Part 2My Secret Childhood Protector Returned

"What are you doing here?" Jackson demanded, his voice tight. "Are you following me?"

Before I could even open my mouth, Tyler leaped out from the bushes, waving his phone—which was currently broadcasting a FaceTime call to their college group chat—right in Jackson's face.

"Gentlemen! What did I tell you?" Tyler hollered. "Our boy is officially off the market! Who says he doesn’t owe us a steak dinner for holding out on us?"

Seeing my brother suddenly materialize, the hostility vanished from Jackson’s face. The sharp, defensive edge he had directed at me instantly dissolved.

"Dinner? Yeah, sure," Jackson stammered, pulling the girl closer to his side. "Gia and I will treat you guys next time."

The pure, unfiltered adoration in his eyes as he looked down at her felt like a physical blow. There was nowhere to look, nowhere to hide from it.

I suddenly realized I was staring at a total stranger.

Only last night, this same man was on the phone with me, mapping out our future. We had spent an hour strategizing the perfect, seamless way to tell Tyler that we were in love.

How does a man’s entire reality shift overnight?

My phone buzzed in my palm. I looked down. It was a text from Jackson.

Keep your mouth shut. Let me explain later.

By the time I looked back up, Jackson had slipped his phone away and was laughing with my brother. The girl beside him smiled warmly at Tyler, then turned her gentle, doe-like eyes toward me.

"And who is this?" she asked.

Jackson didn't miss a beat. "Oh, her? That’s the little sister I told you about."

Sensing Gia's subtle hesitation, he quickly added, "She’s a total crybaby. Super clingy. Tyler and I used to do the dumbest things just to ditch her when we were kids."

Gia’s face lit up with understanding. She covered her mouth, giggling softly. "You’re so mean. You literally caused her to develop a stutter back then, and you still have the nerve to complain about her?"