AllFreeNovel
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Dana stays beside me, my constant anchor.
“Your life is gonna be all about her now,” Alex says. “All the stuff we’ve talked about doing for years won’t happen. You won’t have time to be our friend anymore. I know we always called you Heartbreaker, but… I never thought you’d break my heart, too.”
I blink. “That’s what this is about? You think I’m not going to hang out with you guys anymore because I’ll spend all my free time with Dana?”
“Yes!”
“No, I won’t.”
Dad snorts. “Yes, you will.”
Mom slaps his free arm as others chuckle.
“No, I won’t,” I say again. “Dana is really important to me, but so are you and Ben. So is moving into the Delta Xi house together and winning championships with the Bearhawks. All of that is still going to happen. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
Alex looks forward. He doesn’t believe me.
“I love her,” I say, “but I love you, too.”
He glances at me out of the corner of his eye. “Yeah?”
“You’re my brother, Alex. And I’m not just talking about Delta Xi. This goes deeper than a tattoo. You’re on my team. A quarterback is nothing without his team. You told me that. Remember?”
Alex looks over. “I remember,” he mutters.
A strong second wind channels up my arm as I let go of Dana’s hand and extend it across the casket. “Alex, I love you,” I say, making a fist.
He turns and stares at my fist for a long moment before reaching across the gap toward me. “I love you, too, Connor,” he says, his hand rolled into a fist, too.
We bump.
I exhale, relieved to have my brother back as the others relax ahead of us.
“I love you, John,” Dad says.
“Love you, too, Junior,” John replies.
“Me too, guys,” Ben says, looking back. “I love you guys, too.”
“I love you, Ben,” I say.
“I love everything about this,” Grant says, his arm around Ty’s shoulders.
I smile at Alex. “So, what do you say?” I ask him.
Alex glances between us with a sigh; his sister and his best friend. “You have my blessing,” he says.
Dana takes my hand again, her smile wide and happy. “Really?” she asks.
He nods. “It’ll take some getting used to, but… yeah, sister. Really.”
Her eyes shimmer. “Thank you, Alex.”
“Yeah. Thank you,” I say.
His expression hardens again. “You hurt her, I’ll kill you.”
“We all will,” Grant says to me, his face turning uncharacteristically tough. “I adore you, buddy, but this girl is precious.”
