Page 84 of Keep On Loving You

Would it have been better if he’d confided in Symon when he had the chance? Maybe he could have softened the blow? The rest of the family didn’t seem as protective over Charli and her choice of partner.

“Why is that?” he said out loud. “Why didn’t your brothers freak out when you and Symon started dating?” He elaborated before either of them could ask what he was talking about. “Why did they all go straight-up ballistic when it came to Kat, but they’re totally cool with you?” He pointed a finger at Symon.

“I am pretty awesome.” Symon shrugged.

“Seriously, though?”

Charli rolled her eyes at her husband. “Seriously,” she said. “It’s because Kat’s the baby, Andy. You know that. Craig and Asher have always been super protective of her. And Chase…well, that’s different because he was gone so much when we were young, but I think even he recognizes that Kat’s, well…” She shrugged. “She’s Kat.”

Andy shook his head. He knew all that. He’d seen their protectiveness firsthand growing up. But he never could have envisioned the level of rage he’d witnessed from either of them. “That can’t be it. It doesn’t make sense that it’s just big brother protectiveness.”

Charli blew out a breath and took a seat next to Symon. “Honestly, I think it only got worse after Dad died. It’s as if they just thought it was their job to look after her.”

“And you?”

She laughed. “I never needed looking after.”

“But neither did Kat.” The way Andy saw her was a strong, independent female who had her life together. She owned a successful business and handled her life without a problem. What was he missing?

“That’s how you see her.” Charli gave him a knowing smile. “But that’s because you see her as a woman.” She stopped short of wiggling her eyebrows, a detail Andy was grateful for. “But the guys see her as a little girl. A little girl our dad always coddled a little bit. Definitely more than the rest of us. I think when he died, they just subconsciously kept caring for her like that. But I agree with you, Andy.”

“You do?”

She laughed. “Of course I do. My little sister is badass. Are you kidding? She started a successful business and made her own way in the world almost before any of the rest of us. She works her ass off and she’s never asked for help. Which is a different issue.” Charli nodded. “I have that problem, too.” She winked at her husband. “But I do agree with you that she doesn’t need to be taken care of, and she definitely doesn’t need her big brothers playing gatekeeper on her personal life. Especially not when she’s clearly chosen a good one.”

Andy let her words soak in. “Wait. You think I’m a good one?”

“You don’t?” She looked at him pointedly. “Because I will retract every single thing I just said if you?—”

“No. No.” He held up a hand and laughed. “Obviously, I’m a good one. But it means a lot to hear you say that you think that when clearly you’re the only one.”

He dropped his head and stared into the depths of his coffee cup. He hadn’t wanted to admit it earlier, but with everything that went down the evening before, it wasn’t the punch to the face that hurt the most. It wasn’t even that Kat had chosen to side with her family—he knew she was in an impossible situation. It was that the men he considered brothers hadn’t thought he was good enough for their little sister. The way Craig, Asher, and even Chase had looked at him with so much anger and disgust had been the biggest blow he could have sustained.

“Andy. Look at me.” Charli used hermomvoice, so he had no choice but to comply. “I’m going to ask you a question that I’m pretty sure I already know the answer to. And really, it probably should be one of the guys to ask, but since my brothers are clearly too stubborn to pull their heads out of their asses, I’ll be the one to do it.”

He waited while she sat back in her chair and took a deep breath.

“But before I ask it, I need to apologize on their behalf. You didn’t deserve that reaction yesterday.” She shook her head as he moved to protest. “No. It doesn’t matter if you sprung it on them, or if you held their hand through every moment. It doesn’t matter how they found out about youand Kat—the guys never should have reacted that way and you didn’t deserve it.

“And you definitely didn’t deserve to be punched in the face.” She looked pointedly at his swollen lip. “How does it feel?”

Andy nodded. “I’ll live.”

“You’re a good man, Andy Fisher. We love you like family. All of us,” she added. “Even if they’re mad right now. They still love you, and they’ll get over this, too. Just as soon as the shock wears off, they’re going to see what was right in front of all our faces.” She laughed and looked at Symon, who shrugged. “Yeah, yeah. You had aninkling.”

“I was pretty sure.” He winked, and she shook her head.

“So,” Charli focused on Andy again, “the only question left is…”

Andy inhaled deeply, pretty sure he knew what she was going to ask.

Charli leaned over the table and looked straight into his eyes. “Do you love her? And if the answer is what I think it’s going to be, what exactly are you going to do about it?”

“And whatever it is you’re going to do,” Symon added, “you better do it soon. We leave for Switzerland tomorrow morning.”

Fuck.

“I need to tell her,” he said, more to himself than anyone else.

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