Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
“Can you blame me for checking you out?” he spits out, clearly not ready to back down. He’s got balls, I’ll give him that. “Kayla bailed on dinner, turned her phone off all weekend according to Cole, and now she has us blocked. Or at least, she blocked me.” He sounds most hurt by that option. “That’s not like her at all. What the fuck did you do to her?”
I tilt my head, glaring at the clueless fucker. Surely, he’s not blaming me for this when it’s his fuck-up, start to finish. “You really want to know?” He grinds his teeth, thinking I mean something sexual. But I don’t. “I showed her that she can do whatever she wants and be whoever the fuck she wants to be.”
“Be who she wants to be?” he echoes, making it sound like I suggested his sister could become an astronaut if she wanted. “What the hell is everybody talking about? Kayla always does whatever the fuck she wants.”
“Does she?” I shoot back. “Or does she do whatever you and your brothers and your parents need her to do? Expect her to do?” I make it sound like they have her scrubbing their floors, which isn’t true, but she does clean up after them. Maybe not in a Cinderella sorta way, but in a much more complicated way.
That shuts him up, his face going comically slack. “What? I am so damn confused,” he mutters, rubbing at his left eye with the heel of his hand, talking more to himself than me. He blinks and stares at me again. “Of all of us, she’s the one who has her shit together. Are you saying… she doesn’t?”
I hold my hands out to stop that tangent, hoping the universe didn’t hear it. Kayla would probably feel the disturbance in her image if it did, like little prickles along her skin. “I’m not saying anything of the sort, and you shouldn’t either. What I am saying is that Kayla has put every single one of you first for her entire life. You’re all she talks about, thinks about, worries about. But from what I can tell, the reverse isn’t true.”
Kyle’s eyes darken at the accusation. “You don’t know shit about our family.”
“You wish that were the case, but I know more than you’d think. I know about your woman, and her lunch business, and the bitch who was living next door to her, and I know it directly from Kayla’s mouth. Can you say the same?” He blinks, the smallest tell, and I know I’m hitting a nerve. “Have you bothered to ask her a single thing about what she’s going through while you’re chasing your dog around, playing pool boy, or trying to ride herd on the most mismatched group of motherfuckers you can hire to work for you? You guys make hockey players seem normal.” I intentionally list out details Kayla has shared about Kyle to highlight that, even having never had a real conversation with him, I know all about him because Kayla knows her brother better than he probably knows himself. And that means I know him too. Not as deeply, but at least the surface things that prove my point.
He clenches his fists, the knuckles cracking, and I think there’s a fifty-fifty chance he’s gonna send a well-deserved punch my way. “If you wanna dance, you should know I’ll throw back,” I warn before he can finish his thought. Kayla’s brother might hit the gym, and even put in some hard work there, not just posing and shit like a bro, but I hit opponents every game. Neither of us are street fighters, but I have no doubt I can take him on and come out the victor. “You can wear the black eye like a badge of honor, courtesy of Riggs Patrick,” I promise.
Kyle takes a deep breath but slowly releases his fists. After a second, he huffs out a bitter chuckle. “If you wouldn’t kick my ass, I might take you up on that. But we’ve got the Foundation Gala coming up and for once, I’m trying to do the right thing and show my lady a good night. Can’t very well do that with a shiner, huh?”
He’s simmering down, and I do the same, trying to match his energy. Fighting Kayla’s brother won’t do her any good, and that’s all I care about. Even if I really do want to hit him for the harm he’s caused her.
“Look, it’s not a criticism. Fuck knows, I don’t have any room to hand those out,” I concede. “I’m sure you’ve got your own shit to deal with, whatever that is, but you’ve all put Kayla into this role where she takes care of you, but nobody takes care of her. That’s where we come in. For me, Kayla comes first, last, and always. To us, she’s it.” Such a raw confession isn’t something I’d normally share so openly, but for Kayla, I’d shout it from a mountaintop. “None of us were looking for this, but it happened, and I’m glad. I won’t let you ruin it. For me or for her.”