Shaking his head, he turned the burner off and carried the platter over to the table, where he’d set three places. He wanted to let Elle sleep as long as she wanted, but he also didn’t want her to be awake and afraid to come out. He’d put her in his room. He’d been quite adamant about it. He’d slept on the couch, but he’d wanted her in his space, and he couldn’t exactly explain why he’d been so set on it.
He could always warm her pancakes back up. Right now he wanted to air out whatever was on Merrick’s mind.
“You going to talk, or do I have to sit on you and pry it out of your tight ass?” Cade asked mildly.
Merrick scowled and forked three pancakes onto his plate. After drenching them in syrup, he cut into the stack, and for a moment, Cade thought he was going to ignore him. Then Merrick sighed and set his fork down.
“I don’t even know how to say what all I’m thinking,” Merrick said. “I feel like a complete dickhead for half of what I think, and for the other half, I think I’ve lost my goddamn mind.”
Cade’s lips twitched. “Okay, we’ll start with why you’re a dickhead.”
Merrick made a rude noise. “It’s all the same. I mean, what I think makes me a dickhead who’s lost his mind.”
“Do tell.”
Merrick’s shoulders heaved. “It’s about Elle.”
Cade rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I figured. What about her?”
“I want her,” Merrick said bluntly. Then he grimaced. “Oh my God, that sounds so fucked up. Especially after what she’s been through. Shit. It’s not like I’m wanting to jump her bones. I’m not having stupid inappropriate thoughts. It’s just that there is something there. A connection I don’t even understand, but I know two things. I’m not going to let anything else hurt her, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“Okay,” Cade said slowly.
Merrick eyed his friend with a piercing stare. “Don’t think I don’t know that you feel the same damn way, which is why I didn’t want to have this conversation. We have a woman in there who’s been brutalized. She likely doesn’t trust any man at all, and who could blame her? And she doesn’t even know who she is or anything about her past. Hell, she could have a husband and kids somewhere for all we know.”
Cade shook his head. “You tell me something. If she belonged to you, wouldn’t you have turned this city upside down looking for her? She obviously doesn’t belong to anyone because only a damn fool would just let her disappear.”
“Maybe,” Merrick said grudgingly. “That doesn’t solve the issue between us, though. I’m not letting a woman come between us. We’ve never let it happen. We may as well be brothers. We’re family. And I’m not ruining that. But…”
The corner of Cade’s mouth lifted. “But you aren’t backing down either, right?”
“Yeah,” Merrick muttered. “I’m not backing down.”
Cade remained silent a moment. He wasn’t certain what to say. He understood Merrick’s reaction. It was much the same as his own reaction to Elle. And no, he sure as hell didn’t understand it either. His instincts screamed that she was his, and apparently so did Merrick’s, which really muddied up the damn waters.
They were both jumping the gun in a serious way. Elle was fragile. They knew nothing of her past or present. They were taking a damn lot for granted.
But yeah, he was going to protect her just like he knew Merrick was, and neither of them was going to walk away from her, and they sure as hell weren’t going to let her go without a fight.
Which was damn sure going to put them at odds in a way they’d never been pitted before.
“You going to sit there like you aren’t having the same damn thoughts?” Merrick interjected. “You don’t come to me demanding I start talking and then clam up when I tell you what I’m thinking.”
Cade sighed. “What do you want me to say, Merrick? That I want her too? That I look at her and something just clicks and I know that I’m going to be front and center in her life from now on if I have any say? That I’m going to make damn sure nothing ever hurts her again? That I want her no matter how long I have to wait for her? And yeah, you’re right. It makes us both out of our goddamn minds. We only just met the woman. This kind of shit just doesn’t happen.”
“Tell me about it,” Merrick muttered.
“I’m going to go get Elle so she can eat,” Cade said. “We understand each other. For now… For now, she’s going to need us both to get her through her recovery and whatever else comes up. For now, we’re going to have to put aside whatever crazy-ass thoughts we’re having and focus on what’s best for her.”