Page 62 of Against the Clock

“Is it?”Mike questioned, standing in front of us with his feet spread shoulder-width apart and arms crossed.“Because it looks like you’re fucking my sister.”

“Mike!”I covered my mouth with my hand, not sure if I was more embarrassed that my older brother knew that I was doing his best friend or if it was hearing the words come out of his mouth.

“Like I said,” Roman said with a shrug.

“I warned you,” Mike bit out, taking a few steps toward us.

“Yeah.And?”Roman quipped, stepping in front of me and putting a hand behind him to keep me in place.“What are you going to do, Mike?Try to kick my ass because I fell for your sister and we acted on impulse like twoveryconsensual adults?”

“Oh, I’m gonna do more thantryto kick your ass.”

“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

I watched as they stood chest to chest, both of them fuming so hot that I was surprised I didn’t see smoke coming out of their ears.

“That’s enough,” I hissed, pushing in between them.“We have enough going on right now; we don’t need to add this to the mix.”

“I was just going to say the same thing,” Mike replied while looking over at me and keeping his eyes on Roman.“Seems like a bad time to start a newrelationship, given everything else that’s going on.And I know that mybest friendwouldn’t be using my sister as a fuck buddy—so obviously, there’s a relationship that you guys haven’t told anyone about.”

I could feel the heavy breath from Roman behind me and knew that he was trying to stay calm.

“You don’t know shit—”

“I will handle this,” I said, lifting my hand to stop him.

I waited for Mike to stop glaring at Roman and look at me before I spoke.

“Mike, I love that you’re still my protective big brother after all of these years, but this isn’t something that you need to be concerned with.”

“But—”

“Nope.You do NOT get a say in any of this.I am a grown woman and know exactly what I’m getting myself into with Roman.You don’t need to step in and protect me when you know damn well that he’s a good guy.If he’s good enough to be your best friend all of these years, then I don’t see why you wouldn’t think that he was good enough for me.Wouldn’t you want someone like him for your sister?Someone that you know and trust?”

I tilted my head and studied him, pinning him with a look.“Or do I not deserve that?”

He pulled his head back and scowled.

“You know you deserve more than that, Quinn.You deserve more than anyone could ever give you.”

“So then, are you saying that Roman isn’t good enough for me?”

He looked from me to his best friend, his face softening some.

“I didn’t say that.”

I released a frustrated breath and forced my shoulders down.

“Well, that’s what you’re insinuating, and it’s just as rude to him as it is to me.I know that you love both of us and care about our happiness, but you need to step back and realize that this is none of your business.Whatever happens between Roman and me is for us to handle—not you.”

“I don’t want to be caught in the middle if things go south between you guys.”

“Then don’t.No one is forcing you to be in that position.Before this, Roman and I saw each other at random holidays—it’s not like we were constantly around each other.I’d like to believe that someday things will return to a somewhat normal state, and God forbid—if something did happen and we couldn’t be around each other—we’re adults who can act civil and move on with our lives.It’s a shame you don’t trust us enough to let us try this and see what happens.It could be something really wonderful.”I stepped back and leaned into Roman’s side as he wrapped an arm around me.

Mike looked between us, watching the way we held each other.

“So,” he said with his jaw still clenched.“This is happening?”

We both nodded.

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