this?”
“Edward wrote a letter to Tria, Eleanor, and Rain. I told Eleanor I would deliver Tria’s. It gave me an excuse to come talk to you about this beehive you stirred. But if you seriously love her, then I’m not going to say anything other than… What the fuck? You hated Tria worse than anyone.”
His lips curl up in a smile, and for the first time in too long, I feel like my brother is looking at me with something other than hatred. I just laugh, unable to help myself.
“Wish I knew. Dale says I got sucker punched.” I rub my jaw to feign a hit I didn’t see coming, and Dane laughs hard—harder than I’ve heard him laugh in so damn long.
As his laughter tapers off, he stares at the picture of Tria and me on the wall. He studies it for a moment, probably noting the stupid smiles on our faces.
“Corbin said he knew you were serious when you mentioned telling Rain about the letter.”
The others have spoken about this since Dane and I had this fight, but we’ve never talked about it. Not since the day he shoved his fist into my face.
“Yeah. I still want to, but I want to wait until after the wedding.”
He frowns while continuing to study the picture. “The wedding has been moved back two weeks. It was a pain in the ass to do, but Rain didn’t want her father’s death messing with our day. She feels that will be sufficient time for people to get over the son of a bitch. Personally, I don’t understand grieving him at all.”
That has me tightening my lips and trying not to piss him off when we’re finally starting to be on good terms again. I thought this thing with Tria would tear us apart, not push us closer.