Deep down, me getting back together with Nick was Remy’s biggest fear. I honestly thought he’d be happy if I just remained single and focused on my daughter and work for the rest of my life. He was ridiculous, but I knew he was just worried and trying to live up to the role of protective older brother.
But I wasn’t a child. I was a grown-ass woman who could handle her own shit, and considering I’d managed to finish my residency while pregnant with Lexi, I’d say I had been successful so far.
“Win,” he added sternly. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Jesus, Rem. Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m not dating Nick. That ship sailed about six years ago.”
“Oh, really? So what about last year? Why did that happen, knowing that ship had sailed?”
My face flamed red, and my jaw damn near fell into my lap. How in the hell did Remy know about that one wine-fueled night with Nick?
I chanced a glance around the cabin to see if anyone caught that part of our conversation, but luckily, Frankie, Cass, and Georgia still had their earbuds in, and Wes’s nose was buried in his laptop. I flipped the phone off speaker and held it to my ear. “Who told you about that?”
“Ty.”
“What? When did he tell you that? Seriously, how did that subject even manage to come up?”
“Tonight, when he stopped by to hang out with me and Lex,” he explained. “Nick called to say hello, and Ty hopped on the phone and gave him a piece of his mind.”
Thanks a lot, Ty. Consider yourself officially scratched off the one and only brother I can confide in list.
“You guys do realize I’m not sixteen, right?” I sighed heavily, and my eyes rolled skyward. “I swear to God, I’m never telling you guys anything. You’re like a bunch of gossiping high school girls hopped up on steroids and ready to join the wrestling squad,” I muttered into the receiver.
“Look, Win, I’m not trying to be a dick here. I just don’t want to see you or Lexi get hurt. A man who can’t even make it to his daughter’s birthday, two years in a fucking row, is a moron and an asshole. Lex doesn’t deserve that bullshit, and neither do you.”
I couldn’t disagree with him there, but Remy’s tendency to protect us was unwarranted. I wasn’t their teenage baby sister anymore. I was an adult who could make her own decisions, and my track record of making the right decisions for my daughter was spotless.
“Good thing she’s got four uncles who more than make up for it,” I said, trying my best to lighten the tone and direction of the conversation. The last thing I felt like doing was discussing my sex life—or lack thereof—with my brother. “And even though it’s really none of your concern, I have zero plans for letting something like that happen again, Rem. It was just one night, fueled by too much wine, that happened a very long time ago.”
I breathed a sigh of relief when the pilot announced over the intercom that we were about to land. I was more than ready to cut this phone call short. “Hey, we’re about to land. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? Give Lexi a kiss for me.” Before Rem could interrogate me further, I ended the call and slipped my phone back into my purse.
As our plane started to slowly descend toward the ground, I looked across the cabin to find Wes staring back at me. Our eyes locked for a brief moment before I looked away and silently prayed he hadn’t heard the part of my conversation that insinuated nefarious things with my ex-boyfriend Nick. Why I even cared about that was still open for debate. Because honestly, why did I care what Wes heard? Frankly, it was none of his business either.
“Your brother has a fuckhot voice, Win.” Cassie’s comment pulled my eyes away from the window and back toward the cabin.
“What?” I asked with a laugh.
“Remy has a sexy as fuck voice,” she answered with a smirk.
My nose scrunched up in disgust. “He’s my brother, Cass. There will never be a time in my life where I equate the word sexy with him.”
“But what about your other three brothers? For the love of God, tell me they sound just like Remy.”
Georgia groaned. “Here we go.”
“What? I can’t acknowledge a sexy voice?”
Georgia pointed in Cassie’s direction. “This has zero to do with his voice and everything to do with the fact that he’s Win’s brother.”
Cassie tilted her head to the side. “You think I’ve got a thing for brothers?”
Georgia nodded. “Yes. My brother Will is Exhibit A for that case. It should also be noted that I think you need to stop reading so many stepbrother romance novels.”