The Risks We Take Duet Box Set

73. Carys

CARYS

I may still be heartbroken over the fact I’ll never carry my own baby, but thirty-six hours of helping Emerson with Elodie has me wanting to sleep for a week.

So heartbroken, yes.

In a rush for a baby, no.

I just finished showering for the second time today because Elodie spit up in my hair. The smell is still stuck in my nostrils. But I somehow managed to pull myself together enough for dinner with Aiden. Begrudgingly . I still don’t know if this is a good idea.

When the doorbell rings a few minutes later, I guess it’s too late to cancel.

I hurry down the stairs and come face-to-face with my brother, who’s holding a crying Elodie, and for a moment, I remember he’s only a few months away from becoming a father himself.

“She’s perfect, Emerson.” Aiden gives the baby back to Em, then smiles at me. It’s not his normal over-the-top smile, but it’s a start. “Hey, Care Bear.”

“Hey.” I stretch up on my toes and kiss his cheek.

Aiden picks up the two take-out bags from the Italian place down the street and holds them up for me. “Hope you’re in the mood for pasta. I wasn’t sure what everyone wanted, so I got a little bit of everything.”

“Thanks.” I take one from him and start emptying it on the kitchen island. “Em, could you let Cooper know Aiden’s here, please?”

“Guess that answers my first question.” Aiden grinds his teeth, and I sigh.

“And what question is that?” I ask, already annoyed and readying for the confrontation I know is coming, while I continue emptying both take-out bags.

Aiden opens the containers, then starts opening drawers and slamming them shut as he looks for silverware. Once he finds what he’s looking for, he lifts his head. “Whether or not you and Cooper are together.”

“If you have a question, ask it.” I ignore the rest of his mini-tantrum as I grab a stack of plates and put them next to the food. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Water’s fine.” He helps himself to a bottle from the fridge, then glares as Rook and Cooper enter the room.

Em stands next to me, and I tickle Elodie’s chubby little legs. “Want me to take her so you can eat something?” I ask, hoping to avoid the conversation from hell I’m about to have.

“Nope.” She hip-checks me. “Why don’t you three take your plates outside for privacy. Rook and I can stay in here.”

Rook offers Aiden his hand. “Rook.”

“Aiden. Nice to meet you.” They shake, and Aiden fills his plate, then hands it to me. “Mom said you’ve lost too much weight and need to eat.”

I refuse to take it from him. “Mom’s insane, and I don’t ever eat that much. I can make my own plate, thanks.” I pick up a plate and hand it to Cooper before getting one for myself. Thick waves of tension radiate off all of us. “Does anyone want wine?”

Aiden and Cooper both answer no.

“More for me.” I pour myself a glass of red and take it and my plate out on to the porch, half expecting Cooper to say it’s not safe. But he doesn’t. He just follows me out, his eyes alert and assessing.

The three of us sit down around the table without anyone saying a word.

Oh, what the hell . . .

“So how was your flight?” Great. I’ve been reduced to small talk with my brother.

Aiden puts his fork down, his gaze locked on me. “How long have you two been together?”

“Guess we’re getting right to it then?” I take a sip of my wine, planning to answer, but Cooper beats me to it.

“A year and a half.” Coop hasn’t touched his plate. He sits, staring at Aiden. Alpha male energy out in full force. It’s like watching two male gorillas circle each other at the zoo.

This is so not going to go well.

Aiden’s posture straightens. “Eighteen months and you never thought to tell me?” His question is directed at Cooper... until his eyes swing to me. “Either of you?”

“That was my fault,” I admit.

“It was not,” Cooper deflects the attention from me. “We’re adults, Murph. We made the decision we thought was right for us. We didn’t want to involve any of you until we were ready. It might not have been the right thing for you, but it was the right thing for us.”

Aiden looks up to the sky and blows out a breath, then nails us with his anger. “You’re full of shit. You and I both know it.”

“Aiden...” I stop him, but he ignores me and keeps his focus on Cooper.

“You’re a hypocrite. All these years of busting Brady’s balls for being with Nattie, and we all laughed about it. But at least he did that to your face. He didn’t hide it. He didn’t disrespect you or Nattie. You’re worse than a hypocrite because Brady respected you enough to ask for permission to date your sister. He kept it all out in the open. You didn’t even respect Carys enough to do that.”

I throw my napkin on the table and slap my palm against it. “What is wrong with you? I’m a grown woman. No man needs to ask my brother for permission to date me, Aiden James. And he respected me so much that he respected my wishes and didn’t tell you. That was my choice. Not his.”

Aiden throws his hands into the air. “What the actual fuck, Carys?”

“Watch it,” Cooper growls.

Aiden’s eyes soften for a minute. “I don’t care how old you are, Carys. You will always be my little sister. It’s my job to protect you. And he...” Then he turns his anger back on Cooper. “You broke the fucking code. She’s younger than you, and she’s your goddamn sister.” His voice grows louder with each angry word. “That’s some fucked up shit.”

I reach over and shove Aiden away as I rise from the table. “I’m two years younger than you, asshole. Sabrina is only fifteen fucking months older than me, and you married her and knocked her up already. What’s the difference?” I yell back at him just as loud.

“Sabrina’s not my sister.” His smug face fuels my anger.

I lower my voice until it’s eerily calm. “He’s my stepbrother , and he was already out of the house before Mom and Coach got married. Don’t make this into something it’s not.”

Aiden stands, towering over me. “Don’t argue semantics, Carys. What he did was wrong.”

Coop’s chair screeches as he stands and shoves it back. “Who the fuck are you to decide what’s right and wrong, Murph? You banged everything with a heartbeat back in school. You didn’t even know half their names. I never disrespected a woman like that.” Cooper crosses his thick arms over his chest and moves around me so that he stands toe-to-toe with Aiden. “Hell, you thought you got a girl pregnant, and you didn’t even remember her name when she told you about it. Don’t think any of us forgot about that.”

Well, shit . That’s news to me.

“You found Sabrina, and everything changed. Because she was your girl, and you fucking knew it.” Cooper’s body is coiled tight like a snake ready to attack.

“You’re revising history, brother .” The word is spit out of Aiden’s mouth in disgust. “You were no saint.”

“You fucked your way through senior year,” Cooper yells.

Murphy holds his ground. “You fucked my sister.”

I gasp, and the backyard goes jarringly silent until Cooper takes one impossible step closer to Aiden. “Don’t ever say anything like that about her again, or I will fucking kill you.” His words are calm and controlled. Spoken slowly, making them even scarier. “I love you, brother, but I love her more. Don’t let there be a next time, or I will rip your throat out with my bare hands. Do you understand?”

I close my eyes for a minute and let his words wash over me, mending all the frayed edges of my soul. When I open them, Aiden has a goofy smile on his face, but Cooper is definitely still furious.

“You love my sister?” Aiden asks, his entire demeanor changed.

Without skipping a beat, Cooper answers, “More than anyone ever will.”

I take a stuttered breath for what feels like the first time in months as I fight to hold back the tears threatening to break free. Relief washing over me.

“Wait... wait... wait...” Aiden’s smile grows. “You realize, if you get married, you’re marrying your sister?” Oh. My. God. He’s giving me whiplash.

Cooper rolls his eyes and shoves Aiden’s chest, like they didn’t just almost come to blows. “When I marry her, I’ll be marrying the woman I love. My sister...” He looks at me, and the undeniable warmth in his eyes leaves me breathless. “My only sister is already married, asshole.”

“So, if you have kids?—”

I smack my brother. “Enough.”

He turns his sarcastic glare my way. “The fuck it is. If he loves you, I can’t be mad at him. But you assholes kept this from all of us for a long time. You were both in my wedding, and we had no idea.”

I clench my thighs, remembering the things Cooper did to me the night of Aiden and Sabrina’s rehearsal dinner and smother the moan that threatens to erupt. When I look up, Coop’s smirking at me. No doubt in my mind, he knows exactly what I’m thinking.

My clueless brother pulls me in for a hug, having no idea the filthy fantasy I lived out that night. He groans as he squeezes my shoulder, “You had to work to keep it from us, and I’m not gonna lie and say that didn’t hurt. We’re never letting you live this down. It’s already been decided.” He slings his arm around Cooper’s shoulders and leaves his other around me. “The others aren’t even pissed. Not really. But we’re gonna give you hell for the rest of your lives over this shit.”

Cooper shrugs out of Aiden’s hold. “Whatever you say, Murph.”

“Seriously... you’re in love with your sister. Come on,” Aiden jokes.

Cooper’s eyes turn hungry as he approaches me. “No, asshole. I’m in love with your sister.”

He steps between my brother and me, then slides his hand around my neck and squeezes before he kisses me. His lips brush over mine, and butterflies take flight in my stomach as I wrap myself around him and get lost in the moment.

“Okay, okay. Enough. I get the picture.” We both ignore Aiden, savoring this kiss.

When I pull back from Cooper, breathless and dying to lock us in a room for the night, Aiden’s already sitting back down, eating his dinner. He looks up at us with a fork full of chicken parmigiana halfway to his mouth. “Are you done yet?”

“Oh, big brother. Every single time you torture us about being stepsiblings, I’m going to torture you in a totally different way. You already caught Mom and Coach banging in the kitchen. I’ll make that look like a Disney movie.” I sit down next to Aiden and lay my napkin back down in my lap.

His face pales. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, but I would.” Two can play at this game.