My Cone and Only (King Family #1) - Susannah Nix Page 0,61

meant it burned out faster. Whereas Josh kept his anger inside, allowing it to fester and grow. I’d seen him cut people out of his life before, turning his back on friends after one mistake or perceived slight.

I could understand why Wyatt didn’t want to test him, even as disappointment burned in the back of my throat. I wanted Wyatt to fight for me. To care enough to stand up to Josh and tell him to shove his interfering nonsense straight up his ass.

The one time I actually wanted Wyatt to barrel-roll in to defend my honor, he didn’t want to do it. Why did he have to be cautious about this one thing when he was so casually reckless about everything else?

I knew why, of course. Because my brother wasn’t just some random stranger in a bar. Josh mattered to him.

Did I really want to force Wyatt into choosing between me and my brother? Was it a fair thing to ask or expect when he stood to lose a lot more than I did?

Would he even choose me if it came down to it?

Almost definitely not.

Josh was more than just Wyatt’s best friend. In a way, he’d been his savior.

Wyatt hadn’t had an easy time of it after his mother died. His father and closest brothers had been bound up in their own grief—first losing Chance, then Brady leaving, then finally Wyatt’s mother. Tanner had always been a little withdrawn, and he’d withdrawn even further that year. Ryan had done what he could under the circumstances, but he hadn’t been at home anymore to keep much of an eye on Wyatt. And Wyatt’s dad—well. George King had never been warm and fuzzy, but he’d seemed to grow colder and even more distant just when his sons had needed him most. Maybe it had simply been grief—I couldn’t imagine losing two sons and a wife like that—or maybe it had been selfishness, but his relationship with Wyatt had never recovered.

In a way, Josh had been all Wyatt had. They’d spent so much time together in the months after his mother’s death, when Wyatt had desperately needed someone and felt like everyone else had abandoned him. Our house had been his retreat from all the unhappiness waiting for him at home, and my brother had been his primary support system.

It scared me to wonder what might have happened to Wyatt without Josh’s levelheaded influence to keep him from spiraling out of control. Wyatt had always been impulsive—we were a lot alike that way—but I’d had a stable, loving family to keep an eye on me and keep me in line. Who knew what Wyatt might have turned to if he hadn’t turned to Josh? It didn’t seem like a stretch to think my brother had saved his life.

Josh’s friendship was more important to Wyatt than I was. That was the way it had been for as long as we’d known each other.

If I tried to force the issue, I knew exactly what would happen. I’d lose.

“So what are we supposed to do?” I asked helplessly.

Wyatt rolled onto his side, his expression pained as he wrapped both his hands around mine. “We have to keep this—us—a secret.”

“You mean sneak around?”

“Would that be so bad?”

Would it?

If I got to have Wyatt, but no one could know, I’d still have Wyatt, wouldn’t I? Wasn’t that better than not having him at all?

Still cradling my hand, he brought it to his lips and kissed it. “It’s not like we’d never be able to see each other. We can keep hanging out like normal, as friends.” His mouth dragged a trail across my knuckles. “We’ll just have to be careful when we’re around other people so no one catches on. Pretend nothing’s changed.”

“What about other women?”

His brow compressed. “I won’t sleep with other women.” He looked a little hurt I’d had to ask. “Obviously.”

“Will you quit flirting too?”

“I…” He hesitated, frowning. “People will probably notice something’s up if I stop showing interest in women altogether.”

Regrettably, I had to admit it was a valid point. “So you’re proposing what? That you continue to flirt with other women in public?”

Gathering me in his arms, he rolled onto his back so I was lying on top of him. “Can you live with that? If I swear to you that it’s all for show and I won’t let it go anywhere?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly as I traced a finger over the dragon tattoo under his collarbone. “What counts