The Drift - Jenika Snow Page 0,45

to tell you something I know damn well you are aware of.”

I swallowed roughly and turned to face him.

“My twin, that man who I thought I’d lose just two weeks ago, has never looked at anyone the way he looks at you.” My throat tightened even more. “He’s never defended anyone, wanted to protect someone the way he wants to do with you.” My heart raced. “He looks at you like he’s finally found what he’s been missing his entire life.” My chest hurt so bad, Frankie’s words ringing true, because I felt them too. “And there’s nothing more I want in this God-forsaken life than for my brothers to be happy.” He took a step closer, but I didn’t retreat. I felt no threat from him right now. “My brother cares for you the likes of which I’ve never seen, the likes of which he’s never experienced. I’d even go as far as to say he loves you, but that’s not my place.”

I licked my lips, feeling tears prick the corners of my eyes. I’d been holding them back until now, but hearing Frankie say these things hit a chord deep within me.

“And if you feel anything remotely close to what my brother feels for you…” He took another step. “If you see any of that, don’t do this. Don’t leave him. Don’t make me watch my twin’s heart break and darkness take over.”

The emotion in Frankie’s voice told me one thing. He experienced this and didn’t want it for his brother.

“You can lie to me. You can lie to Wilder. But you can’t lie to yourself on how you feel for my brother.” This darkness washed over his face, not toward me, but because I could see he already experienced this. “You can run a lifetime, but at the end of the day, you’ll think back on this, on what you feel, and know you made the biggest mistake of your life.”

He stared at me for a long moment, and then without saying another word, he turned and left, leaving me standing there to think about what he said. I turned to start making my way toward the front again, knowing I had a plan, but my feet were cement pillars, refusing to take me farther. I glanced at where Frankie left then where the only thing stopping me from being with Wilder was a set of sliding glass doors.

The tears were streaming down my cheeks, fat droplets like a spigot had been opened and couldn’t be turned off. I didn’t want to leave Wilder. I didn’t want to ignore how he made me feel.

I didn’t want to run anymore.

My heart was pounding as I turned back around and all but ran to those sliding glass doors. My pulse jumped into my throat as I rounded the corner of the house, to slip through those doors that would take me to Wilder. It was as if a light switch had been turned on in me, this glow washing over my darkest fears and wiping them away.

This wasn’t about falling for Wilder. This wasn’t about caring so deeply for another soul; something else, someone else mattered more than you did. This was about so much more. This was about finding something just for me, finding happiness for the first time in my life. I wanted to utter the words that would link us together, that I wanted to be his the same way I wanted him to be mine.

Was this love? I didn’t know. I’d never loved anyone. I’d never felt love from anyone. Not even my own mother had given me love, an emotion that should have been so natural, being a mother and child.

But I’d finally found something worth more to myself than the need to run, to start over countless times. I’d been running from happiness for far too long, afraid of the possibilities. I didn’t have to run anymore. Maybe Wilder didn’t want me in the bone-deep way I did him, but he cared for me, and that was enough. But I had to tell him I wanted more for us, that I’d fallen hard for the Preacher boy who stole to survive and lived life on the edge.

And so I stepped around the corner of that house and came to an abrupt stop as I watched Wilder all but tear out the back door. He looked frantic, wild as he looked around the yard. He had on no shirt, his sweats were pulled up