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“Excuse me?” Simon cocked his head at Shaun. “Can I finish?”
“Sure, go ahead, bro.”
“Your ex cheated on you. You found out on your wedding day. That must have been an awful situation, and I can’t even imagine. You have trust issues. So did all of us. If Claire used you to get to us, do you think she’d be broken up like she is? People only get wasted like that when they’re hurting. Would she come to you and ask you for a second chance if she used you? No. She wouldn’t care, Nick. But she does. She cares about you a lot. Right now, she’s lying in bed, sleeping off the alcohol because of you.”
“We wouldn’t be here lecturing you if we didn’t see for ourselves the connection the two of you have,” Sam said.
“The last thing I wanted when I moved here was to get into a relationship with another woman,” I said.
“And you think I wanted to get into a relationship?” Sam asked. “I wanted nothing to do with relationships at all. Then I met Julia, and she changed everything for me. The same goes forall of my brothers and cousins. We’ve all learned that the best things happen to you when you aren’t even looking. Sebastian, you’ve been awfully quiet. Don’t you have anything to add?”
“Stop being a fucking douchebag, Nick.” Sebastian stared at me.
“Excuse me? How am I being a douchebag?”
“You’re letting the wrong feelings and emotions win. You’re hurt and angry because she didn’t share something so personal to her. One, you’re close with Christian. Two, you most likely would have pressured her to tell us when she wasn’t ready. And three, you never gave her the chance to really explain. You were so hurt that you found out from Christian, instead of the woman you were falling in love with, that you took that anger and rolled with it. You let the hurt consume you instead of calmly sitting down and letting her explain. You’re in love with our sister, Nick. You have our blessing. We love you too, and if we had to choose any man to be with her, it would be you, hands down. You’re a great guy, and only one woman on this earth is lucky enough to have you in her life. And you know who that woman is.” He pointed at me. “It isn’t your ex. It isn’t some random chick, and it isn’t the girl down the street.”
“What girl down the street?” Christian furrowed his brows.
“I’m giving examples,” Sebastian said. “That woman is Claire. You’re broken, she’s broken. Fuck, we’re all broken over this because this is what we do. When a family member is hurting, we make it our business to make things better. You’re a part of our family. Give Claire another chance. There isn’t one of us in this room who would be where we are today if we weren’t given second chances.”
“Yeah. What he said.” Stefan smiled.
“Damn, bro.” Simon stared at Sebastian. “That was good.” He held up his beer bottle to him.
“Thanks, my brother.” Sebastian tapped his against it.
“Are you in love with her?” Simon asked as he stared at me.
I looked down at the beer bottle I was holding. “I do love her.”
“That’s all that matters.” Simon stood up. “I think our work here is done.”
I looked up at him, and he winked.
“Thanks for coming over.” I stood up and walked them to the door.
CHAPTER 26
ONE WEEK LATER
Claire
I was sitting in my office reviewing some reports when my phone rang. Glancing at it, I saw Jenni was calling.
“Hi, Jen.”
“Do you have any plans tonight?” she asked.
“Not that I can think of.”
“Good. The girls and I want to get together tonight at the brewhouse for a couple of drinks. No guys and no kids. Can you meet us?”
“Sounds fun. What time?”
“We’re meeting at six o’clock in the bar area.”
“I’ll see you all there at six.”
