One Wright Stand

Julian came to a stop and furrowed his brow. “What are you doing?”

“Getting dressed.”

“Obviously,” Julian muttered. “But why are you getting dressed up? Aren’t we just going over to Jensen’s?”

“You and Mom are. I have other plans.”

“What other plans? Since when?”

I finished buttoning up my white shirt and started in on rolling up the sleeves. It was hot as fuck in Texas in August. It probably would have been better to go with a breathable T-shirt, but I wasn’t a T-shirt guy. Definitely not on a date.

“I have a date.”

Julian glared at me. “A date? Seriously?”

“Yeah. So what?”

“So what? You’re leaving tomorrow. You’re going to break this poor girl’s heart and never come back.”

I nearly rolled my eyes at him. Julian, the romantic. Julian, who just looked at a girl and was suddenly in a three-year relationship with her. We were opposites in that regard. Well, in a lot of ways. I’d had relationships, but I’d never been good at them. They always fell apart in my hands.

But Annie was different. She didn’t seem the type of girl to fall apart when I left. In fact, she’d perked up when she found out I was leaving. She was gorgeous and smart and funny. She was exactly what I needed after this hell of a week in Lubbock.

“I’m not you. We’re just going to have fun,” I told him. “Anyway, I saw you flirting with that girl in the pool.”

He crossed his arms. “Yeah. So? You talking to this girl is shitty because you’re leaving and never coming back. It’d be fine for me because I’m moving here in a month.”

I winced at the way he’d said it. I still couldn’t get used to the idea that my mom and Julian were moving all the way to Texas.

“You’re staying in Vancouver,” he reminded me.

“It’s not a big deal,” I said. I did not want to have this conversation again.

Julian followed me out of the hotel room and into the living space. “Is this about Missy?”

“No,” I said roughly. “Missy and I broke up.”

“Did you though?

“Yes?”

“It didn’t sound like a break up.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “The relationship was going nowhere. As it had been for the last six months. Even if this is about Missy, what the fuck does it matter? If I want to have some fun while I’m on my one vacation a year, then I’m going to have some fun.”

“Do you really need a Texas rebound though? Especially since you’re not even sure if you broke up?”

I ran a hand back through my hair. “I know that we broke up, okay? We both needed space. That’s a break up.”

“Fine,” Julian grumbled. “But there’s another option to the rebound, you know?”

“Here it comes,” I groaned.

“You could always move here with us,” he said, spreading his arms out. “Then you could just date someone here.”

“You know that I can’t move here.”

“No, I don’t know that,” Julian spat. He grabbed my shoulder and wrenched me around to look at him. “Mom has cancer.”

“I know.”

“She’s getting specialty treatment here. I’ll be around, but what if something happens? What if you’re in Vancouver when it does?”

“I don’t want to talk about this. My life is in Vancouver. That’s home. I can’t just pack up and move.”

I wanted to be here for my mom. I wanted to figure out a way to help her, but there was no way to help her. Not by me moving all the way across the world to do it and leaving everything I knew behind.

“Your life?” Julian laughed. “What life? You mean, work? Because Wright Construction is right here.”

“That’s different, and you know it.”

Julian shook his head. “I don’t think that I do.”

“Look, you and Mom made the choice to move here. You did it without even consulting me and then expect me to jump at the chance. I’ve always taken care of you, Julian. I’d still do it here if I could, but I can’t. I’m head of the company there. That position is filled here. I have friends there. I have a life. It’s not my fault that you’re abandoning yours to move here.”

“Your priorities are seriously fucked,” Julian said and then stomped away.

Our mom stuck her head out of the room and looked between me and Julian’s retreating back. “Hey, honey.”

“Hi, Mom.”

“Everything all right?”

I released the tension I’d been carrying from the same argument I’d been having with Julian for weeks. “He’s still mad that I’m not moving with you two.”

“Well, I’m not mad, but I am sad. I wish you would come. I feel like I just got you back from your father.”

“I know.”

Our father was a manipulative asshole, who had turned us against our mother for years. It had taken so much time to rebuild what he’d destroyed. Even though he had been the one lying to us all along.