Dawson was just stepping out of the house as Layla, Kenzie, and Marshall were jogging up, back from their morning run. The jolt of nerves that attacked his system at the sight of Layla was a feeling he wasn't used to. But given the way their conversation had ended last night, he couldn't bring himself to be embarrassed by the reaction.

In any normal scenario, he would say that the ball was in her court and let it be. Wait for her to make the next move. But when it came to Layla, things were more complicated than that.

Even if she was interested in him, she was engaged. Was she loyal enough to her cheating fiancé that she wouldn't even consider exploring the spark that was so obviously burning between her and Dawson? If she was, that only created a new question: how would she react if Dawson took the next step—whatever that was?

She didn't laugh him off last night, or dismiss him. Admittedly, she didn't have much of a chance to say anything at all. It left him feeling both hopeful and helpless. She felt it too, he was sure of that. But he had no idea if it meant anything more than that. He had no idea if her resolve for going back to New York was still as strong as it was before last night.

Dawson waved as he came down the porch steps, a gesture that was meant for all three of them even though his eyes locked onto Layla's. She smiled, and the flush that came to her face told him that at the very least, she was still thinking about yesterday evening, too.

"Didn't feel like running today?" she joked, tied-up red tresses falling over her shoulder as she tilted her head.

"Or any other day." He met them on the dirt path, reaching into his back pocket for his baseball cap and tugging it on to block out the rising sun. "I wouldn't mind trying that pilates stuff again, though."

Her eyebrow arched, gentle smile turning into a feisty smirk. "Really? How womanly of you."

The laugh that escaped him was well-deserved. "You're still not letting that one go, huh?"

"If I hadn't let it go, we wouldn't be talking right now."

God, she was as quick with her brain as she was on her feet. 

What did it mean, them talking like this, like nothing had been said last night? Would it be the same if they were alone? Would they be alone again to find out? And just why the hell was he overanalyzing every little detail like some teenager with a crush when he was a grown man? 

"Dawson," Kenzie spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. She was fanning herself, breathing heavy, but even through the mid-workout exhaustion her tone was clear to Dawson—and it wasn't good. "I need to talk to you, about Jack. Just for a second."

"Oh." Great. What was it with his brother now? Probably he'd done something to piss him off again and Kenzie was relaying the message as usual. At least she respected his pride enough not to do it in front of Layla and Marshall. "Sure."

Kenzie told the pair that she'd be over at the shed in a minute and they started towards it—but not before Layla gave him one last smile. Surely if she had any reservations about what he said last night, she would come right out and tell him—or, as long as they weren't alone, she'd at least give him a sign. A glare instead of a grin, no joking around. Layla had made it clear since day one that she wasn't the type of person to dance around how she felt, and he knew she wouldn't stand there and smile at him just to be polite and spare his feelings. Which meant...

"What the hell are you doing?"

Kenzie's hissed words snapped him back to the present, and he realized he was still watching Layla walk away.

"What?" The word fell dumbly from his mouth as he turned to look at glaring brown eyes. Jeez, whatever he'd done to piss off Jack had clearly done a number on Kenz, too.

"Don't play stupid, standing there staring after her like some sort of lovesick cartoon character. What are you doing with Layla?"

Not half as much as he'd like to be. "I was having a conversation with her, before you dragged me over here so you could chew me out for it."

She crossed her arms over the colorful tie-dye tank top she was wearing. The happy colors clashed with her mood, that was for sure. "I saw the way you two were looking at each other last night. What were you talking about?"

He let out a scoff, but admittedly had a weight in his stomach, like he'd been caught by Mom sneaking pumpkin pie the night before Thanksgiving. "Like it's any of your business?"

"I think I have a right to know why my engaged friend was standing out here staring up at you with googly eyes last night, why she was so distracted at dinner I could barely get more than a few sentences out of her, yes."

He willed his face not to show that his insides were buzzing. Layla'd been that affected by his confession? "You really wanna know?" he challenged.

"No, Dawson, I'm standing here hounding you about it for fun." Her sarcasm was as sharp as it'd always been, and as usual, it only egged him on.

"Before you came outside and interrupted, I believe my exact words to her were, if things were different, I would've been all over you since day one." He knew the answer would rile her, and watched as her eyes went wide.

"You did not."

"I, in fact, did."

"Jesus!" Kenzie threw her head back running a hand over her bangs, which were curled from sweat. "She has a fiancé, Dawson, and you're... you're flirting with her and pulling her into your feelings."

"If Layla's got feelings for me, that's her own problem." And for him, the opposite of one.

"Exactly. So if you really care about her, you'll stop coming on to her." She sighed, arms crossing. "Why can't you just ask Adam to set you up with someone, or download Tinder like a normal person?"

He would have a long time ago if he'd wanted this sort of thing in the first place. "It wasn't as if I was looking for this to happen, Kenzie."

"Yeah, well." She rolled her eyes with a huff, muttering, "You know, Cliff and Jack have never had any problems staying away from my friends."

Ouch. That one had him stepping back, wrapping his arms around his torso. "Great, so now I'm a shitty brother."

So he'd spent nights with a few of Kenzie's friends over the last five years or so—it didn't have anything to do with now; it was completely different from how he felt about Layla. And it wasn't as if he'd try anything with someone like her best friend Gabriela, or anyone Kenz was really close with. The women he'd been with were people his sister knew from work. He wasn't even aware she'd really thought of them as anything more than acquaintances. 

"Don't put words in my mouth." Her tone was apologetic, but still on edge. "You know that's not what I'm saying."

"So what are you saying?"

"I..." She trailed off, eyes leaving his as she let out a heavy breath. Her squared shoulders slumped, leer turning into a frown. "You have to realize that Becca doesn't come here anymore, since you two slept together. She's hesitant to even come to the wedding because she thinks it'll be awkward seeing you, and last year Diane wouldn't talk to me for a week after you didn't want to see her again. Every time she saw me in the teacher's lounge, she wouldn't even come in to get coffee."

"And that's my fault?" he defended, still stinging from her earlier comment. "In case you didn't notice, they came on to me, and I told them my terms. I don't lead women on, Kenz. They knew what they were—what they weren't getting from me."

"Just because a woman comes on to you does not mean you have to take her to bed. How they reacted wasn't your fault, but you didn't think for a second how it would affect me. What you did with them was selfish, and so is what you're doing with Layla."

He threw up his arms in an exaggerated shrug, feeling cornered by the words. "Well maybe I want to be selfish!"

"Do you, Dawson? Is that what you want? To seduce her, to make her pick you over her fiancé? What if she does? Then what?" She stepped towards him as she spat out the questions. He looked away, tired of her glaring at him like he was the bad guy. "You move on and everything's back to normal, but what about Layla? For you, it's a fling. For her, it's an affair."

"I never said I wanted it to be a fling!" he snapped, eyes returning to hers, which now sat wide under furrowed brows. He reached up, adjusting his cap and letting out a sigh. "Damn it, Kenzie, I'm sorry if I made things weird for you before, and I'll stay away from any friend you make for the rest of your life. But this is... you're asking me to walk away from something that I can't walk away from. Believe me when I say I want to, God knows it'd be easier. If I thought for even a second that it was the right thing to do, I would."

"You... I..." She looked shell-shocked as she stuttered, blinking in disbelief. There was a long pause before she finally continued, "This is really serious."

He could only shrug, feeling the hot wave of embarrassment wash over him. He'd had trouble admitting it to himself, that things were different with Layla, but there was no denying it anymore. This wasn't just about his feelings for her, or the fact that he wanted her. This was about wanting the best for her, wanting her to be happy. He wasn't sure he could give that to her, but damn it, he wanted to try.

"Fine." Kenzie held up both hands in surrender, clearing her throat. "Alright."

"Alright?" he repeated, looking her over as she shrugged.

"If all of that's true, if that's really how you feel, then... You do what you have to do. I won't get it the way. I won't try to stop you."

"I'm not sure you could if you tried, Kenz. Not this time."

She shook her head, studying him for a second. "Now I don't know who I should be more worried for. Her, or you."

With that she turned and started for the shed, leaving him to ponder the question. It was him, he realized. The answer was him.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! 🏈 Are you guys planning to watch, or do anything special? 📺I'll be watching with my dad, even though I don't fully understand football LOL. I still enjoy watching even though I have no idea what some of the terminology means 😅

Also I promise I will try to be more consistent with updating on Saturdays, I don't know why I keep forgetting! 😭

I love writing sibling dynamics so much, and getting to explore them in this series is unexpectedly one of my favorite parts!! I know you all are probably getting antsy to learn more about Jack and Cliff— I promise you will! 😆