Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men Book 9)

by Linda Kage

  “Oh my God, I’m sorry.” The muffled words came through her fingers as she begged me with big brown eyes to forgive her.

  Finally, Brandt rasped, “Did you tell her?”

  “What? No!” I stared at him earnestly, hoping he believed me, before turning back to Julianna, and trying to figure out how she knew.

  “I guessed,” she admitted, creeping her hands away from her mouth long enough to confess.

  I shook my head, unable to believe it. But how…? “Holy shit,” I whispered. Brandt was never going to forgive me for this. “I didn’t…” I started insistently, turning back to him, but he just held up his hands before turning away and leaving the apartment.

  I stepped after him to chase him down and convince him I hadn’t been telling anyone what had happened to him, but Julianna grabbed my arm.

  “Colton, oh my God. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t…I didn’t mean to—”

  “How did you know?”

  “I…” She shook her head. “I figured it out.”

  I shook my head. “How?”

  “Because you said the night of his wedding that your mom had caused your nightmares, but then the night you told me about the boy you saw molested, you said that had caused them, so I just put the pieces together. And Brandt is five years older than you, which made sense—”

  “Holy shit,” I uttered, slapping my hands to my face. “Holy shit. I didn’t realize I’d told you so much. Oh, fuck. He’s never going to forgive me. I need to…dammit, I need to talk to him.”

  I started for the door again, but Julianna’s small voice stopped me. “Colton?” was all she said.

  When I glanced back, the worry on her face had me turning to her fully. “Jesus, baby doll. Don’t worry. It’ll be okay.”

  She gripped my wrists when I cupped her cheeks in my hands. “You didn’t believe him, did you? That I’m only with you because of him?”

  “Of course I know that.” I pressed our foreheads together. “I didn’t believe him.” I sent her a smile, hoping she’d smile back. But she still looked worried. So I sighed and lamented, “I guess your crush on him is really over.”

  Her lips trembled into a smile. “Baby, I’ve been over him since the moment you walked into the Forbidden Nightclub and flirted with me. I just didn’t realize it until you offered to be my consolation prize.”

  “Damn.” My chest heaved with emotion. Hoping for something to be true was a hell of a lot different than hearing it said aloud straight from the source. I decided I liked hearing it straight from the source so much better.

  My relief made Julianna squint. “You weren’t really worried about that, were you?”

  I shrugged, not really able to lie. “There might have been some occasions where I thought I was the only one feeling it. I gotta admit, it’s not cool wondering if you’re falling hopelessly for a woman who might still be hung up on your brother.”

  “Colton David Gamble.” She tsked and shook her head with reproach. “How in God’s name could you ever think I could ever focus on anyone else whenever you’re in the room?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I’m used to coming in second place.”

  “Not with me you don’t,” she said seriously.

  “God, I love you,” I admitted just before my mouth sank against hers.

  She clutched two fistfuls of my hair and kissed me back. But I think she could taste the desperation and worry on my lips because she pulled away to say, “Okay, I know you want to chase after him. Go ahead. And tell him I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have shoved his traumatic experience in his face like that.”

  “Okay,” I answered breathlessly. “Will do. And thank you for defending me, by the way. Hottest thing ever.” I touched her cheek one last time before flying out the door.

  Brandt was long gone by the time I reached the parking lot. So I hurried to my truck and climbed behind the wheel. I drove to his place first. But Sarah, who answered the door, reported he wasn’t home. Curious as to what was going on because he’d blown out of there without telling her anything, she made me stick around long enough to explain what had happened.

  “He went to your house,” she decided, knowing her husband’s mind better than anyone. “Probably trying to convince Noel to side with him.”

  I rolled my eyes. That did sound about right. “Thanks, Sarah,” I started, only to pause and cock her a glance. “What’re your thoughts about the whole thing? Do you not like me being with Juli?”

  “Oh, I think it’s great,” she exploded with a big grin. “I’ve always liked her. I just didn’t like her with Brandt. But if you and she click, then I’m more than happy for you.”

  I kissed her on the forehead. “We click,” I said. We clicked perfectly if I did say so myself.

  She swatted at my hip. “Then go convince my husband of that.”

  I nodded and raced out the door.

  Brandt’s truck sat at the curb when I reached home. The Tennings’ SUV sat right behind it. Great. Caroline’s crew was still here.

  I rolled my eyes. Let the family drama begin.

  Brandt was railing at Noel as soon as I stepped through the back door.

  “I’m telling you, you need to put a stop to this. Those two don’t belong together.”

  Noel gave an uneasy laugh and lifted his hands. “What exactly do you expect me to do? Ground him? He’s a legal adult now. Besides, why can’t he see whoever the fuck he wants?”

  Brandt gurgled out an incredulous sound. “You sure as fuck didn’t feel that way when you found out Caroline and Ten were hooking up when she was eighteen.”

  “He has a point,” Ten said, surprising me because I hadn’t seen him sitting on the kitchen counter with his feet swinging as he ate…what the fuck was he eating? String cheese?

  Neither of my sisters or their children were present. At least it was just us guys I had to deal with.

  Noel was slicing Ten a dry glance before he turned back to Brandt. “Well, I’d like to think I learned a lesson from that, just like you should have. If Colton and this girl are happy together and she treats him right, I don’t see a problem with it.”

  “Thank you,” I told my older brother, which made Brandt spin around and nail me with a glare.

  I eyed him levelly, not sure how to approach this. I wanted to apologize for unintentionally letting the cat out of the bag to Julianna about his past, but I wasn’t fucking backing down about seeing her. It was too late for that shit, even if I was desperate to do anything to get him to forgive me.

  “I’m sorry you don’t approve of me being with Julianna,” I said slowly. “But I’m not going to stop. Not even for you.”

  He opened his mouth to probably argue, but Ten lifted his string cheese.

  “Wait. Did you say Julianna? Holy shit, you scored the hot bartender, Rihanna? Dude! Nice work. How the fuck did a pathetic fuck stick like you catch something that classy?”

  “He didn’t,” Brandt muttered dryly. “She fucking settled for him or is using him or something to get close to me. I’m the one she wants.”

  That declaration kind of set me off. “Will you stop?” I charged at him and I pushed him full in the chest with both hands, making him stumble backward. “She doesn’t want revenge against you. And she did not settle for me because I’m the one she really wants.”

  “I don’t know what she did to make you believe that, but—”

  “She made me fall in love with her,” I roared. “And she fell in love with me. Now back the fuck down before I put you down.”

  “Hey,” Noel boomed, lifting an arm between us to keep us from coming to blows.

  But Brandt pushed his arm down and stepped toward me, eyes narrowed. “What is wrong with you? You don’t love her. She doesn’t love you. You were at my wedding reception, weren’t you? You saw the way she stared at me.”

  Yeah, and I’d seen the way she’d looked at me an hour later with my dick in her hand right after I’d made her come. But we w
eren’t going there right now.

  “Oh, Jesus,” I told my brother instead, as I rolled my eyes. “You really need to get off your high horse. I don’t think there’s room for anyone else in here with your ego that damn big.”

  Brandt poked me, he fucking poked me right in the nipple. Fucker. “I’m telling you, she’s using you.”

  “You say that again,” I warned from between clenched teeth, getting in his face. “And I’ll punch your fucking lights out.”

  He snorted. “I’d like to see you try.”

  So I did. I’d never hit him before. But we were brothers, so I guess it was about time.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” both Ten and Noel cried as they surged between us. Ten skidded in front of me just as I swung. And yep, I hit the wrong person. It hurt my hand like a son of a bitch, too. My knuckles were already tender from fighting with the drunk douche a couple nights before, but shit, Ten had one boney fucking cheek.

  “Mother…fucker!” he bellowed, clutching his face, as he paced away and bent at the waist. “I dropped my damn cheese.”

  Noel sighed as he opened the freezer and dragged out a bag of frozen peas before flinging it at Ten. Catching the bag against his chest, Ten lifted the pouch to his eye, hissed a curse, and whined, “Get me some more cheese too.”

  Noel got him another stick of string cheese. When Ten was satisfied, he turned to Brandt and me. “Okay. Continue.”

  But the urge to keep fighting had dissipated.

  Noel shook his head and set his hands on his hips before eyeing Brandt. “I don’t understand why you’re so upset about this.”

  “Because...” Brandt grumbled, shooting me a glare. “She’s going to hurt him when he finally stops being a dumbass and realizes her true agenda, and it’s going to be my fault because I brought her into our lives.”

  “Oh, that’s bullshit,” I sneered. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Juli, so why don’t you admit what’s really going on?”

  Brandt paused, looking confused. Then he scratched his head and said, “That is what I thought was really going in. What the hell do you think’s going on?”

  “You don’t want me to be happy because you’re still upset about the...about what happened...with Mom. Because I didn’t help you.”

  His mouth opened. But no words came. Finally, he shook his head and sputtered, “What? That’s not...Jesus, Colton, I told you I didn’t blame you for anything. I never blamed you or resented you or whatever you think I’m doing. Why would I? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Because...” I stared at him, confused. He honestly seemed perplexed over why I’d feel that way. I shook my head too. “You said I owed you.”

  “Huh?” He gaped at me as if I were insane.

  “At the wedding reception,” I hissed. “To get me to go talk to Julianna, you said I owed you one. And then you said it again not half an hour ago at her place.”

  He barked out an incredulous sound. “I was talking about the alcohol, you dumbass. You owed me because I wasn’t going to tell Noel you’d drunk more than your one-glass limit he’d said you could have at my wedding.”

  “You drank over your one-glass limit?” Noel broke in.

  I ignored him and stared at Brandt. “So, you weren’t talking about—”

  “No.” Brandt sighed and scrubbed his face. “Fuck, no, you little idiot.”

  “Oh,” I said lamely.

  He shook his head and sighed. “I haven’t even thought about that shit since the big reveal that won me Sarah. Well, aside from half an hour ago when Juli brought it up. I can’t believe you fucking told her.”

  “I didn’t tell her,” I insisted, glancing toward Noel and Ten, who were watching us avidly. “I mean, I told her some things here and there. I had no idea I’d told her enough that she’d figure it out. I would never do that to you.”

  “Jesus, you really are a dumbass.” Reaching out, Brandt clasped his hand around the back of my neck before tugging me forward until our foreheads pressed together. “I’m going to say this once, and one time only. Stop worrying about that. It’s over. I’m over it. The family’s over it. You should be over it. You were eight fucking years old. If I’d known you had seen what you saw, I wouldn’t have blamed you then, and I don’t blame you now. The only thing that pissed me off was when you finally did spill the beans to everyone, but that ended up better for me anyway because it landed me Sarah, so I’m over that too. You’re not the one who did anything wrong. She is. So get over it. Right now.”

  I nodded but dropped my gaze, still feeling guilty.

  A second later, I looked up. “Then why are you this bent out of shape about Juli?” I had thought he’d turn his nose up at our relationship and wonder what her ulterior motives were, then try to convince me of what they were, but I hadn’t imagined he’d be quite this gung ho against it. “You don’t still want her for yourself, do you?”

  “What? No!” He smacked me on the side of my head. “Get that shit out of your head right now.”

  I dodged my face away from him in case he swung again. “Then what’s your deal?” I demanded.

  “I told you, you idiot. It’s suspicious. I don’t trust how she switched her attention from me to you like she did. I can’t trust it. And any time I think some woman might be screwing over my little brother, I’m going to try to stop it. Besides…” He shuddered. “I imagined what it’d be like to fuck her. Now, to learn that you have…it’s fucking strange.”

  “Well,” I said slowly. “If you ever had any kind of faith in me, believe me now when I say I know she’s over you. She isn’t using me. I swear it on everything I’ve ever believed. She loves me.”

  Brandt frowned at me a moment before giving me a reluctant nod and mumbling, “If you say so.”

  I grinned and slapped his arm. “And hell…if it makes you feel any better, I’ve imagined what it’d be like to sex up Sarah.”

  Brandt narrowed his eyes. “Don’t be an ass.”

  “What?” I cried, shrugging. “It’s true.”

  “I’ve always wondered about Shakespeare myself,” Ten announced, making Noel nail him with a sharp glare.

  “What have you wondered about me?” Aspen said as she opened the back door. She entered the kitchen, lugging a baby carrier with Lucy Olivia nestled inside. And behind her filed Beau, Teagan and then Caroline.

  Ten’s eyes flared wide as she sent him a pleasantly innocent yet curious glance. Together, he and Noel answered, “Nothing.”

  “Must be about sex, then,” Caroline decided as she tossed an armful of shopping bags onto the table. Then she set her hands on her hips as she eyed her husband and three brothers. “Your eye is red,” she decided, focusing on Ten before she scrutinized the rest of us. “You got punched again. What happened?”

  Noel, Ten, Brandt, and I exchanged a silent glance, not sure what to share with them.

  Finally, Brandt sighed and announced, “Colton has a new girlfriend.”

  And I knew he’d accept it despite whether he was okay with it or not.

  JULIANNA’S CHAPTER | 30

  I was pacing my living room and waiting for word back from Colton about how things had gone with his brother—who was not my favorite person at the moment—when Tyla blew into the apartment, crying hysterically.

  She slammed the door behind her and started to storm toward the hallway but shrieked when she saw me lurking nearby.

  “Oh my God, JuJu.” She pressed her hand to her heart. “You scared the shit out of me. What’re you doing here?”

  “I live here,” I said slowly before reaching out to catch her arm. “Are you okay?”

  “No,” she wailed, burying the heels of her palms into her eye sockets. “I did it. I broke up with him. I told him to go shove it where the sun didn’t shine. Oh my God, JuJu. What am I going to do?”

  “Well, first you’re going to sit down,” I told her gently as I took her arm and led her toward the couch. “Then you’re going to drink the cup of hot t
ea I make you and you’ll tell me all about it.”

  “Okay.” She bobbed her head and mopped at her eyes as she plopped onto the couch. “Okay.”

  I petted her shoulder once and then hurried into the kitchen, texting Sasha as I went.

  She wrote back moments later with:

  My hands shook as I rushed through heating water and yanking a mug from the cupboards before fetching a tea bag. When I reentered the living room, carrying a steaming cup, Tyla was lying stretched out on the couch with her cheek smashed to the cushions as she stared blankly across the room.

  “Hey, honey,” I cooed sympathetically. “I have your tea.”

  I sat by her hip, and she sniffed, wiped her face, and scooted upright, drawing her knees up toward her chest before she croaked, “Thank you.” She reached for the mug with both hands.

  I brushed a stray tear from her cheek and smiled sadly as she sipped.

  After her first long gulp, she closed her eyes and exhaled, seemingly comforted. “Damn, that really does hit the spot. I always thought you were whack every time you drank this stuff when you were stressed.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Well, now you know.”

  “Mmm.” She took another drink, and I watched her silently, not pressing for information, just making sure she remained calm. I wasn’t going to tell her I’d never been a fan of Theo’s, especially lately, or that I truly thought she was better off without him. She’d figure all that out later. I just wanted to get her as comfortable as possible.

  But I did have to know… “You didn’t dump him because of what he said about me, did you?” While that would warm my heart, I could deal with his nastiness if she was truly happy with him.

  “No. He was cheating on me,” she admitted before she took another fortifying drink. “I finally grew the balls to ask him about it, and…oh my God, JuJu, he actually admitted it. He said he loved me and wanted me to stay his girl, but every once in a while he just needed a little bit of strange to spice things up.”

  My mouth dropped open. “He said that?”