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“Of course. He knows everything. There are no secrets between us, Carter.”
He laughed humorlessly. “Not like the ones between us, huh? Best friends don’t keep secrets.”
“Look,” I said, emphatically, “if you came here to argue with me about Austin, then you’ve made the wrong decision. I’m not sorry for falling in love with him. I’m not sorry that you think I secretly married him. I didn’t. And I’m definitely not sorry for keeping my personal life to myself. If that bothers you, then that’s on you. But I love your brother. And he loves me. We fit. Perfectly if that were possible.”
Carter ran his fingers over his chin as he stared unseeing. I gave him time to process what I’d said, and to decide what he wanted out of this conversation. He’d been my best friend for over half my life. I owed him some time. Until I’d had enough waiting.
“Tell me what really upsets you. Is this about Austin, or is it about your deal?”
He turned to face me. “Both,” he admitted, staring at me. “I wanted him to move back to Chicago, and to run the team with me. I’ve missed him.”
I sighed and rubbed my hand over my beard. Looking up at my best friend, I could see the pain in his face. And I probably knew better than anyone how much Carter had missed Austin. Maybe even more than my husband. “I offered to move to Chicago, but he said no. My team is up and running, and my GM can handle everything. If you can get him to say yes, we’ll move.”
Carter’s face brightened as he sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You’d do that? You’d give up your life here to move back there?”
“Yes,” I said without question. “There is no life here without him. Don’t you get that?”
Carter gave a small nod and directed his gaze towards the ground. “Yeah. I guess I do.”
“He was so miserable for so long. Couldn’t you see it? And now he’s happy, Carter. Be happy for him. You don’t have to be okay with me, but find a way to be to support him.”
As if he knew we were talking about him, the door opened and the man in question walked through the door.
“Hey, babe. You ready to go yet?”
Austin’s words trailed off like the final notes of a song when he saw his brother in my office. I watched the scowl take over his face as his mood did a complete one-eighty. Gone was the happy man I adored, and back was the protective, scowling man I’d hoped was gone for good.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, crossing the room to get to me. Protective husband activated.
“Hello to you, little brother.”
I could immediately see those were the wrong words. Anger rose from inside him. “I don’t know who you are, but you’re not my brother. My older brother would support me no matter what. My older brother would love that I’m happy. And my older brother would never have punched my husband. You’re not Carter. I don’t know who you are anymore.”
Austin turned to me. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”
I nodded, keeping my eyes on Carter. Austin’s words struck him hard. But he wasn’t giving up. “Austin, wait,” he said, pleading with him.
He stopped but didn’t turn around. I recognized the ramrod straight spine and tense demeanor. It was the same one he showed to me every time we’d run into each other before Costa Rica. And my heart hurt for both of them.
When he didn’t walk out the door, Carter continued. I ached to hold my husband, because I knew how much this situation had hurt him. We’d talked about in Costa Rica multiple times, but Austin was dead set that Carter would be the one to fix it. And I knew he didn’t intend to make it easy for him.
“I’m sorry. For hitting Greer, and all the things I said. You were right, that’s not who I am. I know it’s no consolation, but I saw everything we’d talked about for years slipping away. Maybe it’s silly but I’ve always had this dream of the two of us running our hockey team. Your news felt like you were bailing on me and you didn’t even bother telling me.”
Austin turned slowly to face Carter, his hands resting on his hips. “Let me ask you something. Would you rather I be happy for the rest of my life, or you get your dream hockey team? Because your scenario boils down to your happiness or mine. What will you choose, big brother? A life of me and your best friend living alone, or you getting your dream? In my eyes, there’s only one answer.”
Carter stared at him a moment before answering. “I want both. There’s a way we can both be happy. That’s part of why I came here.”
I knew what he was about to say and waited for the explosion. Making my way around my desk, I wrapped my arm around Austin, just to let him know I was there. And maybe so I could intervene if he tried to kill Carter.
“Carter,” he gritted out between his teeth. “You better not fucking say moving to Chicago.” His jaw was tense and I could see every muscle in his handsome face.
My best friend shook his head. “No, it’s not Chicago. Even though Greer said he offered to move.”
My husband growled, and I tightened my hold. “What are you talking about, Carter?” I had a feeling I knew.
“I’ll move to Portland,” he said simply. When Austin still didn’t speak, Carter added, “And we can start the franchise here. Greer knows how this whole process works, and he can guide us through it.”
Austin relaxed in my arms and held on to me. He didn’t respond, but rolled it over in his head, but Carter kept talking.
