Artie closed the front door behind us for privacy’s sake, even though we both knew Bo would hear whatever we said. He was probably on the other side of the door already, listening in.
Emily waved at me, and I waved back before looking at Artie as he cleared his throat.
“I wanted to apologize,” he said.
I stared at him, not quite believing that those words had just come out of his mouth. Even while we were unpacking, he hadn’t tried to talk to me much.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I was a shitty brother. Bo said as much. Emily did too. I told myself I was protecting you, but that obviously wasn’t completely true. I’m sorry.”
I stared some more.
He cleared his throat again.
Right. I needed to respond.
I wasn’t sure exactly what to say, so I just opened my mouth and hoped the words that came out weren’t awful.
His apology wasn’t enough to make up for everything, but it wasn’t like he was asking me to let him become the world’s best big brother. He was just apologizing.
“Thanks for saying that. Maybe we can try to get along better the next time we see each other.”
Artie nodded. “Sounds nice.”
“Mmhm.”
Another awkward moment passed before he patted me on the arm and walked away.
At leastthatwas over.
I slipped back into the house, and Bo gave me a tight hug.
“That was so uncomfortable,” I said against his gigantic chest.
“I know. Thank you.”
I sighed. “You’re welcome.”
He released me, kissing me lightly before he let me go. “I still need to hit the grocery store.”
“I need to stop at the dance studio to check in with one of my instructors. You could drop me off there on your way to the store.”
“Or we could do both together.”
I eyed him.
He eyed me.
When he winked, I finally agreed. He kissed me again, with another grin.
“You’re happy, now,” I remarked.
“I’m mated to the woman I’ve been obsessed with for most of my life. Now, I get her all to myself. What is there not to be happy about?”
“Your true soulmate just drove away with the love of his life.” I gestured toward the front door.
Bo snorted. “I’d rather fuck a beehive than Artie.”
“At least you’d smell like honey afterward.”
