As soon as Hayle opened his mouth, I held up a hand. “We’re not doing this here.” Honestly, I felt like yelling right now, and I couldn’t do that inside this house.
Pushing back my chair, I reached for my crutches and veered to the closest door, which happened to open to the deck. Without looking back to see if anyone was following me, I headed outside and down the path to the gazebo, cold air biting into my skin.
Steps sounded behind me a couple of minutes later, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t trying to hide. Only get far enough away from Vincent that I didn’t have to worry about him overhearing.
I carefully climbed the few steps up to the gazebo platform and leaned against the railing, then turned around, not surprised to find Hayle a mere foot behind me. This was probably one of those times when I should take a beat or two to cool down and think about what I wanted to say. I didn’t do that, instead spouting the first thought that popped into my head.
“Have you lost your Teddy-Graham-loving mind?”
His mouth twitched. “Are you calling me stupid again? Because, if so, I’m getting a little tired of it.”
“Then, you should probably start using that big brain God gave you.”
He bridged the small gap remaining between us, until we were toe-to-toe. “That’s what I’m doing.”
Lifting my head to look into his deep brown eyes, I tried not to notice how they shone with a confidence I’d never seen from Hayle before. “I can’t see how that could possibly be true, since you told your father that we’re dating. Last time I checked—which was about two seconds ago—we weren’t.”
“Well, maybe you should check again. Because, we are.” He shrugged off his coat and draped it around my shoulders. “That’s better.”
I blinked at him. Had he somehow managed to suffer a traumatic brain injury since I saw him two nights ago? If not, I had no idea what the hell was going on.
“What game are you playing right now? Because, I have to tell you, I’m completely lost.”
“I know.” He snaked his arms around my waist, plastering his body against mine.
I pretended like being this close to him, absorbing his warmth, didn’t feel amazing. “What are you doing, Hayle?” I breathed more than spoke.
“I’m proving to you that I won’t take a back seat to my brothers anymore. I want you, Thea, and I’m not just going to stand aside and watch without fighting for you.”
“You could have tried telling me that, you know.”
“Oh, really? And when was I supposed to do that?” Though his words were sarcastic, there was no bite to them. “When you were walking away from me in the rain? Or, how about when Leo showed up and stole all of your attention?”
Valid points…sort of. “If you hadn’t been avoiding me the rest of the time, you might have earned more of my attention.”
“You’re right,” he conceded easily. “But I also need you to understand how much I’ve been struggling since Thanksgiving, especially with guilt over how I treated you. I didn’t know how to make it right.”
He ran one hand up and down my back, over my sweater, making me shiver. “Look, I know announcing that to my dad seems a bit dramatic, but it wasn’t going to be good enough for me to just show up and ask you to accept me as another of your suitors. I needed a grand gesture, and I’m not sure this is all that grand, but it is a gesture.”
I bit back a grin. “Suitors?”
“What would you prefer to call us? Beaus? Consorts?” He raised both brows. “Lovers?”
“I prefer boyfriends, but if you feel the need to be fancy…”
His face softened, and his eyes slid down to my mouth. “Does that mean you’re willing to give me a chance to be one of those boyfriends?”
“It’s not only up to me, you know.”
Just standing this closely to Hayle, allowing him to hold me, made me feel like I was cheating on Tristin and Leo. It didn’t matter that there were two of them. They still deserved the same respect as if there was only one.
“They know,” Hayle declared.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that Leo and Tristin know I’m out here trying to win you over, and they’re okay with it. I talked to them right before following you.”
Well, that was unexpected. But also not the point. This wasn’t as simple as him telling me he wanted