Between Desire and Denial: A Fake Dating Romance (Hardy Billionaires)
Between Desire and Denial: Chapter 24

I knew love between siblings to be almost unbreakable, so seeing Knox and Olive at odds pushed me to invest in something I normally never would.

Life’s a series of choices. You choose to put your time into a person or choose to walk away. The risks were great with staying. Your time, your love, your heart. But the rewards could be great too. Not always. But that was the risk. I didn’t need to weigh the pros and cons anymore. I wanted everything good for Olive. Everything good for us.

She just needed to warm up to the idea of it. It meant I’d invest in her family too and everything she held dear. I’d take care of her—her health, her relationships, everything—to ensure she’d have the greatest outcome.

I was convinced, she was the mother of my future children after all. Even if she was avoiding the pull between us and acting like what we had was all fake, even if she was talking to men on damn apps, and even if she was going to be the biggest risk I’d ever taken.

She was worth it, I thought, as Knox shouldered me hard in the chest and pushed past me to toss in a layup.

“Damn,” I swore under my breath when he threw the ball at me with extra force. “Four to nothing. You’re playing like you want to prove something, Knox.”

“And you’re playing like you never had anything to prove at all.”

I smiled at his comeback. “I don’t have anything to prove, kid.”

“I’m not a kid. Don’t call me one.”

“When you act like an adult, I’ll give you that title.”

“You really think coming here and being a dick to your girlfriend’s little brother is gonna get you somewhere?”

I dribbled the ball back and forth in front of him. “She’s not with me because I’m good with kids.” Although, I did want to prove to her I was good with them.

He grabbed for the ball, but I moved back and took my time squaring up for a jump shot. It sank right in.

He went to retrieve it, mumbling swears under his breath. “I told you. I’m not a kid. If anything, Olive’s more of a kid than me. She’s dramatic as all hell and doesn’t know when to stop dreaming. She never commits to one thing.”

He dribbled back to the grass where we’d both decided to be and eyed up the hoop. I took a step back. He wasn’t focused. “Gotta dream big to make it big.”

“She made it big to you? She’s following some celebrity around and now is back home doing nothing.”

Teens could be little shits. He said it so easily, as if it wouldn’t hurt his sister’s feelings. But she’d come outside and was standing on the porch listening to us. “You’re not doing much yourself, Knox.” She stood up for herself, and I was proud to hear it, but I saw the pain and anger in her eyes.

He tried to fake one way, but I was ready to block the other way and caught him. He didn’t stop though. He tried to plow through me but this time I planted my feet, steadied my stance, and when he rammed into me, he bounced right off and fell back into the grass.

“I told you to watch the way you talked to your sister.” I reached out a hand to help him up, but he swiped it away before scrambling to his feet and throwing the ball away from him. “This is dumb.”

I nodded at him, not willing to argue. “Yeah, sports are pretty dumb.”

“What?” He frowned at me.

“I played them through high school. Didn’t really help me at all.”

“Well … they teach discipline and teamwork and determination.” He caught himself defending the sport he’d quit.

“I guess.” I shrugged. “I was able to build my empire without the sport.”

“So you just got your discipline elsewhere?”

“Maybe a little from basketball. Mostly from my family. I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without their support.”

Knox’s eyes flicked to Olive’s. “Yeah, well, maybe one day I’ll replace a family that does that.”

“Maybe you already have one, you ass,” Olive whispered. Then she glared at him. “What have you been doing when you go out of town?”

His jaw worked up and down over and over as the birds chirping around us filled the silence between us. “What’s it matter to you?” He held her gaze, and it seemed she was willing him to say something further.

“You need to stop whatever you’re doing.”

“It’s not your concern,” he said the words definitely.

Their communication was broken, and I saw the pain in both of them. I saw how Olive opened her mouth once but then closed it. She was scared to push him, and I think instead she tried to convey without words how she hoped he’d see she was at least there. She was trying. I was willing to stay and try with her. It’s what family needed even when they thought they didn’t.

But then a black SUV pulled up, and a thin woman in a pantsuit got out. She looked at the three of us before her blue eyes landed on me.

“Hello.” She stood stoically for a moment before walking over and extending her hand. “Mr. Hardy, so nice of you to come by. I told Olive we should all get together sometime soon.”

“Well, I’m going to the grill out on Friday. So, maybe I’ll see you both there?”

Knox blurted, “You’re going to the grill out?”

“Why not?”

“You haven’t been to one since you moved in.” His observation showed me just how much this community was talking about me.

“Well, Honeybee can’t pass up a good time.” I went to stand beside her and wrapped my arm around her waist even though I felt her whole body stiffen at first. She consciously relaxed a split second later.

Knox’s eyes widened. “She’s going too? You realize everyone will be there.” He said it directly to his sister and now his dark eyes lightened with the information. “All of Melly’s friends.”

“Yep?” Olive wheezed.

Knox snickered. “You hate them.”

“No. I don’t hate anyone,” Olive barked out way too fast and way too loudly. I would have bet my whole savings on the fact that she did now.

Knox laughed outright then. “And it’s going to be a lavish party, Olive Bee. Did you read the whole invite? You know it’s in Melly’s backyard with her pool and all her friends?”

The color drained from her face and Knox bent over, literally laughing his ass off. Olive chewed her cheek for a few seconds before a small smirk played over her features. Then she started to giggle. It was that sibling bond and some inside joke, the one you shared even if you were pissed at each other. They laughed harder and harder. And Knox’s laugh was infectious, loud, and completely unrestrained.

“You’re a freaking jerk, Knox, but I don’t even care. If a laugh at my expense brings you this much joy, you can have it.” She tried to lift her chin and hold her head high. “I’m completely over Melly and her high school antics.”

“Sure you are.” He wiped at his dark eyes that looked a lot like Olive’s.

“Shut up, Knox, I am!”

“Knox, dear, shall we go make some dinner together?”

He looked at his stepmother like she was full of shit before saying, “Yeah, gotta go. But maybe I’ll come to the grill out just to see this.” He waved between both of us and then glanced at me with some hesitation before saying, “Nice game, and, uh, sorry about what I said before, guys. Good seeing you both.”

I think Olive and his stepmother were shocked because they didn’t say a damn thing as I wrapped my arm around Olive and steered her away as I waved to them.

The whole way home, I smiled like I’d won a prize.

Olive said, “Why are you smiling like that?”

Instead of holding her hand loosely like we had been, I maneuvered my fingers to intertwine with hers. “Didn’t you hear, Olive? He said, ‘nice game.’”

“And that means something to you?”

“Sure. I’m showing you how good of a dad I’ll be. Even with a moody damn teenager.” Her eyes bulged, but I kept a freaking straight face because she had to know how serious I really was. “I’m winning over your little brother, Honeybee. And that is a victory in and of itself.”