The Fight In Us: A Brother's Best Friend College Romance (The Four Book 4) by Becca Steele (little readers .txt) 📕

slept with a girl made me cringe, he took a sip of his brandy, rubbing his thumb over the glass.

“Okay. This is a lot to take in, son. Before we go through the things you’ve told me, I want to mention your side business, which I have to say, has rather taken me aback.”

“Kryptos? Me being Nitro?”

He nodded. “Maybe I was wilfully ignorant, but I never made the connection between Nitro and my son.” An appreciative smile spread across his face. “I’m proud of you, Weston.”

His words healed something inside me that I wasn’t even aware was broken. “Thank you.” My voice cracked, and I attempted to disguise it by clearing my throat, then leaning forwards to pick up my drink.

“Now, I’m not condoning illegal activities, of course. But sometimes my memory can be…let’s say…selective.” His smile morphed into a smirk, his eyes dancing in the morning light that poured through the tall windows.

My own mouth turned up, as I relaxed back against the sofa. “Yeah, just like I don’t remember what happened at the docks with the explosion.”

“Docks? Explosion? I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“Exactly.” We grinned at each other, and in that moment, I felt closer to him than I ever had before.

Placing his drink back down, he eyed me carefully. “As for the rest of it. I’m not the best person to ask for relationship advice. But I want you to remember this. Everyone has their own problems, Weston. Now, they’re not always noticeable on the surface.” He blew out a heavy breath. “But I want you to remember that sometimes those you think are the strongest are the ones barely holding it together. You may envy them, think that they have their life sorted out, and you wonder what they have that you don’t. What you don’t see is the moment when they’re alone and their mask slips, and they fall apart with no one to hold them up.” His voice grew hoarse as he finished speaking, and his eyes glistened suspiciously.

“Dad?”

“Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t—I— My point was, that no one is perfect. No relationship is perfect. You’ve seen this with Lena. She comes across as strong and confident, sometimes even hard, at times, but I have the feeling you’ve only scratched the surface of who she is inside. She needs someone to lean on, to be there for her. Can you be that person? Only time will tell, but from what you’ve told me, it sounds like she has strong feelings for you. Now, I haven’t seen you together, but let’s call it a gut instinct—if what you’ve told me is correct, then I don’t think you have a reason to worry about Zayde. Why would she jeopardise that?”

“Hmm.” I stared into my glass as if it could provide all the answers. “What about Zayde, though?”

“Does Zayde know that you’re involved with Lena?”

“No.” Taking a sip of the brandy, I grimaced. Placing it back down, I switched it with my coffee, taking a large gulp to chase away the burn of the alcohol.

“Zayde keeps himself to himself, we know this. He’s always been hard to read, even when he was younger.” My dad tapped his fingers on the arm of the sofa, thinking. “But he’s loyal, and he’s a good friend. I’m positive that if you went to him with your concerns, he wouldn’t hesitate to reassure you.”

“Maybe.” I eyed him doubtfully.

“Just talk to him. These days, I’m a big fan of talking things out, thanks to Winter.”

“I guess.” Tipping my coffee to my lips, I took another gulp. “What about the rest of it?”

He leaned forwards on the sofa. “How important is Lena to you? Could you let her go? If the answer is no, then you need to talk to Cassius. It’s not fair to keep this from him. If the answer is yes, then you need to break things off now, for both of your sakes.”

My mouth twisted. He was right, of course.

“What about the Martin Smith thing?”

His expression lightened. “I trust that you’ll figure it out. Just promise me that you won’t go getting yourself into any more dangerous situations.”

“We’re dealing with possible dog fighting and shady deals here, not psychos,” I reminded him.

“Weston, please. Stay safe. I couldn’t handle anything happening to you.”

“I’ll do my best.”

He gave a heavy sigh. “I guess that’s all I can ask for.”

Back in my car, I sat for a while, turning his words over in my head.

How important was Lena to me, and what would happen to Cassius’ and my friendship if we were together?

And what the fuck was going on with her and Zayde?

TWENTY-EIGHT

As I walked back into the house, my steps slowed. I headed towards the kitchen, when my arm was grabbed and I was roughly tugged backwards, back in the direction of the front door.

“What the fuck?” I managed to say, before Zayde was handing me a helmet and indicating for me to follow him outside. It didn’t even occur to me to question what he was doing or where we were going—he’d never voluntarily gone anywhere with me on his bike before. We were all close friends, sure, but he always held a part of himself back, keeping a wall between himself and the rest of the world. A wall that only my brother had really been able to penetrate. And maybe Winter. I knew he had a bit of a soft spot for her.

Minutes later we were heading down the coastal road, his powerful motorbike roaring beneath us. I kept a tight grip on the grab rail, watching the scenery fly by, almost too fast to take in. He turned onto another road, then another, then another, and eventually he slowed right down, cruising along a road of modern, Scandinavian-style houses made from wood with huge glass windows, sprawling on either side of the road. He came to a stop at the very end of the road, just past