next day, Leo was waiting for me after my last class. Although I logically knew that football season was over, it was still strange to see him in the middle of the afternoon. That had only happened a few times since we’d started dating.
He grinned at me, but I quickly realized that it wasn’t his usual grin. It was forced, and he didn’t do forced.
“Uh oh. What’s wrong?”
He kissed me, then slung an arm around my shoulder. Not that he could keep it there. That didn’t really work when I was on crutches. One more week until I got rid of this miserable cast. I couldn’t freaking wait.
“Who said anything is wrong?” he asked once we began walking.
“Your face.”
He laughed lightly. “Yeah, well I was trying to decide if I should even tell you. But there’s no way around it.”
“Tell me what?”
“Dad invited us over for another ridiculous family dinner tonight.”
“Oh.” It had only been a few days since I’d seen Vincent, and I wasn’t particularly excited about the prospect of facing him again so soon. “Can I beg off this time?”
“Of course. You know how I feel about it. You never have to face him again, if you don’t want to.”
Although that was nowhere near a realistic option, I nodded. “You and Tristin are going, though, right?”
“Yes. We’re planning to break the news that we’re both dating you.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “You’re telling him?”
He shifted to stand in front of me. “Yeah. He shouldn’t be that surprised, after the deal Hayle made with him. And I figured we might as well get it over with before we all go over there for Christmas.” He studied my expression. “Why? Do you not want us to?”
“No, we should tell him, because I’m coming with you.”
No matter what Leo believed, he and Tristin couldn’t just waltz in the front door and announce that they were dating me and pretend like it wasn’t a big deal. Vincent wasn’t to be trifled with. I knew that as well as anyone. Telling him to “fuck off” was a seriously bad idea, and Leo was primed to do just that.
Even Hayle’s insistence that his deal with Vincent would protect us didn’t have me convinced. The Sharpe patriarch wasn’t going to suddenly stop interfering in his sons’ lives. He just wasn’t.
Leo settled his hands on my shoulders. “You don’t need to do that. Let Tristin and I handle our father this time.”
“Except, this isn’t just about you and Tristin. It’s about me too.” I saw the argument cross his face before he could voice it, so I added, “Besides, I want to see Susan.”
“Are you sure? You know how my dad is. This is bound to get ugly.”
“I know. But we’re a team, and you don’t leave one of your most valuable players on the bench during the Super Bowl, do you?”
He laughed, his aquamarine eyes sparkling. “That was a truly terrible analogy, but thank you for trying.”
“Does that mean you’re going to let me come with you?”
“It was never a question of letting you. You make your own decisions, though I’m disappointed you still haven’t burned all of your bras.” Recognizing his reference to something he’d said my first night back in Moss Harbor, I released a choked laugh. Lowering his head, Leo pressed his forehead to mine. “I was just hoping to spare you from an evening with my father. And Hayle, if he shows up.”
Hayle. I didn’t even know if I was angry with him anymore or merely frustrated that he couldn’t seem to pick a freaking team. Maybe it was selfish of me to expect him to pick Team Thea-Tristin-Leo, but Vincent and Lily had put us all in the position that we had to choose. And he was running out of time to choose correctly, once and for all.
“I’ll be fine,” I eventually replied.
And I hoped to hell I was right.
“Do we have a plan?” Tristin asked several hours later, from the back seat of the Range Rover.
Leo shrugged. “I figured we should wait until after dinner and he has a few bourbons in him.”
“That’s the extent of your plan?”
Leo glanced at his brother in the rearview mirror. “Do you have a better idea?” After a good twenty seconds of silence, he added, “That’s what I thought.”
Deciding I might as well enter the conversation, I said, “I don’t really think it matters how we tell him. There’s no way he’ll take it well. Still…” I leaned forward to catch Leo’s