“What the fuck?” My shoulders tensed up, and I pressed my lips into a thin line. “You’re outta your mind if you think I’m in love with that asshole. He hurt me. I don’t think you understand—fucking chest pains, David.”
He found that hilarious.
“It ain’t funny!” I snapped, getting heated. He was making light of it—I was dead serious. “No man my age deserves to feel that way. Anxiety is for kids who don’t know what they’re doing.”
My brother groaned through a laugh and scrubbed his hands over his face. “I beg to differ, little brother. Especially if you’ve never felt that way before. It’s probably why you reacted so strongly too. The harder they fall…” he mused. “And I didn’t say you were in love, you buffoon. But I’m willing to bet you don’t know what it’s like to develop deeper feelings for someone.”
Urgh. I made a face, ready to call off the whole visit and get back on the road.
“If that’s what it feels like to develop deeper feelings, I’m gonna have to pass,” I said flatly. “Love’s supposed to be good. Not…whatever that was.” I could barely describe it. Easiest way was probably to compare myself to a teenager. That was how Sebastian had made me feel. Insecure, anxious, un-fucking-glued.
That couldn’t be healthy.
David was done laughing, but the humor remained in his eyes. We looked a lot alike, only he wore Ralph Lauren and Armani, and I wore…well, I’d bought this flannel shirt at a fair.
“I hope you see that guy again,” he said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
“That’s hateful.” I picked at the label on my bottle. “I’ll do everythin’ in my power to avoid seeing him when I get there.”
David perked up at that. “So you’re heading back to Washington?”
I shrugged. “I managed to deny it to myself for about four hours yesterday. I told myself I was only aiming for Tennessee.” This was after I’d driven aimlessly for a while, just stewing in anger and hurt. “But I don’t know. I need a project.” It was a sobering thought. I needed a project to get past the fact that my mother couldn’t look me in the eye anymore.
“The guy is your project?”
I snorted. “Christ—no. Building Soph and Dylan a home will be.”
Something softened in David’s eyes.
“I bought them a piece of land,” I explained. “When I visited, I asked Dylan when he was gonna make an honest woman out of her—which earned me a kick in the shin from Soph—but he’s as bad as she is. They have no plans because every penny has to go to Teddy.” I was quick to go on because I didn’t want David to get the wrong idea. “You know what I mean. Bad is good and all that, but they’re more than parents. Or am I the asshole here?”
David smirked and shook his head. “No, you’re not. If I didn’t know better, I would call you sweet.”
I frowned. “Don’t do that.”
“No, I know better.” He wanted to, though. I could see it on his damn face.
“Anyway.” I cleared my throat. “They’re stuck in a rat’s nest of an apartment, both trying to save up for a better car, a better place to live, all while waiting for promotions—and now the shit with Teddy. They cut the aid for his after-school care group and speech therapy.”
“Yes, she told me.” David furrowed his brow in disapproval. “She also mentioned you pushed for him to go through a program in Atlanta. Then I heard the rest from Mom after Soph had called the whole thing off. It took me an hour to get Mom to stop crying.”
What a clusterfuck that had been. “Mom told me about the program. It seemed obvious to me—even though it was clear as day that our folks used money to shuffle family their way.” In the end, Teddy came first, right? Right. And since Soph and Dylan hadn’t been able to afford the program, I saw no other option. I would’ve offered to pay for it myself if I hadn’t already bought the land for them. I’d been out of money too. “I don’t know how they managed on their own—with the program, I mean. Did she tell you?”
David nodded once, then cocked his head at me as if a thought just struck him. “This guy you met there—was it Sebastian?”
Fuck. I already knew David had met him once. I’d been hoping he wouldn’t connect the dots.
“Maybe.” I took a swig of my beer while my brother grinned and shook his head.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Oppy jumping into Melissa’s rosebushes. At the same time, Percy took a shit on the lawn a few feet away.
“Well, he’s the one who saved the day,” David went on. “Sebastian paid for a similar program in Seattle, which Teddy is currently enrolled in.”