“Butt the hell out, big brother.”
“I am your big brother. I care about you and I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“This isn’t about you. Holy crap, you have no idea, do you?” Melanie shook her hands in his face before stepping back. Nathan had retreated slightly, standing uneasily by the edge of the living room. Derrick waited at her side, a dark tower of barely contained simmering rage. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her brother. An emotional explosion trembled on the horizon. She lowered her volume to emphasize her words. “You have no idea how much pain I’ve been in over the past couple years. Not physical, but mental. How I could barely make it out of bed some mornings because I was sure someone would find a way to remind me I wasn’t what I used to be. That I was lacking.”
Kane’s face had gone pale under his summer tan. “I didn’t know it had been so bad.”
She hadn’t finished. Slowly over the past week all her burdens had come unraveled, been lifted from her, and being able to vocalize what a relief she experienced made her voice tremble. Melanie lifted her chin defiantly, directing a fierce look in his direction. “Well, after this weekend I know I’m not less of a woman than I was before the accident. I had two gorgeous guys lavish attention on me, and it felt damn good. They gave me physical proof that not only was I strong and brave, and all those things, I was desired. Lusted after, even, and by God, it was amazing.”
All Kane’s bluster disappeared, and he seemed to struggle to get the words out. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
Guilt radiated from him, but that wasn’t enough to wipe away his interference or the other hurt his words had caused. She turned her back on him for a moment to lay a calming hand on Derrick’s arm and speak quietly. “Thank you for letting me deal with this.”
Derrick nodded, the tension in his body relaxing a notch. “Your battle, but let me know when you need backup. By the way…” He leaned in closer. “You’re spectacular when you’re pissed.”
Oh God. The flash of amusement his words caused smothered a huge section of anger still burning inside her. Impulsively, she wrapped her arms around his broad chest to hug him tight. How did he do that? Offer exactly what she needed to hear? “You are so perfect.”
He rested his chin on the top of her head for a moment as he squeezed. Derrick was a rock, her rock. Solid, and completely there for her. Not to take over her life, but to provide a firm place to stand while she took back control.
She was falling in love harder by the minute.
Melanie turned to face her brother. He’d meant well—she needed to remember that—but it was well-meaning friends and family who had caused a lot of her pain. “There’s nothing else to say, Kane. There was nothing you could do to fix it, so I kept it to myself.”
Kane looked wearily around the room as he dragged a hand through his hair. He took in Nathan, standing alone to the side. His gaze lingered on Derrick and the way he held her close. “Okay. You’re right. You’re right, and I need to butt out. But Mel…if you do need me in the future, tell me. Please.”
She sniffed, her throat tight with emotion. “I will.”
He glanced again at Nathan. “Anything, including shit like breaking knees. I know how to make someone disappear so they’ll never find the body.”
Yup, that sounded like her family. She forced out a laugh. “Have shovel, will use it? Kane. It’s going to be okay. I really do trust Nathan.”
“I’m looking out for her too. Stop being an ass toward both your sister and me. Damn idiot.” Derrick’s deep rumble made Melanie hide a smile.
“Yeah, well, I’m still not sure I approve of you dating her, so don’t push it, spider-boy.” Kane hesitated then held out his arms. Melanie slipped from Derrick’s embrace to give her brother a quick hug.
Kane took his leave with only a few more suspicious glances directed Nathan’s way.
And then, they were alone.
Melanie made herself busy, unpacking and tucking her camping gear into the storage chest in the corner. Some of her bright happiness had disappeared, clouded by Kane’s accusations, but she figured it would pass. She just needed a few minutes to get her brain back on target and remember the past thirty-six hours.
An incredible thirty-six hours. It seemed too short a time for the changes she felt inside to have occurred.
“I swear, Mel, I knew nothing about this.” Nathan had the article in hand and a huge frown marring his face.
Shit. She hurried to his side and tugged the magazine from his fingers, tossing it to the couch. “I said I believed you. Nate—you’ve never been the kind of guy to go around hurting others. I don’t think you’re going to start with me.”
“But what if—”
“What if what? What could they print that could possibly hurt me anymore?” A huge sweep of emotions rushed her again. Incredible gratitude was the most prevalent, and that’s what made the words easy to say. “‘On the outside, Melanie Dixon appears to have healed, but in reality, she’s still a mess of scars.’ Nathan, if they had done this article even a few months ago that would have been true.”
“Oh, Mel.”
The late-afternoon sun shone in the windows, lighting the tiny living room. Derrick sat on her well-worn couch, his dark eyes watching her intently, his body poised and alert. As if ready to leap to her side on a moment’s notice, to either guard and protect, or to care for her more intimately. Nathan’s eyes revealed his deep desire to provide her the assurances he thought she still needed.
What she needed now was not what she’d required a day ago. Healing had arrived and it felt incredible.
“But, guys, it’s not a few months ago. It’s not even yesterday. It’s today, and right here and right now, I’m not the same woman. Because of both of you.”
She’d been turned inside out over the past two days. Stripped bare, in more than one way. Discovering she’d fallen in love with Derrick had filled her heart to the top with hope and happiness. Yet somehow, Nathan had done the impossible. He’d made the scars fade more than she ever thought possible.
The two of them had done it—Derrick by being willing to ask, Nathan by giving unselfishly. She couldn’t let things end this way. She wanted to give back to them both, the two men she’d come to care for so deeply.
Empty Chinese food containers littered the floor around them. Contentment and warmth filled him as Derrick watched Melanie pull another laugh from Nathan.
When she’d made them grab takeout instead of eating at the restaurant, he’d wondered what was going on. Then she’d sweet-talked him into opening the gym so they could haul out mats and set up their own private smorgasbord, and it had made even less sense.
Until she’d started provoking Nathan. There was no way the man could continue to be gloomy over Kane’s accusations, not with Melanie applying her full power to teasing him.
She was a live wire—sheer vitality radiated from her every move. Not sexual in nature, but simple all-out energy.
He was going to explode with happiness. Seeing the woman he’d always knew she was emerge—it was a miracle, and he’d gotten to watch it occur. The barriers and walls were gone, her liveliness turned way up past high.
Melanie Dixon was a power to be reckoned with, and he was madly in love with every enthusiastic inch.
Derrick leaned on an elbow and enjoyed the interplay snapping between the other two.
“Like that’s a threat, monkey girl.”
“Oh yeah? You’re a good one to talk. Couldn’t even finish a basic 5.5 route.”