“No,” Keith grumbled, suddenly realizing how childish he’d been behaving, avoiding his siblings at all costs. “I just came home late.”
“Yeah, as in long after we all fell asleep.”
With a shrug, Keith dropped in the comfortable recliner in the corner of his room. It’d been the first piece of new furniture he’d ever purchased for himself nearly twenty years ago. Though worn and not nearly as plush it used to be, he couldn’t part with the thing. It was so much more than a relaxing seat. It represented his escape from the shit he’d grown up in.
“Not my fault you all can’t make it up past eight,” he said.
Jagger smirked, flipping him off.
Silence settled between them. When the weight of Jagger’s judgmental glare grew too heavy to ignore, Keith rolled his eyes. “Just say it.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” Jagger asked.
“Well, right now, I’m sitting here waiting for you to say whatever the fuck it is you’ve invaded in my space to say. Then I’m going to hit the gym. Maybe grab dinner after. You want this all in writing?”
Narrowing his eyes, Jagger leaned forward, propping his forearms on his knees. “Fine. You wanna play games? Want me to be more specific in my questions?” His lips curled. “Why are you hiding from Michaela Hudson who, once upon a time, was a very famous actress named Scarlett?”
The bottom dropped out of Keith’s stomach as his jaw fell open. “She told you?” He’d known they chatted when Jagger worked at her house, but he hadn’t expected her to confide in his brother the way she’d confided in him. Jealously he thought he’d nixed came roaring back to life.
Jagger, damn him, knew it and fucking loved it. His smarmy smirk grew until it was all Keith could see.
“What?” he barked.
“She didn’t tell me anything,” the smug bastard said. Sitting straight once again, he tapped the side of his head. “I figured it out all on my own.”
Keith grunted and refused to admit the relief at knowing Mickie hadn’t had a deep heart-to-heart with his brother. Ridiculous as the envy was. Jagger would die before poaching Keith’s territory. Not that Michaela belonged to him.
“Well, if you know who she is, you pretty much answered your own question then, didn’t you?”
“How’s that?” Jagger’s patience was maddening. The man could wait until the end of time for something he wanted. And apparently, he wanted Keith to talk.
Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair. “Jag, she represents a world I want nothing to do with. I don’t just mean because she’s rich,” he added when Jagger opened his mouth. “She’s famous for being a high-maintenance drama queen. She craves attention, the spotlight, men fawning over her. She’s awards shows, galas, and mansions. I’m oil, cars, and small-town. You know she has seven million Instagram followers? I don’t even have an account. I live a quiet life, and that’s how I like it. I’m not interested in any of that insanity.”
“Not to mention her drug and alcohol use are no secret,” Jagger added, voice dripping with sarcasm. “As are the very public mistakes she’s made in the past.”
Keith shrugged. “It’s the truth.”
“Mm-hmm. Got another question for you.”
Keith motioned for him to speak.
“Have you seen any of that since she’s been here? Any drama or attention-seeking behavior? Is she high-maintenance? Sure, she has money and likes nice things, but the woman I know is nothing like the one portrayed by the media. The woman we know has worked damn hard to change her life completely. She’s left Hollywood, avoided social media like the plague, spent months in rehab, and given up a glamorous existence to live, as you called it, a quiet life. She’s made mistakes, some pretty damn big mistakes, and done things she’ll forever be ashamed of, but she’s different. And she’s different because she made the very difficult decision to change her life then put the time and massive amounts of effort toward making that happen.”
With a snort, Keith threw up his hands, hopped to his feet, and began pacing. “Come on, Jag. You can’t be that naïve. If my, our, childhood has taught us anything, it’s that people don’t change. It just doesn’t fucking happen. Yeah, sure, maybe for a hot minute, but not long term. Just you watch, before long, she’ll be bored of small-town life. The shiny appeal of Hollywood will be too tempting to resist forever, and she’ll leave here to resume her real life as Scarlett.” Christ, the name tasted wrong on his tongue. Try as he might, he could not picture the woman who’d spent nights in his arms as the world-famous starlet.
But she was. And she would be again.
And where would he be? Stuck here pining after a woman who’d never intended to make his town her home. Never intended to be with a man like him. He’d made that mistake before. Once was enough. Best to end it all now before broken promises and fake assurances of change ruined him as they’d tried his entire life.