More Exposed (Exposed 4)

"It just isn't working." His voice is low and shaky. "She's not happy so something has to change."

I nod. Maybe it's a sign from the heavens. Maybe the fact that my brother is moving out of my apartment just a month after moving in is a clear sign that I need to go back there. After our talk yesterday morning, Hunter hadn't come home until late in the night. He'd slept on the couch and raced off to work before we could even talk this morning. He's avoiding me. He actually made a decision not to speak to me. How can I possibly stay there with him and Cory any longer?

"It's fine, Dylan." I try to smile. "I may be moving back in."

"Why?" It's something anyone would ask. Anyone but my brother, that is. He's never cared about what happens to me. We've never had a very close relationship. We've always just been two people who happened to share the same DNA.

"It's not working with me and Hunter." I have to pull in a heavy, measured breath to keep myself from sobbing as I say the words. How can it be? How can Hunter and I be this fucked up?

He takes a sip of coffee from the paper cup I brought him. "I thought you were crazy about that guy? Mom said you were nuts over him."

I lean back in my chair for stability when I hear him mention our mother. "She actually said something to you about Hunter?"

"She calls him Zander." He rolls his brown eyes and smiles. "You'd think she'd give that up if he wants to be called Hunter."

I laugh. "A lot of people still call him that." They do. It's hard for me to see him as Zander but all of Cory's family calls him that. It still feels as though people are talking about a completely different person when they say that name. Maybe he is a different person than the one I thought I knew. Maybe Zander isn't who I wanted him to be after all.

"Do you want to talk about it?" The question may as well have been asked in a foreign language. It's as if a stranger just walked up to me and asked me to confess my life story to them. I've never confided in Dylan.

I glance back at the counter to see how many people are waiting. That may be my out. Suggesting that Dylan meet me on my lunch break at the bistro meant I had to fill in almost thirty minutes of time with him. He only just got here and already I'm completely uncomfortable. "It's okay." It is okay. I can't tell Dylan what's going on.

"We're family." He reaches across the table to rest his hand over mine. "Talk to me."

I stare at his hand. It's a man's hand. When did my brother become a man? When did he grow up enough that he would want have an actual conversation with me?

"Mom hasn't told you?" I know the question's answer before I even ask it.

He leans back in his chair and his hand leaps from mine. "I know Hunter isn't Cory's dad."

I've never heard Dylan say Cory's name before. He's never acknowledged his existence. "He's not. That's common knowledge." It's not meant to sound so insensitive, but it does.

"I didn't know until mom told me," he counters. "She said Hunter didn't tell you some stuff about Cory."

It sounds so simple and innocent when it comes from my brother. I wish that were it. I wish that Hunter was hiding just stuff. It would be refreshing at this point if the biggest secret hanging between us was the fact that he gave Cory an extra serving of dessert or bought him a new toy train engine without telling me.

"I'm here." He taps his finger on the edge of the table. "Family is everything, Sadie. It's everything."

"What's going on?" Something isn't adding up. My brother doesn't just blurt out sentimental statements about family and love. That's not the Dylan I know.

"Leanne is pregnant." His voice cracks before he continues, "I'm going to be a dad."

My breath catches and I almost leap from my chair. "You're kidding?"

"I'm not." He shakes his head from side-to-side. "We just found out last night. Can you imagine, Sadie? Me a dad?"

I can't. I can't imagine it at all. I can't imagine Dylan holding a beautiful little baby in his arms. "Dylan," his name escapes my lips in a rush. "I can't..."

"We have to fix our family." He stands and moves to kneel next to me. "I want my baby to have a real family. Let me be your brother again."

I reach to hug him, burying my face in his shoulder. I need this. He has no idea how desperately I need a family right now.

Chapter 15

"Where's Cory?" I could tell he wasn't in the apartment the moment I came through the door. The silence is deafening.

Hunter doesn't turn around as he answers, "My mom took him for a few

hours. He wanted to go down to the park so she said she'd keep him company."