Page 86 of The Route to You

“Sloan.”

The room went still, the air between them hanging heavily as Kyle’s words registered with both Quinn and Elle.

This time, Elle didn’t attempt to hide her annoyance. “Sloan Carrington?”

Quinn set his hand on Elle’s knee.

Kyle held his sister’s gaze. “She just moved back to Nashville, apparently. Today. And, uh, came to find me.”

Elle crossed her arms. “Find you? How?”

This wasn’t going to sound good. “Her friend hired a PI⁠—”

“Kyle!” Elle sprang to her feet. “Oh my God. You can’t be serious. You can not be serious. That woman is completely unhinged.”

“Elle . . .” Quinn said, a warning tone to his voice.

“No, don’t Elle me.” Elle scowled down at Quinn, then set her hand over her belly. “Or blame it on me being a hormonal pregnant woman.” She pointed at Kyle. “Sloan practically destroyed my brother. Twice!”

Kyle raked his hand through his hair, then swallowed some wine, heat flushing his neck. “I knew you wouldn’t get it, but listen⁠—”

“No!” Elle stamped her foot. “No, no, no! Kyle, no. Just . . . no.”

“Yeah, I got that part,” Kyle said dryly.

Quinn shifted with discomfort, sinking back onto the couch.

Elle crossed the living room and sat beside him, then clasped his free hand. “She is a menace to your life, Ky. She hurt you so badly. A-and then she does, what? Moves back to Nashville and immediately comes and finds you on the day she moves?”

Fuck, it really doesn’t sound good when she says it that way.

Elle drew a shaky breath. “You’re not thinking straight. You’ve never had your head on straight where Sloan is concerned. She will take and take and take whatever she wants from you, when it’s convenient for her, and then ruin you—stomp all over your heart without a backward glance.”

“It’s not like that,” Kyle said, disentangling his hand from Elle’s. “It hasn’t been like that at all since we ran into each other in Vail. We’re friends. That’s all.” The words tasted like a lie coming out of his mouth, but they weren’t untrue , either.

Elle closed her eyes, her fingertips trembling. “I never thought I would find myself saying this to my baby brother, but can you just . . . go out there and have a few one-night stands or something? Have some fun, wild sex with strangers to get this woman out of your system?”

“First of all, no thanks, we don’t need to go there.” Kyle narrowed his eyes at Elle. “And second, we talked today. She wasn’t avoiding me the last few months after all, there were just a lot of complications. She’s had a lot on her plate and⁠—”

“And you’re already defending her.” Elle threw her hands up and stood. She gestured to Quinn. “Will you say something? Talk some sense into him?”

Quinn looked as though Elle had just asked him to eat a living slug. His blue eyes met Kyle’s, and he grimaced. “It’s his life, Elle.”

Swallowing back tears, Elle looked from her husband to her brother. “You’re both so . . . infuriatingly frustrating.” Sniffling, she hurried out of the room.

Kyle palmed his face. “That went well.”

A few beats of tense silence hung between them as Quinn got to his feet. “I should go after her.” He gave Kyle a chagrined smile. “It’ll be fine. She doesn’t want to admit it, but those pregnancy hormones are a nightmare. Pray for me.”

Kyle returned his smile grimly and drained his glass. “I’ll just let myself out.”

Quinn was already on his way after Elle.

Sighing deeply, Kyle stood, staring at the board of cheese and fruit. He hated that he’d taken a sledgehammer to what could have been a nice evening by telling his sister about Sloan.

But as he made his way toward the door to leave, he couldn’t get Elle’s words out of his head. Couldn’t stop from turning it over, bit by bit, and wondering, what if she’s right?

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