Page 78 of My Brother's Best Men
Keaton raises his eyebrows. “Sick? I wasn’t sick, I?—”
“Five minutes,” I say, picking up my napkin and pushing away from the table if only because I need to get away from this moment. Before everything comes crashing down.
“Over my dead body,” Elijah says as Matthew curses.
“Eli, sit the fuck down,” Benny snaps.
I push my chair in as Keaton grabs me by the elbow to lead me out.
“It’s fine, Elijah, I—” I look at him, noting the pain there. The guilt. I clutch my shell necklace, rubbing it as I implore him with my gaze. “I promise it’ll just be a few minutes.” I push away from Elijah and nod for Keaton to lead us. “I’ll be back in a few…go on, order without me.”
And with that I follow Keaton into the lobby, but I hear the screech of chairs behind me and cursing that tells me the guys are not far behind. Keaton and I don’t have much time.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I bite out.
“I came to apologize. Obviously,” he says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“Apologize? You want to apologize? For what? Cheating on me?” I ask in a hushed whisper.
“It was an accident, Soph. I can explain?—”
“An accident?” I snap. “What, did you trip and fall and land cock first in herass? Without acondom? It’s beendays, Keaton. You didn’t call, text?—”
“It’s not like that, Gail was?—”
“Oh, Gail is her name? Well she can call the Wicked Witch and poof herself to hell for all I care.”
“I know I’ve made mistakes, but?—”
“You never even called me! Texted me! I told you we were done, I?—”
He slips his hand from his pocket and holds up a ring.Myring. My engagement ring.
“I had a lot of time to think, and I think if you just think rationally about this…” He picks up my hand, aiming to slide the ring onto my finger. “You’ll find the truth in your heart. We’re meant to be together, Sophie. You know that.”
I push him away. “No.”
I don’t miss the flash of anger in his eyes.
“I wasn’t asking you, Sophie. I proposed once and you said yes because you love me. Because you want a life with me.”
“I threw that at your head and told you to fuck off,” I say as Elijah, Matthew, and Benny arrive, flanking my sides.
“There a problem here, princess?” Benny asks.
Keaton looks over him with judgment. “Who the fuck are you?”
Benny doesn’t growl or yell like Elijah. He only stands still as a statue and says, “Not the guy who cheated on her.”
Keaton’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline, and he grabs my hand, pulling on it so hard I yelp as he tries to force my ring onto my finger.
I try to push him away, but his grip on me tightens.
“I came here because I knew you needed me,” Keaton says to me. “After all, I am your plus-one.”
“Maybe she doesn’t need your plus-one,” Matthew says. “Maybe we have it all taken care of.”
Keaton scoffs at me. “How many of them have you fucked?” he asks, and my mouth drops open in shock. I hear the crack before I even register Elijah’s fist flying, knocking Keaton in his jaw.
