"I thought we should try something," I told her as we walked hand in hand down the street, away from Nick who still stood staring, his hands clenching and opening like something had slipped through his grasp.
She shot me that look, the one that drove me crazy and I almost faltered in my plan. She wasn't going to like this. But I couldn't put it off anymore.
"Let's go in here."
Her face went from intrigued to alarmed in a nanosecond. "Rett!" she gasped, wrenching her hand away. "You've got to be kidding. In there?"
I gaped at her for a second and then burst out laughing. "I'm not saying we fuck in there," I whispered, lowering my voice and pointing to the window where the "Open" sign hung. "Lake Country Tours is not on the list of places I want to have you."
She let out a small gasp of relief, and then looked even more alarmed when I pulled on the door. "What are you doing?" she yelped, doing an adorable triple take.
"Come on," I stretched my hand out. "Time to make this official."
Cal was sitting at his desk, looking extremely uncomfortable in front of his computer. The way he hunted and pecked at the keyboard, I wondered if the guy even knew how to type. "You need help with that?" I called out.
Cal jumped when he heard my voice and then did a perfect sibling imitation of Brynn's triple take when he saw that she'd come in with me. "Uh," he said warily. "Hey, you two."
Brynn looked at him and then up at me. "We're doing this now?" she whispered.
"No time like the present," I said reaching out and grabbing her hand. "Quick, sit down before paying customers come in."
The side of her mouth quivered and she looked down at where our hands were joined. Then looked over at her brother who was gaping openmouthed. "So yeah, Cal," she said, a little more loudly than necessary. "Rett and I need to tell you something."
"Seriously?" Cal sputtered. "Rett? Is this like some kind of revenge for Harper?"
I opened my mouth to protest but Brynn cut me off. "Really Cal? You're asking him that? Like I'm some kind of object?"
Cal looked down, his ears turning red. "Sorry," he muttered.
She lifted her chin, looking for all the world like the fierce goddess she was. "If I'm gonna be with a guy, you'd better believe I have some say in it. I'm not just going to go along with some revenge plan like I have no brain inside my head, just to make it easy for him." As she spoke I could see something dawning across her face, the register of her voice dropping down lower and more powerful. "If I do something, it's because I want to do it." She glanced at me. "And I want to be with Rett." She licked her lips. "I love him."
"I love you," I blurted, pressing her hand to my mouth.
She smiled at me and took a deep breath. And then we both turned to Cal who was sitting there with his head cradled in his hands. "Well, uh..." he stammered. "Okay then."
"Okay?" I repeated.
"Yeah," he said, sitting back in his chair. "I'm cool I guess. Just... you know... startled and everything." His hand went down and rubbed his stomach, and a flicker of a smile crossed his face. He looked up at me. "Although, I have a distinct memory of you socking me in the gut when you found out I was with your sister. You gonna let me get in one good punch, just for old time's sake?"
"Over my dead body, Cal," Brynn piped up. "You two can have your macho dick-measuring contests sometime when I'm not here, okay?"
"Thanks, babe," I grinned.
"You tell Dad yet?" Cal asked Brynn.
She shook her head. "Not yet. I've been sort of AWOL I guess." Then her eyes flashed. "And don't you dare try to pull some big-brother-bullshit and tell him first, you got it?"
"Jesus," Cal muttered. "Didn't you used to be nicer? What happened?"
I hid my laugh behind a coughing fit and turned away while Brynn let him have it.
"So where are you two lovebirds headed now?" Cal wondered once Brynn had sufficiently dressed him down.
I felt my ears go red. The skein of yarn I had all ready in my deep cargo pocket felt like it was burning a hole through the fabric. "Oh you know, just poking around in a few shops," Brynn sang out, all bright and cheery again. She glanced at me and I had to hide my smirk behind another coughing fit. Cal silently extended his water bottle to me. "We've been looking around town a lot this summer," she went on, still keeping her eyes on me. "We're learning a lot about Reckless Falls. You'd be amazed what you find out about yourself when you try something new."
I turned away before Cal could see me stiffening in my pants. For his part, Cal looked completely mystified. "Well, all right then," he said, sitting back down at his laptop. "You have fun with that." He squinted at the screen. "Hey Rett, when you get a chance, you think you could take a look at the back end of my invoicing system? Something is wonky in there."
"Sure, man," I said. "I'll be by later, okay? Got a date with my girl now."