she had every reason to feel the way she did about me. I can never change it, but…the past is the past. All I can do is prove to her that I’m not that guy anymore. And maybe she’ll want to seriously give us another chance.”
“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve got to ask this.”
He groaned.
“Are you sure we’re still not dealing with ego here?”
“What do you mean?”
She gave him a sympathetic look. “Kyle, come on. What’s the end goal here? You say you want her to give you another chance but…to what end? Do you think you want to marry her? Or is this about making yourself feel better about the past and maybe easing some of your guilt for your crappy behavior?”
He opted to let that obvious jab slide since she wasn’t saying anything he hadn’t already asked himself. Before he could respond, his brother walked in the door.
“Hey!” Hunter said with an easy grin. “I didn’t know you were going to be here. You joining us for dinner?”
And again, before he could say anything, Violet spoke. “Actually, Kyle stopped by to ask a favor of us.” Then she explained the situation to Hunter.
“You realize you’re courting trouble, right?”
Groaning, his head lolled back. “Dude, you are beginning to sound like a broken record.”
“I’m just saying that Sydney’s got enough on her plate without you messing around with her. I get that you can’t go back and undo what you did earlier or erase the past, but…let it go. Let her be.”
“I don’t think it’s any of your…”
“Look,” Hunter interrupted firmly. “You are my brother and I love you, but…there is no way you’re ready to take on a woman with a kid. Trust me. Hell, do you remember when Violet and I met? It was damn-near impossible for us to date like a normal couple! There was no way I was going to keep dumping Eli on babysitter after babysitter so I could go out and have fun. Vi was patient and understanding…to a point.” Smiling at his fiancée, he took her hand in his. “And believe me when I say she’s way more of a saint than you can ever be.”
“Hey!” he snapped.
“I’m just being honest with you. There are tons of women around town that would love to mess around with you.”
“Maybe I want more than just messing around.”
With a snort, Hunter said, “Right. Sure. You keep telling yourself that.”
“Why? Why is it alright for everyone else to get to that point and not me?”
Sighing, Hunter leveled him with a stern look. “Your reputation says otherwise.” He paused. “Kyle, you tend to look for the easy way to do everything.”
“That’s not…”
“And I remember how you were when things ended between you the last time. You never said anything, and I never asked, but…we’re brothers. I know it was hard on you, and I often wondered why you didn’t fight more for her.”
Yeah…so do I.
“If you’re done with messing around with women and wanting something serious, a woman with a child is not the smartest place to start,” Hunter went on.
“You know that’s more than a little insulting—to Sydney and to me,” he all but growled. It was unbelievable how little his brother seemed to think of him.
“The truth isn’t always pretty or sweet or kind, but it doesn’t make it any less true.”
Muttering a curse, he raked a hand through his hair.
Violet looked between the two of them and daintily cleared her throat. “Um, if I can interject?”
They both nodded.
“It seems to me something is already going on between the two of you,” she said to Kyle. “Am I right?”
He nodded again.
“All we can do is advise you and say that we’re concerned, but basically this is between you and Sydney.”
“Thank you.”
“However,” she quickly interrupted, “don’t think there won’t be a big heaping round of ‘I told you so’ if this goes like we think it will.”
“Understood.”
Hunter groaned and fell back against the sofa cushions. “And don’t come crying to us when this crashes and burns.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Kyle mumbled.
“Okay, now that we have that settled,” Violet said cheerily, “let’s talk about Haley!”
“So...you want Haley to hang out with Violet and Hunter?”
He nodded.
“Why?”
“Well, I know Haley’s been going to the Y and taking classes in gymnastics, and she made the gymnastics team in school, but Vi almost went to the Olympics and could give her some one-on-one attention. You know, pointers and encouragement.” Then he stepped in close, placing his hands on her