Walk of Shame (Love Unexpectedly 4)

Andrew

WEDNESDAY, 3:00 P.M.

“You’re acting like a piece of shit.”

Andrew looked up to where his brother was sitting in the waiting room. “I’m sorry. Is me trying to be here for you and your wife inconveniencing you?” he said acidly.

They’d been waiting for more than thirty minutes while Pam was with the doctor to find out if she was a match for a new fertility treatment. Andrew wasn’t quite sure he’d been invited when his brother had called to tell him about the appointment, but there was nowhere else he’d be. He’d rescheduled three meetings to be here.

Peter shrugged and folded his arms over the belly that wasn’t quite flat anymore. “Just sayin’.”

Andrew resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Such was conversation with Peter. He’d utter something vague at best, offensive at worst, and then you’d ask for clarification and he’d say, Just sayin’.

“So you and your ladybird broke up?”

Andrew had just lowered his head, but now he was forced to lift it again. “Ladybird?”

Another shrug. “Pam said you had a girl. A cute one. Cooked you dinner and fucked it up.”

Andrew smiled a little at the memory. It had felt so damn right to walk into his apartment and see her there. Even more so that she was talking to a member of his family. Loved that she’d disappeared to let him have his conversation, and that when he’d called her an hour later ready with an apology, he hadn’t needed one.

Because that’s who Georgie was. Good. Understanding. Easy to get along with. Forgiving.

But even she had her limits.

“What happened?” Peter asked. His tone sounded bored, but his eyes were on Andrew, and Andrew knew his older brother well enough to be sure that Peter cared about him; he was just emotionally stunted.

It ran in the family.

Andrew rubbed his hands over his face. “Short version? Her mother hired my firm to handle her divorce.”

“Ouch. Well, she’s just pissed because you had to deliver the bad news. She’ll come down. Realize it’s not your fault.”

“Ah…”

Peter grunted. “She didn’t find out from you?”

Andrew shook his head.

“How much time between her mom contacting you and the girl finding out?”

“Couple weeks.”

Peter sighed and shook his head. “That’s forever in chick time.”

“Well, what would you have done?” Andrew asked, glaring at his brother, but also oddly desperate to hear what Peter had to say. “It wasn’t my news to tell.”

In looks, the two were nothing alike. Peter was taller, a veritable giant of a man. Soft where Andrew was toned. His hair was more red, and more often than not he forgot to shave. Or maybe that was intentional; Andrew didn’t really know.

But on the inside, despite their age difference, despite the fact that Andrew was an attorney and Peter was a car mechanic, he’d always felt that they got each other on some level. And Peter had always been the one he turned to when he needed advice on the personal front.

“Maybe not,” his brother granted. “But I’m guessing you handled it like an asshole.”

“She’s impossible to talk to,” Andrew muttered. “Not thinking straight.”

“Like I said,” Peter said, picking up a magazine. “Asshole.”

Andrew couldn’t even argue. He was sort of an asshole. He just…didn’t know how to be anything else. He didn’t know what Georgie wanted from him.