Page 46 of The Boyfriend Gamble

“Possibly because I was engaged to you.” Past tense. We were no longer obliged to each other. Didn’t mean Jacob would come running over here and proclaim his undying love to me. But I was allowed to dream…right?

She blinked. Several times. Not as in trying to keep herself from crying, but as in trying to bring something into focus. “Jacob?” Her voice might’ve gone a little high on her brother’s name.

Heat raced up my chest and into my cheeks.

“And he rejected you.” Now she sounded pissed.

“In fairness to him, he’s your brother. He knew the date was pretty much set.”

“How long ago?”

“Like…a month?”

She again squeezed my hand, this time, painfully. “You are two of the most stubborn, pigheaded—”

“Hey.” I needed to stop her. I didn’t mind being called those things—because I could be—but I didn’t want to hear her criticizing her own brother.

The man you love.

Well, yeah, that was true.

She tapped her toes. “So, if not for our moms, and their obsession with us getting married, would you be sitting here considering marrying me?”

I closed my eyes. “Probably not.”

“And if Jacob were here right now, asking you to be with him, would you?”

“He won’t.”

“Not the question, Felix.”

A choked laugh escaped me. “Would I turn him down if he asked me to go out with him? Absolutely not. Will he ever do it? Absolutely not. Josette, he made his feelings crystal clear.”

“Because he was being my stubborn older brother.”

Given I had a stubborn older brother, I couldn’t argue that Jacob was as bad as Wally.

“Okay, I want you to stay here.”

“Why? Don’t we have an engagement party?”

“I’m going to call it off.”

Relief like I’d never known rushed through me. “Okay.” Then guilt beset me. “Shouldn’t I, you know, help or something?” Like, be there to support her? Let everyone know I was happy for her.

She shook her head. “Leave this to me.”

That didn’t sit right with me, but I’d leave the decision up to her. My entire life, I’d been deferring to her. Why stop now?

She pulled me in for a hug.

We were close in size, and she felt right in my arms. As a friend. As a confidante. As someone I’d always care for, but never love romantically.

After she’d left, I flopped onto my bed, then curled into a little ball. The great debate of whether or not to turn off my phone didn’t even materialize as I slipped into the sleep that had eluded me for the past month.

Chapter Ten

Jacob

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