Free Seb by Cheryl Douglas Page B

more than he could give up the woman he loved. But the two weren’t compatible, so something had to give. Seeing one of my brothers in pain and knowing there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to help killed me. “I wish I knew what to tell you.”
    “Enough about me,” he said, scrubbing his hands over his face. “I can’t talk about this shit anymore. Tell me what’s goin’ on with you. You still out of the game?”
    I thought of Skylar. What I was developing with her didn’t feel like a game, but I would have said the same thing about Amy. I had been so sure Amy was the real deal—until she blindsided me. “I don’t know.”
    “You ready to talk about what happened?” Brody asked, sitting on a stool at a workbench, facing me. “And don’t tell me nothing. You hooked up with that chick a few months back, and it was like you were a different person after you ended it.”
    I hadn’t been willing to talk to anyone about Amy’s scheme, not even my brothers. “Let’s just say she did a number on me.”
    “Are you saying you were in love with her?”
    I’d never said those words before. A few of the women I’d dated had me toying with the L-word, but saying it never felt right. “No.”
    “Then why were you so messed up?”
    I couldn’t keep it from them forever. Amy had messed me up, but not for the reasons my family assumed. “We’d been seeing each other for a few months, right? I thought I could trust her. She never gave me reason not to.”
    “Until…?”
    “She told me she was on the pill, so I stopped using condoms.”
    Brody scowled at me. “Man, I don’t like where this is going. How the hell could you be so stupid?”
    I didn’t need him to tell me that. I’d already beat myself up about it enough. “I overheard her talking to a friend on the phone. She said it was the right time for her to get pregnant and if all went according to plan, she’d be knocked up with my kid by month’s end.”
    “Son of a bitch,” Brody muttered, dropping his head.
    “Yeah, she went on to talk about all the things she intended to buy with my money once she got her hooks into me.” I’d thought I was starting to get over my bitterness, but repeating her words caused a fierce resurgence of rage. “You know, fancy car, designer purses and shoes. She even told her friend she had her eye on this three-carat diamond engagement ring. As if I ever would’ve married that lying, scheming bitch.”
    “Jesus, it’s no wonder you swore off women. I would too after an experience like that.”
    “Yeah, so I booted her ass out and headed to the doc to make sure she hadn’t left me with a nasty little reminder of our time together.”
    Brody’s eyes widened. “Tell me she didn’t.”
    “No, thank God.”
    I caught a glimpse of a bird at the feeder I’d set up outside the garage window. My mother had been an avid bird-watcher, so it was my small tribute to her. Whenever I saw a bird, I could almost hear my mother’s voice telling me to slow down and take a moment to appreciate the beauty around me instead of getting so caught up in my own head.
    “I know it’s rough, getting played like that,” Brody said. “But not all girls are like that. There are some good ones still out there.”
    “Oh yeah? Is that why you’re still single?”
    “I’m still single ‘cause the girl I love is as stubborn as hell. She can’t accept me for what I am, and I can’t change. Not even to please her.”
    I understood Brody’s dilemma. I even understood it from Riley’s perspective. I didn’t know many women who’d want to be married to a jet-setting high roller who lived for the next party.
    “But you can’t give up, Seb. Last time I was in town, you told me you were tired of the dating scene and you wanted to meet a nice girl, someone you could trust, and settle down. You’re never going to find her if you’re not even willing to put yourself out there.”
    “I have met someone.” I thought, for what must