“He is just worried about you, you know,” I said.
Joe made an exasperated sound and put his scone down as if it suddenly left a bad taste in his mouth.
“God, not you too,” he groaned.
“Why are you being so defensive?” I asked him. “I just want to know how my little brother is doing. Why is that wrong?”
“I do not need you to look out for me. I’m a big boy,” he replied.
“You’re never going to be too old for me to look out for you. I’m your big sister. It’s what big sisters do.”
I reached out and took a hold of his hand. “You would come to me if something was wrong, right? You can trust me with whatever.”
I was suddenly worried that I had been so wrapped up in my own life that I had been neglecting on my older sis duties. My family may have their annoying moments but I loved them with all my heart and would do anything for them.
Joe rolled his eyes like I was being dumb, pulling his hand away. “Of course I know that.”
“Then talk to me,” I said and I remembered someone else besieging me in a similar way not too long ago.
I pushed that thought back.
“There is nothing to talk about,” Joe said and that response sounded hauntingly familiar too. “I have everything under control.”
Joe wiped his hand on a napkin, most of his scone left untouched.
His last statement didn’t sit well with me and I opened my mouth to grill him more but he beat me to the punch. He stood, towering over me. I stood as well.
“Look, I have some place I need to be. See you later, sis,” he said.
Although he leaned over to kiss my cheek, our meeting ended far from satisfactory.
I watched him leave the bakery and hated to agree with my father by my brother was definitely hiding something.
I was going to find out what.
I grabbed my book bag and headed back to campus. I still had one more class for the day before I had to pick up Noah from daycare.
As I drove, I was plotting how I would uncover what was up with my little brother.
Chapter Thirteen: Hailey
I kept hitting a road block in trying to get my brother to confide in me.
A week had passed since meeting up with Joe at the bakery. And I was no closer to finding out what he was hiding now than I was then. In fact, I felt like I had taken several steps back on that front.
He had started avoiding my calls and another one on one talk had resulted in him clamming up on me and walking off angry.
I swallowed a sigh as I walked the hallway of the campus, heading for the organic chem lab. I needed to fit in some studying before I had to pick up Noah in a few hours. I was behind on the material with dealing with my family drama.
The lab was usually empty around this time and I wanted to take advantage of the quiet space.
My mind was on my brother and I wasn’t really seeing where I was going, my body moving on autopilot when I stepped into the lab.
I abruptly stopped as I noticed that I wasn’t only one who thought to use the empty lab to study.
Wyatt was seated in his usual seat, his head bent over an open text book and headphones plugged into his ears.
My eyes couldn’t help trailing over him in appreciation of his own unique brand of male perfection. Shit, why did he do these things to me?