Choosing the Right Man - Nice Girl to Love, Vol 3 (Can't Resist #3)(6)

Brian saw a tiny bit of the tension ease out of Abby’s shoulders as she smiled her thanks and went over to help his mother with what he assumed was their ‘breakfast.’ Skylar was having a grand old time poking at it like it was a fascinating new science experiment.

Meanwhile, he was focusing all his energy on keeping a lid on his temper as he scanned the house for the one man that was jeopardizing everything he’d been wanting for so long.

“Hey, Brian.”

Try as he did, he couldn’t stop the feeling of resentment that crushed his windpipe in an angry death grip at the mere sound of his brother’s voice. Glancing over at Abby and seeing her watching them warily, he turned around and gave Connor a barely civil nod in greeting.

“She ambushed me, too,” explained Connor in a gruff whisper. “I only came over because she said she threw out her back and needed help with errands this morning.”

Both men watched their mother practically prance around the kitchen, gathering up the ingredients for a second batch of pancakes, this time with Abby at the stove. The first batch of burnt gooey blobs was nowhere to be found.

“Clearly, she’s made a miraculous recovery,” replied Brian dryly.

“Boys, could you do me a huge favor and move the outdoor dining table over to the other end of the patio, closer to the lawn? I’ve been wanting to do that for some time.”

Abby’s head snapped up. “Uh, Helen, are you sure you want to have them do that now?” she asked, alarmed.

“Yes.” The response brooked no argument. “It definitely needs to be done now.”

Brian was already halfway out the door. He’d been spoiling for this fight for nearly a full day.

Abby’s worried murmurs were sealed shut inside the house with the closing of the sliding door behind Connor, who silently followed him over to the lawn around the side of the house.

“So are we going to talk or are you going to take a swing at me?” he asked with a smirk.

The latter. Brian was sorely tempted to do the latter. He spun around and glared at Connor. “You told me you were going to step aside to give me a chance with Abby.”

All humor faded from his brother’s face. “Yes, a chance. To see if there was something more than friendship there between you two. I never said I was just going to give her up.”

What the— “So this was just some sort of twisted challenge for you? To have her realize that she really does have feelings for me only to try and steal her back?!” Who does that?

Connor grit his teeth and sighed wearily. “Of course not. I just…I wanted her to figure out her true feelings about you before…”

“Before what? Before you deigned to let her surpass your dumb-ass one-month rule?”

A hard edge slashed across Connor’s features. “Not all of us are like you, Brian,” he growled in defense. “Love doesn’t just come easily to everyone.”

Easy? Was the man a total moron? “You think everything I went through with Beth was easy?”

Connor blanched. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Criminy. For an ivy league grad, you’ve got to be one of the most idiotic people I know. Love isn’t easy or hard. It’s a choice you actively make despite all that. I choose to let people in and let myself care about them, regardless of how easy or hard it may be. The only reason you haven’t been in love is because you’ve never chosen to be, you jackass.”

“Until now,” interjected Connor quietly.

Brian stilled and registered for the first time how tortured Connor looked.

It was all there—the confusion, the helplessness, and that damn irrepressible softening in his features that a man got when he was thinking about the woman he couldn’t get out of his head. Shit.

“You’re in love with Abby.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

Every gene he shared with his brother jerked in sympathy. But only for a brief moment before his annoyance came racing back to the helm twofold, eclipsed only by the flashing memories of how hurt Abby had been all winter.

That just led to plain, white-hot anger.

“Then what the hell were you thinking leaving her the way you did?” Remembering the few times he’d caught Abby covering up her tears, or worse…the few times she hadn’t been able to, had fresh rage-soaked agitation charging through him.

Screw talking. Brian drew back and rammed his fist into Connor’s jaw.

Connor staggered a step and smiled through the trail of blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth. “You want to go a few rounds like in the good ole days?”

All the adrenaline in his body went on full deployment. Sounded fan-friggin-tastic to him. True, fighting never solved anything between them growing up but hell if hadn’t felt good to do it anyway. Circling his brother as they moved off onto the grass, Brian found himself smiling as well.

Until Connor shot forward and flipped him on his ass with a double-leg takedown.

Sonofabitch!





CHAPTER THREE


A SPLIT SECOND LATER, Brian watched, in downright shock, as Connor dropped and tumbled over him, yanking his left arm back and nearly out of its socket. When the hell did Connor learn to do an arm bar? And a nasty one at that.

“See what happens when you bulk up to the size of The Incredible Hulk, little brother? It slows you down.”