Page 97 of Hometown Hottie

“I know.”

“Ryan said some pretty crazy stuff to Carson yesterday, the way I heard it.”

I nodded. “I know that too.”

“Then you should also know that Ryan has never wanted you and Carson together.”

I held his gaze, not ashamed but still feeling pretty darn guilty. “I do know that. Thanks, but I still don’t know how Carson is doing right now.”

“Honestly?” Vance shook his head, his eyes suddenly far away as he shrugged. “All this stuff with Ryan is weighing him down. Your brother has a good heart, Nova, but so does Carson, and at this point, he doesn’t know what the right thing is to do. Every move he makes seems to hurt someone, and he doesn’t want that.”

“Yeah, I get that.” I nodded at him and started backing away. “Okay. Thanks, Vance. I appreciate you telling me and I’m sorry for the role I’m playing in all this drama.”

He chuckled. “It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault, really. It’s just a whole bunch of circumstances that are making things a lot more complicated than they need to be.”

I wasn’t sure about it not being anyone’s fault, but he sure was right about how complicated it all was. I turned my back on him and jogged over to the soccer team. Trying to focus, I demonstrated the drill and then watched the girls as they tried it, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what Vance had said.

Knowing that the stuff with Ryan was weighing Carson down so much made me feel worse than ever. Ryan and Carson had their own issues to sort out. I got that. For starters, I now knew that Ryan felt betrayed by both Carson and Vance for the way they’d apparently forgotten about him after they’d left.

But that didn’t involve me. How Ryan felt about Carson and me being together and the effect it was having on Carson? That involved me. They could sort everything else out on their own time, but I was starting to realize that I might lose Carson if I didn’t stand up for him to my brother.

Ryan had no right to decide who I could and could not date. Whether he liked it or not, Carson and I had something that wasn’t easy to find.

Our kind of chemistry and connection were rare, and it was precious, and I was pretty sure it was the reason why no one else had ever measured up for either of us. I couldn’t let that come second anymore.

It deserved to be prioritized. With everything else going on, I hadn’t realized just how much I had been neglecting it until now. No more, though.

Ryan could rant and rave at me as much as he liked. He could stomp his feet and bang his fists on his chest. Hell, he could really be a stubborn ass and never speak to me again, but I needed to set him straight about a few things.

I lifted my chin as resolve grew in my chest. I’d been a bystander in all of this for too long, feeling too guilty to do much, but that was over now. I was going to stand up to my brother and I was going to do it soon—before Carson started thinking that he didn’t mean enough for me to make my voice heard or that I didn’t want this as much as he did.

I wanted it at least as much, if not more, and I wasn’t going to let anything stand in the way of that anymore.

This time, no matter what, Ryan was going to listen to me and I wasn’t going to be deterred by any temper tantrums. I was going to tell him how I felt, and if he didn’t like it, then that was his problem. Not mine. Not anymore.