The Imperfections

“No,” he disagrees, but it’s without heat. “I thought about Bri and the boys, too. You may not believe me, but when I enlisted Brant’s help, I was trying to protect my family. You can’t be under the impression Brant’s a saint, right? What do you think he would have done in the same situation, Alyssa? Protect his family at all costs, or leave a ticking time bomb out in the world, knowing it could blow up his whole life at any given time? Be honest with yourself.”

Barely hiding my disgust as I look over at him, I tell Theo, “Brant would never be in that situation.”

Scoffing, he shakes his head. “Right. ‘Brant the Infallible’—what was I thinking?”

I’m done talking to Theo, so I move forward and lean in to give Levi a little kiss on the cheek. “Since your daddy’s here, I’m gonna go see what Uncle Brant’s up to, all right?”

He squeals and splashes me. I give him a little splash back, then turn and start to make my way out of the pool.

“Alyssa, wait,” Theo says, grabbing my arm again.

Fire in my eyes, I meet his gaze. “What?”

I can’t decide how he looks. Conflicted, maybe. “There’s stuff you don’t know about Brant… stuff you need to know, if you’re gonna be involved with him.”

Pulling my arm out of his grasp, I tell him, “I know everything I need to know.”

“No, you don’t,” he warns. “He’s dangerous, Alyssa. There’s a reason I wasn’t afraid to go to him to ask him to…” He gestures at me.

“I know. I’m not under any illusion that Brant’s hands are clean, but I still prefer them to yours.”

That insult lands and he stiffens, looking a little offended at the idea that anyone could prefer Brant to him. “I’m just trying to look out for you, all right?”

I barely stifle a laugh, scoffing as I walk away. “Yeah, right.”

“Alyssa.”

I start to turn back to see what he wants, but I’m caught off guard when I turn and Theo’s right on top of me. My gaze jumps to Levi since he shouldn’t be left unattended in the pool and Theo just walked away from him, but then I’m further shocked as Theo leans in, in full visibility of everyone near the pool. He grabs my shoulder with one hand and curves his face in to whisper intimately in my ear.

“Better hope he doesn’t get jealous. Brant has it in him to be real violent. Killed the last girl he loved in a fit of jealous rage.”

Ice water trickles through my veins. I’m frozen with fear and can’t even move.

Theo leans back, meeting my gaze, something cold and knowing on his face. “Good luck.”

I can’t get out of the water fast enough. It’s over 80 degrees outside, but chills run all over my body as the warm breeze hits my flesh.

Even though that only lasted a couple seconds, I feel like everyone saw me and Theo in the pool and they all know everything.

It would be really great if I emerged from the water and grabbed a towel to wrap around my body, looked around, and noticed with immense relief that nobody had been paying attention.

Instead, I emerge from the pool and feel the heat of Brant’s gaze before I can find it. At first, I figure it’s only a guilty conscience making me feel that way, but then I see him standing beside the grill, glowering at me.

My stomach plummets and I forget about the towel. Theo’s words are so fresh, fear propels me barefoot across the lawn, forgetting my shoes and my dress, too.

I knew there was something dark in Brant’s past, knew it surrounded a past relationship—presumably with Nicole—but he has never shared the ugly details. Theo gave me a blunt summary, but even that raises so many questions.

It’s easy to see that’s exactly what he intended, but knowing that makes it no less relevant. Was it really a jealous rage, like Theo said? Brant said it was an accident that first night he mentioned it. I knew he had a jealous, possessive streak in him, but when it’s come up, he has assured me he’d never hurt me because of it, he just couldn’t guarantee the safety of anyone I made him jealous with.

Brant’s not slippery like Theo. I trust him to give it to me straight, but what if I’m trusting him a little too much? Even Bri thought he might have killed me after he caught me at the fair with Dirk, and she’s his twin sister.

Right now feels like a test. I’m going straight to Brant without delay, and in my mind he’ll wrap an arm around me and let me hug him while glowering unpleasantly at Theo in the pool. He’ll protect me like he swore he would, trusting me and understanding that I didn’t do anything to provoke Theo’s attention, putting all the blame right where it belongs—on Theo’s shoulders, not mine.