Bitter

She nods. “Yes, like a company name. I thought maybe we could do a tribute of some sort. Maybe call it Jake’s or maybe Tony’s after his middle name, Anthony.”

“Oh,” I say without trying to give away that it is the worst idea I’ve ever heard.

Reed smiles at me devilishly behind his mom’s back. “Oh yeah. That’s a great idea. You’d get to remember him every single day. You could never escape it.”

I narrow my eyes at him, and then I smile at her. “I’ll think about it.”

She pats my arm again. “What can I do to help?”

I pause. “Uhm...I think we’re good here. If you wouldn’t mind verifying what type of cookware will be available to use there. Obviously if this were to go anywhere, I’d need to invest in my own, but I don’t have many large cooking tools since it was always just Jake and me.”

She raises an eyebrow at me. “I’m surprised you haven’t had to invest in some already with the way this one eats.” She points her thumb to Reed. “He was always my big eater.”

Reed gives a sarcastic smile back. “The one thing I was better at than Jake.”

She frowns. “Oh, give it a rest, Reed!” she shouts. “He’s gone!” she says angrily, which only seems to upset him more.

“And yet we’re still talking about him!” he shouts back.

Her face gets angrier. “You’re being disgusting, Reed. And in front of Wren! Maybe you shouldn’t be staying here with her if you’re going to act that way!” She leans forward on the counter toward him to drive the last point home. “I’m sure she wishes she could swap brothers in the car that day.”

I stand frozen in place in complete shock. There is no doubt by the way she said it that she does wish it was Reed instead of Jake. He gets this ridiculous grin on his face that is completely out of place. Then he taps the counter twice. “Right,” he says and turns around and walks toward his room.

“Reed!” I call out to him, but he is already slamming the door shut behind him. My heart shatters for him.

His mom turns to me. “I’m sorry sweetie,” she says like she really thinks I’m upset about what Reed said. This fucking bitch.

I nod. “Things are still fresh.” I try to excuse everyone’s behavior in order to get out of this situation. “I’m going to go get ready before heading to the store.”

She nods. “Okay, I’ll get you that info you need, and just call me if you need help with anything else.”

I give her a half smile. “Thanks.”

I lock the door behind her before I walk over to Reed’s room. I knock lighty. “Reed?”

He clears his throat on the other side. “Yeah, I’ll be ready in ten minutes,” he calls out.

I push his door open, and he turns and looks at me. He’s still angry. The part that surprises me though is that he’s not angry at her. He’s angry at himself. “Reed,” I say again softly.

He stares back at me, and he doesn’t hide anything. I see all of his pain. All of his hurt. He doesn’t try to hide it because there’d be no point. We both already know.

“She’s upset,” I try to soothe him. I step closer. “She lost a son.” My voice strains as I try to hold back my emotions.

He nods. “I know.”

“She didn’t mean it.” My voice cracks a little.

“I know,” he says again calmly.

I clench my hands into fists as I stand in front of him. I slowly get angrier and angrier the longer we stand here. “Be upset,” I say harshly.

He looks at me confused. “What?”

“Be upset!” I shout.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

I shove at his chest, and he stumbles back a step. “What are you doing?” he yells.

“Be upset!” I scream again. “Yell! Scream! Break something! Tell that bitch to go to hell!”

I push at his chest again, but he just stares back at me. I beat on his chest with my fist, and I feel the first tear slide down. “Be upset!” I pound on his chest with my other hand, and then I continue to beat on his chest.

“Wren, stop!” he shouts as he grabs both of my wrists in a tight grip.

He holds my hands in place until I calm down. He stares back at me, and we both breathe heavily. “Stop,” he says again roughly.