The Rules of Dating My Best Friend's Sister(108)

“A bro-zillian?” Owen covered his junk over his pants. “Like, someone poured hot wax on your balls and ripped it off?”

“It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I kinda liked the hot wax part. It was warm and nice, like having your balls cupped in two soft hands. The skin-ripping part, I could’ve done without.”

I shook my head. “How did this conversation take a turn so fast?”

Colby stood and cracked a beer with a loud tssSSS kr-POP. He pointed at me as he lowered the can. “Your face looks worse than my pretty balls.”

Brayden strolled in from the kitchen. He looked between me and Colby and held his hands up. “I’ll take your word for it.”

I chuckled. It might’ve been the first time that had happened in more than two weeks. I think I needed this. The guys took their usual seats around the table, and Brayden doled out the chips in exchange for cash.

When he got to me, he lifted his chin. “So why do Colby’s balls look better than your face? Or do I want to know?”

I sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

He shrugged. “Fine with me. Now give me your fifty for the chips so I can start dealing.”

I pulled my wallet from my back pocket and tossed the cash on the table. Brayden added it to the empty coffee can that we kept the chips in and dealt the first hand. I went through the motions, tossing a chip into the center of the table and picking up my cards. But I couldn’t have told you what suits or numbers I had in my hand to save my life. I guess I also got lost in thought while the guys were making bets and taking cards because suddenly, a chip hit me in the face.

I rubbed my nose. “What the fuck?”

“You want any cards or not, pretty boy?” Brayden asked.

“Yeah.” I looked down at my hand, but I couldn’t concentrate enough to make a decision. “Actually, no. I’m good.”

Owen was seated to my left. He tipped his chair back on its hind legs and snuck a peek at my cards.

“You got nothing, shit for brains,” he said. “Take some damn cards.”

I studied my hand once again and nodded. But still couldn’t make a decision.

So I gave in and shook my head. “I’m in love with Lala. I think I fucked up.”

Brayden tossed his cards into the air and groaned. “Oh fuck me.”

Owen frowned. “What the hell did you do?”

Colby blew out a jagged breath. “I’m really going to hate fucking up your pretty face. Did you cheat on her?”

I held up two hands. “No, nothing like that. I meant I fucked up by encouraging her to leave. I should’ve never pushed her to go.”

“Wait. Let me get this straight,” Brayden said. “It wasn’t Lala’s decision to go back to Philly? You made her leave early?”

“Maybe made her leave is too strong. But I told her I thought she should go back. I sure as hell didn’t do anything to stop her.”

“Why the fuck would you do that if you’re in love with her?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Because I’m an idiot?”

“Well, we knew that,” Owen said. “But seriously, man, why would you tell her to go if you wanted her to stay?”

I heaved a loud sigh and shook my head. “I thought it was the right thing to do. At least that’s what I told myself at the time. But maybe I was just too much of a chicken shit to tell her how I really felt and ask her to stay and be with me. Deep down, I don’t feel like I deserve her. She’s so smart and beautiful and…unspoiled. Part of me feels like she should be with Warren.”

“Jesus Christ.” Colby shook his head. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“That I fell in love?”

“No. The day that your egotistical ass had your confidence rocked. When you were eighteen, you thought you could score our super-hot, thirty-year-old English teacher.”

I smiled halfheartedly. “Ms. Renzo put her hand on my thigh. She wanted me.”

Colby pointed. “You see? Never once have you doubted yourself with a woman. Do you think I feel good enough for Billie? Of course not. But you gotta get over that shit. When you’re in love with someone, you don’t push them away because you’re not worthy. You spend the rest of your life trying to become the man who’s good enough to be by her side.”

I wanted to believe I could be a man worthy of Lala. But I wasn’t sure it was true. “What if I fuck up?”

Brayden motioned to the three of them. “Then we’re going to kick your ass. We owe that to Ryan.”

Owen caught my eye. “If you hurt Lala, you’re definitely getting a beating. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say something I never thought I’d say… I think if Ryan were here listening to how you feel about his little sister, he’d give you his blessing. So you have mine.”

Colby nodded. “Mine, too.”

Brayden shrugged. “Same. So stop being a pussy and tell the woman how you feel. And maybe we can also quit talking about feelings and manscaping now and play some cards?”

I smiled. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

I wasn’t sure I’d actually solved anything, but it was good to know the guys thought maybe things could work out with Lala. Now I only had to convince myself…