I narrow my eyes at her, mostly because that’s what she expects me to do. “What did you do?”
She shrugs. “I invited your brothers and Jo over. Hannah, too, but apparently, she left for Pittsburgh yesterday to visit her boyfriend. Noah’s been grumbling about it for an hour. I didn’t tell them about you going dark—you’re the only one who gets to decide when you’re ready to do that. But I did tell them about the dean and him threatening your job. I thought you could use a Wyles brothers sized dose of righteous indignation on your behalf. And also breakfast. Jordan’s cooking.”
“Fuck yes, I’m starving,” I mumble, wrapping my arms back around Amelia’s waist and nuzzling my face into her neck, making her giggle. “I’m glad you called my brothers.”
“You are?” she asks.
“I am,” I say, leaning back to look at her. “I want them to know what’s going on.” I pause for a beat. “All of it.”
“You sure?” she asks.
I nod. “It’s time. And when you’re with me, I kind of feel like I can do anything.”
She smiles, pressing a kiss to my jaw. “I’ll always be with you.”
I start to turn my head to kiss her for real when something occurs to me. I put my hands on her shoulder, gently pushing her back so I can look at her. “Hang on. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“My job is on the line, but your position in the program is too. And he can out you to everyone. Who you are, your app, everything.”
Amelia just shrugs and smiles. “I’m dropping out of the program.”
“Wait, what?”
“I talked to Gabe yesterday while you were sleeping and told him everything. The program, the app, quitting my job—although he already knew about that part because he’s all-knowing, apparently. This program isn’t my dream. I loved creating Genesis, and I want to do more of that. I want to take the seat on the board of Gabe’s women in STEM non-profit that I’ve been refusing for the last two years because, nepotism or whatever. I want to do so many other things in the tech world I haven’t even thought of yet, and none of them involve being in a classroom. Gabe’s my brother. I can’t avoid that, and I don’t want to. Not anymore. I don’t want what other people may or may not think to hold me back from doing the things I love. The only people whose opinions I care about are the people who are related to me and the people in this apartment right now. And your parents, too, and Cece because I love them. Everyone else can fuck right off.” She grins and shrugs, happiness and satisfaction radiating out of her.
So in love with her, I wonder how feelings this big are survivable. I lean in and kiss her, pouring everything I feel into it. “I’m so fucking proud of you,” I murmur against her lips. “You’re amazing. You amaze me, Mystery Girl. You’re going to do so many awesome things, and I can’t wait to see them all.”
She smiles, winding her arms around my waist. “I definitely am.”
I open my mouth to say something else, but before I can, the door to my room flies open, revealing Jordan, a spatula in his hand and a smirk on his face.
“Jesus, Jord, ever heard of privacy?” I grumble.
“I sure haven’t. After all the times you walked yourself right into my apartment without knocking, we can just call this a littlesweet revenge. Kiss your girl later and put some clothes on. Breakfast is ready.”
Amelia grins at me and pulls away, pinching my ass as she goes. “I’ll save you the best waffle and a seat next to me.”
I reach out and snag her hand before she can leave the room, spinning her back to me and covering her mouth with mine. With an arm around her waist and my hand on her cheek, I slide my tongue along her bottom lip, diving in when she opens for me, my tongue twining with hers in a sensual dance that has my heart pounding and my head spinning. And when Amelia licks along my bottom lip then sucks it into her mouth, I groan, wondering if I can just kick everyone out and spend the rest of the day in bed with her.
“You can’t kick them out, El,” she whispers, reading my mind. “But if you get dressed like a good boy and come eat breakfast with your brothers, we can do anything you want later.”
“Anything?” I ask, a little breathlessly.
She grins wickedly and spins away from me, heading for the door. “Literally anything,” she says, before she closes the door behind her, leaving me with an inconvenient hard on and a vow to get breakfast over with as soon as humanly possible.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
ELLIOT
“So how are we going to put the asshole dean in his place?” Noah asks when I walk into the dining room five minutes later to all three of my brothers, Jo, and Amelia sitting around the table with platters of waffles and toppings spread everywhere. Killer is perched on Cooper’s lap. Amelia and Jo have their heads together laughing about something. Jordan is staring at Jo like she is his reason for living. And Noah is sporting a murderous expression like he’s ready to go to battle for me.
Out of the four of us, I’ve been the one who likes to be needed. The fixer. The organizer. The dependable, reliable brother who handles everyone’s everything and stocks everyone’s favorite snacks and fixes everyone’s problems. The one who isthere. So something about seeing my brothers crowded around my dining room table because Amelia called them and told them that, this time, I needed them has my emotions rising as all my defenses fall, and my closest kept secret tumbling from my mouth.
“I’m depressed,” I blurt out, extremely unartfully and to no one in particular.
Conversation cuts off as five heads whip towards me. Amelia smiles, holding out a hand for mine, tugging me down into the empty seat on her other side and keeping my hand in hers.
