Comeback (The Holland Brothers Book 3)

I’m cleaning out brushes in the back when I hear Brogan call out from the front. “Sabrina?”

“In the back,” I call, then turn off the water and dry my hands.

He’s standing in the middle of the room, taking it all in, when I step out.

“Hey,” I say. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to finally see this place for myself.” He grins.

“Here it is,” I say, holding my hands out at my sides. “What do you think?”

“It’s cool.”

I snort a laugh. “Not the first adjective that comes to most people’s mind when they see it.”

“Eh, most people have no imagination. I can see past the work that needs to be done.”

“Really? Because I’m still even a little overwhelmed by it. I’ve been painting for days and only managed to finish one wall.”

His grin remains. “It’ll all come together.”

“Thanks. So, what brings you by today?” I am fishing. Clearly, I know why he’s here. Archer must have told him we’re…whatever we’re doing. But I can’t tell whether Brogan is upset about it or not.

“I wanted to see you and I knew it’d make Archer sweat more if I told him I was coming to have a little chat with you.”

A surprised laugh slips from my lips. I motion toward the chairs over behind what will one day be the front desk. “I have bottled water in the back or there’s a coffee shop across the street if you want something.”

“No, I’m good,” he says, sitting in one of the chairs and leaning back. Brogan has a way of always making himself at home, but it makes me happy to see him relaxing in the studio. Most people seem on edge when they’re here.

“This place is really cool. And the location is awesome. When do you think you’ll open?”

I blow out a breath. “At this rate, next year.”

“Really?”

“I need to finish painting, lay the new floors, build a front desk, then have electrical and plumbing looked at, and get internet and speakers hung, and like a million other little things.”

“You’re doing all this yourself?”

I know if I tell him I can’t afford it, he’ll offer to pay, so I say, “I want to be a part of every detail in this place. I’ve dreamed about it for so long.”

“If there’s anything I can do, name it.”

“I got it, but thank you.”

“Are you sure? I’m off tomorrow.” He moves his head back and forth. “After that it’s a busy few months, but I’ll do anything I can. You’re not in this alone.”

His words tug at my emotions. Time and again I forget how nice it is to have a brother that has so easily accepted me into his life.

“Thank you. I might take you up on that when it’s time to lay the flooring. I probably shouldn’t be allowed to work a saw.”

His mouth hitches up on one side. “I love power tools.”

“Speaking of not doing it alone, Archer has helped.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “He helped clean up in here. It was way worse when I started.”

“That was nice of him.”

“It was.” He’s not taking the bait and now I’m starting to sweat.

“He’s a good guy. The best, actually.”

“Is there a but coming?” I ask.

“No.” His chest shakes with a laugh. “I’m happy for you both, but uh, I feel like I should warn you, I guess.”

“Warn me about what?”

He runs a hand along his jaw as he clearly struggles with how to phrase whatever he wants to say.

“Is he like a serial dater or something? Because I don’t even know if I’m looking for anything serious and we haven’t really talked about where this could go. It might just be a fling or it might be more. Either way, I’m good. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“No, that’s not it,” he says slowly. “But I’m not pumped to know my sister might be looking to be my best friend’s fuck buddy.”

I stifle a laugh, and he clears his throat.

“Archer hasn’t had the best luck dating.”

“Who has?” I wave a hand in front of him. “Except you and London, obviously.”

“More than your typical bad date stuff.”

I have a sudden surge of anger that someone might have hurt Archer. It seems so unbelievable but at the same time I am ready to throw down at the thought.

“What do you mean?” I ask, trying to keep my emotions in check.

“He’s always made sure that his hearing loss didn’t impact others. He learned to lip read and got the hearing aids, figured out how to be in social situations or even the football field without people needing to accommodate him. And he’s done the same thing with dating.”

“He accommodates them?” I ask, trying to understand exactly what Brogan is telling me.

“Yeah, but to a point that puts what’s best for him in jeopardy. Look, you know sign language, and every encounter I’ve seen between the two of you, you seem like you’ve kept his needs in mind when communicating. That’s huge. Way more than most people do for him.”

“That sucks, but of course. I will do my best to always be considerate.”

“I know and I didn’t want to say anything, but I thought I should tell you because he won’t. He hates the idea of needing special treatment or being a burden.”

“I don’t think of him like that.”

“I know, but there might come a point where he feels like he’s holding you back in some way or you might do something that makes it harder on him and he won’t tell you.” He chuckles softly. “When we were kids, he’d only turn the subtitles on the TV when he was watching it by himself. For like three years he did this. None of us even knew or thought about how much easier that’d make it for him, and he was just dealing with it because he didn’t want to draw more attention to the fact he was different.”

I swallow thickly, nodding. I can picture Archer doing something like that. I haven’t known him long, but it fits with what I’ve learned about him. He’s selfless to a fault. Even hating me wasn’t really about him not liking me. He did it because he was protecting Brogan.

“Thank you for telling me. I promise I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I know you will. And truth be told, I think it’ll be good for him to date someone that is more considerate. The last girl basically just didn’t acknowledge he’s deaf.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, she wasn’t great to him and that’s just what he’s told me. I’m sure she did worse things that he’d never tell me about.”

I don’t know if I’m angrier that he dated other people, which is ridiculous—of course he did, probably lots of them, or that some bitch made him feel less than. Yes, she’s a bitch and I don’t use that term lightly.

“He’s lucky to have you,” I say to my brother.

“He saved my life. If it weren’t for him and his family, I don’t know where I would have ended up. They took me in when I had nothing. I’d do anything for him.”

I smile. I think they have the sweetest friendship of any two people I’ve ever known. It says a lot about them both.

“So, what are you doing tonight?” he asks.

“I have to work for a few hours at the club. I’m covering a shift. Why?”

“I was hoping the four of us could hang out so I could fuck with him some more. I was thinking every time he touched you, I’d growl. Or maybe I could walk around with a kitchen knife. The ideas are infinite.”

Poor Archer. “Another time.”

His grin softens. “For real though, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather date you or him.”

“That’s sweet…I think.”

He stands and clears his throat. “One last thing. I know Archer isn’t my brother the same way you’re my sister, but he’s still family, so… If you hurt him, I will have to kick your ass, or at least give you the silent treatment or something. I won’t like it, and I’ll still love you and care for you, but it will be necessary.”

God, I love him. I love how deeply he cares for his people and how ridiculous he is about showing it.

“Fair enough.” I stand and he steps over to me, throwing one arm around my shoulders.

“Now, let’s get out of here and head home. Your boyfriend was pissed I wouldn’t let him come with me.”

My stomach flutters at Archer being referred to as my boyfriend and at the idea that he wanted to come. I missed him all day, which feels incredibly too fast for the small amount of time we’ve been hanging out. Twenty-four hours ago he was determined to never kiss me again.

“He is not my boyfriend,” I say, feeling my face heat.

“Not yet.”