Chapter 20 #3
Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall, sounding like a two-hundred-pound duck slapping its webbed feet on the hardwood floor. Hank came around the corner still in his T-shirt and boxer shorts, smiling brightly when he saw us. “Ah,” he said, then pointed to his belly.
He was hungry.
Proving she was a better person than me, Hazel nodded at my dad. “Come on, let’s get your tank filled.”
And just like that, spa night pivoted to snack night—romance surviving against impossible odds, like us.
He grinned happily and headed toward the kitchen, following after her like a puppy.
I banged my head a few times against the wall.
“Star Falls Legend, hard at work” Ryder said.
Shit. I’d forgotten about the Legend. Also, I wanted to punch my brother’s gleeful face. “More like Star Falls Curse.”
“Walk us out,” Caleb suggested, and the two of them dragged me out the door.
On the porch, I planted my feet and crossed my arms. There’d been many times in my life when they’d tag teamed me, and not a single one of them had ever been good. “What?” I asked flatly.
“You tell us,” Caleb said. Smug bastard.
“I’m not telling either of you fucking busybodies anything.”
“Insulting,” Ryder said.
“Extremely,” Caleb said.
They both gave me long looks, and beneath their fucking superiority, I could see the genuine concern, which took me down a notch. “Look, we’re not talking about this. I’m trying not to even think about it.” Or feel it. Because it was Hazel. And if I let myself fall again, it might kill me.
“When Penny came into my life, you made me talk about it,” Ryder said.
Caleb nodded. “Same for me with Emma.”
“Yeah, well, you were both way more fucked-up than me.” I started to walk back inside, but Ryder tripped me. The porch swing broke my fall. With my face. The swing’s momentum sent it slamming into the siding.
We stared at the dent.
“You’re fixing it this time,” I said.
“Yeah? And who’s going to fix your hard head?” Ryder retorted.
We really had left most of our brawling behind us years ago, but we had no problem having a go at each other to blow off steam as needed. “Didn’t we just do this at football?”
“Two against one,” Caleb noted casually to Ryder, ignoring me.
I shrugged. “The last time it was two against one, it was your head to the wall. Your hallway’s still got a hole in it because you only painted over it. You didn’t replace the drywall. Now what the hell do you two really want?”
Caleb looked at Ryder.
Ryder shrugged. “We want to know what’s going on with you and Hazel.”
“Why, so you can be a dick and order me to stay away from her like you did to Caleb when he fell for Emma?”
Regret crossed Ryder’s face. “Look, I’ve admitted I was wrong about that, all right? This isn’t about me or Caleb. It’s about us wanting you to be…open.”
“Open. About what?”
“Something good.”
I rolled my eyes. “Penny made you go back to book club again, didn’t she?”
“Be an asshole all you want, but which one of the three of us isn’t getting laid every day?”
Okay, so at least they didn’t know about the tree house. “Does Penny know how fucking interfering you are?”
“Yes, and she loves me anyway. Look, you guys busted my balls about being open to a relationship with her for months. Why can’t I do the same for you?
You and Hazel used to be tight. Then something happened, and you didn’t speak for years.
Now you’re suddenly sneaking around, hiding a relationship? Why?”
“It’s not a relationship,” I clarified. Yet.
Caleb sighed. “Two smart people. So stubborn. So stupid.”
I snorted. “Motivational speaker now, are we?”
“You’re collecting strings, Tuck. Maybe she’s the one.”
“Just out of curiosity,” I said, “how do you know when you’ve found the one?”
Ryder shrugged. “It’s sort of a mixture of Damn I can’t imagine my life without her in it and This woman’s gonna be the death of me.” He grimaced. “Don’t tell Penny I said that.”
“Do you want the truth?” I asked. “I don’t know what’s going on with me and Hazel.” I knew only what I wanted to be going on.
“Bullshit,” Caleb said. “You always know what’s going on. It’s your superpower.”
I stayed quiet. Not because I didn’t have something to say, but because saying it out loud would unravel me. Plus, I refused to break. Hazel didn’t deserve the fallout if I opened my mouth and confessed all.
But my brothers could sniff out a lie from a hundred paces. So I gave a truth. “We’re friends.”
Ryder and Caleb looked at each other.
“So you and Hazel are really just friends,” Ryder repeated as footsteps came down the hall.
I hadn’t said just, but I wasn’t going to correct him. “That’s it. That’s all—”
My brothers sucked in a breath.
I turned.
Hazel stood there, expression unreadable. Cool. Flat.
Fuck.
I broke out into a cold sweat of sheer dread. “Haze—”
“Good to know.” She backed toward the door like I’d burned her. “Guess I misread things again.”
And she was gone.
I stood there like it was my job, ribs splintering around the truth. I’d told myself I was protecting her, but based on the look in her eyes? I hadn’t protected her at all.
I’d hurt her.