“I don’t have a choice, do I?”
I shrug. “There’s always a choice.”
He chuckles. “Not with us. We go way back, remember?”
I do.
“That was so special,” Mrs. Paquinn says, sniffing.
“That’s one word for it,” Otter grumbles.
“Oh, is someone feeling left out?” Creed laughs shakily, stepping away. I notice how his eyes flicker at his words. I hope one day he’ll be okay with it.
“Speaking of,” Anna says, looking pointedly at me and Otter, “I think we’ve said what needs to be said. For now. Don’t you two have somewhere else you’d like to be?”
I nod shyly and look to my brother. “Kid, you’ll be okay for a while?” I ask, needing permission from him, needing him to tell me again that it will all be okay.
He dismisses us with a wave of his hand. “Go finish this. I expect everything back to normal by the time you get back.”
There’s that word again. Normal.
Otter stands and holds out his hand. “Bear, you ready?”
I take what’s offered.
15.
Bear and Otter
HE DRIVES, which is probably safer as I can’t take my eyes off of him. He smirks gently, and I know he can feel my gaze on his face. He does his best to ignore me, but that’s okay. I just want to look at him. He looks older, somehow. Maybe it’s the bags around his eyes. Maybe it’s the lines around his mouth. I don’t know. I don’t care. He looks as good to me as he ever has. I want to reach out and touch him, to rub my hands through his thick, light hair, but I don’t. I still don’t know if this is real.
“What are you looking at?” he says in a low voice.
You, always you, I want to say. But as we all know by now, my mouth doesn’t work that way. “Did I break Jonah’s nose?”
He laughs and shakes his head. “What kind of an answer do you want me to give you?”
I think for a moment. “The right one.”
We pull up to a red light, and he slows to a stop before turning to me. “You didn’t break his nose. Although I thought you had with how far you cocked your fist back.” He grins slightly. “Did it make you feel better?”
I look away and shrug. “He shouldn’t have been so damn smug,” I grumble.
“Are you sure you weren’t just projecting?”
I snap back and glare at him. “That’s not funny,” I say through his giggling fit.
“Oh, Bear, one day it will be very funny.” He picks up my bruised hand and kisses it. “One day, we’ll joke about how you punched some guy out of jealousy for me.”
I scowl. “So I’ve been told. And I wasn’t jealous. What the fuck was he doing there, anyways?” My eyes narrow. “Did you call him?” The light changes to green, and we move forward. Otter looks away. Dammit, I wan
ted to see his face when he answers me.
“No, Bear, I didn’t,” he says quietly.
“Then what the fuck was he doing there?”
“Why do you think he was there?”