The Monster (Boston Belles #3) - L.J. Shen Page 0,110

He is my big brother, the boy who shooed the monsters away when I was a kid before becoming one himself. But I would never live with myself if I don’t get this out of my system. Sam is incapable of love, Ash. And I think it is time for you to move on. You cannot marry for love if you marry him because he is not the loving kind.”

“Not to mention, Sam doesn’t want to get married. He says that all the time. Boasts about it, too,” Persy pointed out heatedly, and I knew their hearts were in the right place, but I so didn’t need to hear this right now.

“I’m not having an affair,” I repeated again, dully though my body temperature climbed up steadily. They were patronizing me. Again.

“Honey, I’m not saying you can’t screw him out of your system a few more times.” Belle threw her arms around my shoulders, pressing me close in a hug. My plate nearly tipped over, some of its contents spilling on the carpet. “Just make sure you know he is not your forever. You’re a romantic one, like Persy.”

“Yeah. Just guard your heart.” Sailor smiled awkwardly. “You know? Because love—”

“Yes, I know,” I bit out, pulling back from Belle. “Love is not something your brother has to offer. So you’ve mentioned. I suppose it doesn’t matter if I repeat for the third time that I’m not sleeping with him?”

Technically speaking, I wasn’t. I had in the past, but I ended things, coming to the same conclusion they did—a decade after giving him my heart on a monster ride.

Belle gave me a pitying look. “Oh, honey.”

That was it.

I snapped.

Jumped to my feet, sending my plate in the air.

“Let me get this straight, you staged a whole intervention because you thought I was having an affair with Sam and couldn’t handle him?” I laughed incredulously, my teeth clenching with anger.

Sailor winced. “I wouldn’t say can’t handle …”

I squeezed the bridge of my nose, willing myself to take a big, cleansing breath.

In. Out. That’s it.

Nope. It didn’t work.

“All right, let’s see about your green, green grass, shall we?” I opened my arms theatrically, making a show of it. “Starting with you, the almighty Sailor, the first of us to get married. May I remind you your relationship started when you were Hunter’s babysitter? Because that totally happened. You were in charge of keeping him in line because his dick was not to be left unsupervised for longer than five minutes. I’ve met toddlers with more self-control than Hunter’s junk before he met you; he was hardly marriage material. That didn’t stop you from jumping into commitment with him. And you …” I turned to Persy, who shrank into herself visibly.

She was the least judgmental out of my friends, but she wasn’t lily white or guiltless. “You were literally bought by my brother, like cattle. Actually, scratch that, he conducts more research before he buys a steer. He’d treated you horribly for months. You broke him the way you break an unruly horse. Through trials and tribulations. You should know better than anyone that the most stubborn mares make the best riding mates once you tame them. And, of course, there is you, Belle …” I turned to Belle, smiling at her sweetly.

Out of all of our friends, Belle and I were the most unlikely pair and also the closest. Probably because we were the only two still single.

“You cannot even spell the word ‘relationship,’ let alone make one work. You are scared to death of love, for whatever reason, and have never once let anyone into your heart since I’ve known you. Who are you guys to tell me where my relationship—or lack of it—is going? You know better than anyone bumpy starts don’t guarantee a terrible journey. In fact, the paths with the best scenery are the ones where you have to go through the mud.”

By the time I was done, I was panting and sweating under the flannel pajamas.

I lost all appetite for the takeout, and even the Christmas movie binge session seemed unappealing. “I would like you to leave now…” I folded my arms over my chest, shifting my weight from foot to foot “…please.”

Persy was the first to oblige. She smoothed her jammies, her eyes filled to the brim with tears. “You’re right,” she whispered. “We have no idea what goes on between you and Sam. In our quest to try to protect you, we’ve been pushing you around,