All the Wrong Choices by C.A. Harms

Chapter Forty-Six

Danielle

I pause,staring back at Tony, unsure of where I should go from here. I'd just exited Starbucks with a tray of coffees balancing in one hand. Tony stood with two other men, all wearing suits as one held open the door for me and allowed me to pass.

I notice how uncomfortable he is, and I also know things are a bit rocky between him and Jonah, which I hate. The two of them are like brothers, and it breaks my heart to know I'm the one who has driven a wedge between them. Not to mention he’s dating my best friend.

"Hey," he finally says, and I smile, unsure what to say. He tells the other men he'll catch up in a few minutes, and I step to the side and he follows. "Couldn't decide what to get, so you figured you'd get one of everything?" He motions to the five coffees I'm balancing in two hands.

"No, I'm actually on my way to surprise Avery and Henry before I visit Jonah and Betty."

"Nice," he nods and shifts his weight from one foot to the other.

"Listen," we both say at the same time, and then I laugh. We were both a little out of our depths here.

"I'm sorry," he doesn't wait for me to try again. Instead, he takes the lead, and I let him. "It was never any of my business; Jonah was right."

"It was your business," he seems surprised. "If things were different and it was you doing what I'd done to Jonah to Addison, you better bet I would have had something to say. We love them, and protecting them comes alongside that love."

He nods, and I notice the way his throat bobs as if he swallows hard, and I see the emotions in his eyes. "How is Jonah?"

"Why don't you call him, maybe meet for a beer or something?"

"Nah, I just—"

"Tony," he looks up, and seeing a full-grown man with tears in his eyes is never something easy to swallow. "He misses you too."

Again he nods, and I know this is hard for him. Guys don't get emotional, especially guys like Tony and Jonah. They are stubborn and pigheaded, but this rift between them is complex. I know I'm at the root, and I know sometimes it's easy to get lost in the drama, and then you're unable to find your way back.

"Reach out," he nods. "This can all be fixed. You two have too many years and too many memories to let something like this come between you."

"I was an ass to you," he confesses.

"You were," he smiles, and I laugh. "But again, I understand, he's your brother, and you love him. You thought you were protecting him," he looks down at the ground, and I notice how he is taking in one slow deep breath after the other. "I love him, Tony," he looks up, and his eyes are reddened and glossy. "It's what scared me so much because I knew if things didn't work out with Jonah, I'd be worse off than the day Matthew left me at the altar. Truth is what I feel for Jonah; it's so much more than love. I hurt him; I know that. Every day, I do my very best to make up for all those wrong choices I made. We're good, but there's an emptiness there too, and I know it's because he doesn't have his brother."

He can't speak, but he doesn't have to, I understand.

Stepping in, I offer him a one-arm hug, and he whispers a thank you. As I walk away, I decide that I won't say anything about this to Jonah, at least not now. I'd wait until we were alone.

I intended my first stop to be to Avery and Henry, but as I pulled up in front of the dental office, I saw Jonah holding open the door for a young kid and his mother. He looks up to find me climbing out of my car, balancing a tray of coffees, and comes rushing toward me. "What's all this?"

"Treats," he kisses the corner of my mouth before taking the tray of four coffees and leaving me to hold my single mocha. "I thought I'd surprise you and Betty and your sister and dad."

"Babe, they already love you. It's not necessary to bribe them."

"Haha," I poke him in the side, and he can't move away too quickly without dropping the drinks, so he has to endure the torture.

"Okay, damn," he laughs. "Let's drop off Betty’s, and then I'll walk next door with you."

"Slow day?"

"Until one and then it's one after the other until close."

He leads the way, holding open the front door to allow me to pass. Betty glances up from her computer and smiles when she sees what Jonah is carrying. "Danielle, you are a gem." She wiggles in her chair happily.

Reaching around Jonah, I remove the drink intended for Betty and hold it out toward her. "Salted caramel cream cold brew for you." I made it a point to gather her favorite through everyday conversation just as I had for the rest of them and then committed it to memory for an occasion just as this one.

"Jonah, boy, she is a dream." Betty lifts the cup and places her straw before taking a drink, and creating an Mm, sound in the process.

"That she is," he winks at me. "We're going to walk next door and deliver these others, be back in a bit." Betty nods, fully invested in her drink, and gets back to work.

As we exit the building he chuckles, shaking his head. "She's worked for me since the day I opened, and not once have I thought of bringing her favorite drink from Starbucks. Hell, I don't even think I knew her favorite drink."

"Leave it to me," I glance in his direction just as we reach the front door of his father's dental office. "I gotcha."

He leans in, brushing a soft kiss over my lips, and then pulls away much too soon. "Yes, you do," he adds before pulling open the door and nudging me inside.

"Oh, Jonah, you shouldn't have." A younger girl behind the counter beams brightly at him, and my mind runs away with the possibilities, considering how bubbly and flirtatious she instantly becomes. "I would have much rather you just ask me for coffee than hand deliver it."

Arching my brow, I look between him and her curiously.

"Amelia, meet my girlfriend Danielle," He looks over at me with a smile and notices the look on my face. "She's brought my sister and dad a surprise."

When I look back at the girl, she seems a little paled. "Nice to meet you, Amelia."

"Yay," she nods, "you too." But she looks anything but pleased.

"We'll just go on back," Jonah hooks my hand with his and practically drags me along.

"Friend of yours?"

He chuckles but doesn't answer me.

"Hello?" He pauses outside of a door and lightly raps on the door with his knuckles. "Am I always going to have run-ins with your many admirers?"

The fact he isn't answering me irritates me more.

"Son," the sound of Jonah's dad's voice breaks through my frustration, and I turn to find him standing from behind his desk. "Danielle," he hurries around and offers me a hug, "what a nice surprise."

"Dani brought us all a coffee."

"Americano," I say, refusing to look at Jonah, and yes, I hear him chuckle annoyingly as I grab out his father's coffee and hand it to him. "Splash of almond milk and one pump hazelnut."

Henry grins happily, "Perfect," he lifts out the stopper and takes a sip.

"I brought one for Avery too," I take the other drink and hold it in my opposite hand, still avoiding Jonah. "Is she with a patient?"

"Two doors down and to the left," he motions with his free hand, and I turn around, leaving Henry and Jonah alone. Following the instructions from Henry, I find Avery in a small office, and she looks up just as I fill her doorway. "Please tell me that is a Strawberry Creme Frappe, and you've brought it for me?"

Holding it out toward her, she practically melts happily in her chair, and I set it down in front of her. "It's almost like you and I are on the same wavelength sometimes. I frickin' love you."

I watch and wait as she takes a drink and her eyes roll dramatically. My patience is running thin, and I'm fighting the urge to yell out my question, but I bite my lip to hold back.

"Where's Jonah?"

"I left him with your dad," leaning back, I hold my white chocolate mocha securely and look down at the melting whipped cream on top.

"Uh oh," she finally notices and feels suddenly foolish. "What's going on?"

"Did he sleep with her?" The question is out of my mouth before I can stop it, and Avery's eyes widen as she stares at me. "I asked him if there was something up with her, but he is avoiding the question like the plague. His avoidance has left me believing that she may very well be yet another one of your brother's past friends. First Reece, then Heather now, Amelia, who's next?"

I hear her laughing and look up to find her attempting to cover her mouth.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Oh wow," she fans, her hands out in front of her face as she tries to stop laughing. "Amelia," she gasps, "he never," again she laughs and is unable to finish.

"We never dated," Jonah sits down beside me and smirks. "Or slept together."

"Wouldn't it have been so much easier to tell me when I asked instead of making me think she was an ex or a fling?"

"And miss out on your jealous fit," he chuckles, and I narrow my eyes at him.

"Jonah, that's awful," Avery attempts to reprimand her brother but can't manage to clear the smile off her face.

"But she's so fucking cute when she's jealous." He moves in and presses an overly exaggerated kiss on my lips.

"Amelia has been trying to get Jonah's attention from day one." Avery leans over her desk and glares at her brother. "He's never even considered her as anything more than an ego boost."

Jonah lifts his iced coffee to his lips, and before he takes a drink, I grab it out of his hands and stand. "Hey," he laughs, standing with me and trying to reach his drink. "That's mine."

"It was, but now, I'm taking it." And with that, I exit the office and walk down the hall and right out the front door. Just when I thought I'd made it away, a robust set of arms wrap around me from behind, and he nips at my ear.

"Aw babe, come on," his palm spreads out over my stomach and the other gripping my hip. "Can I please have my coffee? The love of my life gave it to me." I stop and look back at him, seeing Amelia looking out at us through the floor-to-ceiling windows which line the office.

It may have been wrong, but I give in to Jonah so that I could have a little satisfaction in knowing and showing he is mine. "Maybe you should show me how bad you want it?"

"If you don't know by now just how bad, then I have to be doing something wrong," his lips hover above mine, and the look in his eyes is teetering on the line of inappropriate. "I have about ten minutes before my next appointment; I could give you a little sneak peek of how bad."

Mm, the idea of what he'd offered sends a rush of heat through me. "How about you just give me a kiss for now?"

Cupping the side of my face, he leans in even closer. "Gladly," he whispers right before his lips cover mine, and he kisses me until my legs grow weak.