Eric’s gaze lowered to where Cole “held” Brett, and he flexed his jaw. “He’s not going to break her heart.”
Wyatt paced in front of them. “Don’t be an idiot. Of course he is.”
“I don’t want to hurt her.” He locked eyes with Eric, the only one who seemed to have his head screwed on right at the moment. “I’d never want to hurt her.”
Wyatt threw his hands up. “You can’t trust him. He’s full of empty promises. He also promised he me that he wouldn’t touch her unless he”—Wyatt stopped midstep and stared at Brett—“unless he could give her everything. Unless he could love her.”
Brett stared back stubbornly.
“Do you love her?” Wyatt asked.
“That’s between the two of us.”
“Answer the question,” Cole said, yanking his arms back farther. “Do you love her?”
The truth was, Brett didn’t know what love was, or what it felt like. What he did know was that even if they beat him up every day for the rest of his life, he’d still stay by her side. He would still want to be with her.
If that was love, then yes.
He fucking loved her.
Brett hissed through his teeth when Cole yanked on his arms, making his sore body even more sore. “It’s none of your damn business how your sister makes me feel, or what she makes me feel.”
Eric laughed. “That’s all the answer we need. Let go of him, Cole.”
“But—” Cole exerted pressure on his arms one last time, and then released him reluctantly. “Fine.”
Brett fell against the wall and rotated his shoulders. He’d be lucky if he could walk down the aisle tomorrow, rather than stumbling like a zombie. He took a shallow breath, since it hurt less than a full one, and asked, “Is the ‘kill Brett for daring to touch Anna’ portion of our evening over now?”
Wyatt looked him over. “Maybe.”
Cole cracked his knuckles, looking far from done. “What do we do with him now? We can’t get rid of him, but if Christopher finds out that he’s with her, then he’ll throw a fit. He’ll hit first and ask questions later.”
“It must run in the family,” Brett grumbled. He sank to the floor and rested his head against the wall. “Shit, it hurts to sit, too.”
“Chris won’t go for the stomach,” Wyatt said, eyeing Brett with far too much satisfaction. “The bruises won’t be hidden. And we’ll have to pull him off of Brett. Anna will cry…and get mad at all of us.”
Brett rubbed his temples. His head ached from all of this bullshit. “We already established all of this. How about you let me go back to my room, and we act like this never happened?”
“How about we don’t?” Cole snapped. “I say we keep him for the night. If we noticed the way he was giving her puppy-dog eyes, Chris will, too.”
Brett’s head snapped up, and he frowned at Cole. “Puppy-dog eyes?”
“Are you going to deny it? Go ahead and try,” Wyatt said.
“I—” He couldn’t. “Fuck you.”
“That’s how we all knew something changed,” Eric pointed out, ignoring the expletive. “If Chris hasn’t noticed yet, it’s out of pure luck. Your luck won’t continue.”
This was luck?
Wyatt sat down on the bed and sighed. “Fine. We’ll keep him with us. After the wedding…” His voice drifted off, and he chuckled. “After the wedding we’ll sit back and watch the show once Brett tells Chris he broke his blood oath. And maybe place a few wagers on what comes next.”
Brett groaned at the thought of another round of fighting, but it was worth it.
Anna was worth it.
“I’ll agree to stay away from Anna until after the wedding, but only if one of you goes to tell her about what happened. I don’t want her to think I didn’t come to her because I changed my mind about us.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake. Are we still in high school, or what?” Wyatt rolled his eyes, but nonetheless pulled his iPhone out of his pocket. “I’ll text her right now, Romeo.”
Brett gritted his teeth. “Where am I sleeping tonight? Am I allowed in my room, Warden?”
“So she can go in and find you bruised and in pain because of her brothers? No, thank you. You get to sleep with me tonight.” Wyatt put his phone on the nightstand. “And I don’t put out.”
Brett shuddered and looked at the bed. “Don’t make me puke. It’ll hurt too damn much. And if you think I’m climbing into bed with you, you have another think coming.”