33 Cutter #2
He sets down his beer and takes over the table. “Jesus, Cutty, what do you think? I would have done it right away if you hadn’t run off and buried yourself at the bottom of a bottle for five fucking years. I swear you’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever known.”
I clench my fists so I don’t reach across the table and choke him. “You? You were going to tell me why you fucked my fiancé in my own bed?” I snort. “I can’t wait to hear this.”
He sinks two balls quickly. “Would you believe me if I said I did it for you?”
I do want to choke him now. “For me?”
“Why else would I do it? I tried everything to get your attention, but as usual, you had your head so far up your ass you couldn’t hear me.”
I fight to control the Vesuvius building in my gut. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Amber.”
“What about her?”
He picks up his beer and drains it, then tosses the bottle across the room into the trash can and goes back to clearing the table. “To put it bluntly, she was a bitch.”
I shake my head. “Typical. That’s your opinion of all women, isn’t it? It’s not enough you have them falling at your feet, you have to–”
“She came on to me,” he interrupts. When I don’t say anything, he continues. “And I wasn’t the first one.”
I swallow. “What are you talking about?”
“She was cheating on you, bro. She even fucked a couple of your teammates. I’m surprised your buddy Daryl didn’t tell you. He was all up in my face about it back then.”
Daryl? Is this the secret he didn’t want to tell me? My first reaction is to call his bluff. Why should I believe anything that comes out of his lying mouth? Amber, cheating on me? When? How? I can’t stop myself from asking. “How do you know that?”
“I first heard it from Chloe–”
“Chloe Roberts? The cheerleader? Great, another one of your victims.”
“You know, not everyone has the same negative opinion of me as you do.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet.” Until you kick them out the next morning.
“I didn’t believe her at first either, but then I checked around and every stone I turned over, guess who crawled out? I mean, she was prolific, bro.”
“Coming from you, that’s not saying much.”
“Okay, I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a serial dater.”
I scoff. “You think?”
“Whatever. Doesn’t change the fact that your precious fiancé was banging her way across campus and sullying your name in the process.”
“If you knew this then, why didn’t you tell me?”
“You don’t think I tried? I dropped hints all over the place, and when that didn’t work, I came right out and said it.”
I think back to those days. I remember Callum badmouthing Amber a few times. I just took it to mean he didn’t like her, which made what happened between them that much more baffling.
“Do you remember what you were like back then?” he continues. “You were so ultra-focused on baseball and getting into school, then getting drafted. When Amber came along, I thought she would be good for you. Help you loosen up a little. But I guess she figured out what the rest of us already knew.”
“Which is what?”
“That you can be a controlling prick. You’ve always kind of been like that, but it hit DEFCON level when you got to high school. Everything had to go according to your plan. Made me wonder what would happen if something didn’t. Guess we know how that turned out.”
I don’t know how to react to that. Even if it’s true–and I’m not saying it is–it doesn’t excuse what he did, and I tell him that.
“Okay, in hindsight, that might have crossed the line.”
“Crossed the line?” I sputter.
“Look, I told you, she came on to me. More than once, I might add. And all my efforts to let you know fell on deaf ears, so I figured you wouldn’t be able to ignore it if it was right in front of your face.”
“So you decided to fuck her in my bed?”
“Like I said, not my best plan, even if it did have the desired results.”
Jesus, he may be dumber than I thought. “Yeah, it made me hate your guts.”
“That was an unfortunate side effect,” he admits.
I don’t know what to believe right now. “If all this is true, why did you continue to fuck her for three months?”
He grimaces. “Are you kidding? The woman was relentless. She kept showing up at my room and at my games, whining that I ruined her life. I’m only human. Half the time we didn’t even do anything.”
“So why continue it?” Do I really want to know this? It’s like a train wreck I can’t look away from.
“I didn’t know how to stop it. And I guess I kind of felt responsible.”
“Kind of felt responsible? You were responsible, dumbass.”
He nods. “Okay, okay. I’m not the world’s best when it comes to relationships. Which is why I usually avoid them. Hookups are easier.”
How did he become this way? It’s not like he had some childhood trauma to overcome like Aubie. Sometime between high school and college he just devolved into the kind of dickhead who thinks fucking his brother’s fiancé is a great way to prove she’s cheating.
“I don’t know if you’ve made things better or worse,” I mutter.
He sinks the 8-ball and grins at me. “At least now you know the truth.”
For all the good it does me. I still think he’s an asshole. And Daryl knew about it.
“Why wouldn’t Daryl tell me?”
He starts fishing the balls out of the pockets and tossing them on the table. “You’d have to ask him.”
“I did. He said there were threats involved.”
Callum offers me a sheepish grin. “Yeah, okay, I might have strongly insisted he keep his mouth shut and mind his own business. Besides, he was always a mouthy son of a bitch and Coach wouldn’t let me hit him.”
“He was your tight end. You set reception records thanks to him.”
“Doesn’t mean I had to like him.”
I shake my head. “You’re a piece of work, you know that?”
“I try.” He racks up the balls again before turning to me. “So, are you going to tell me about your sudden change in preferred genders, or is that my fault too? Did I cause you to swear off women?”
Aubie is the last thing I want to be talking to Callum about. I knew bringing him here was going to invite questions, I just didn’t think through what exactly that meant.
“It just sort of happened.”
He studies me for a minute while chalking his cue, and something in his expression reminds me of the Callum from my youth. “You look good. He must agree with you.”
I snort, and he quirks a brow. “You mean you’re not being sarcastic?” I ask.
“Contrary to your opinion of me, I’m not some evil villain set on plotting the overthrow of decency. The truth is, I’ve missed you, little brother.” He breaks and starts circling the table looking for his first shot.
“I’ve missed you, too,” I mumble.
He looks up and smiles. “This is so much better than having a door slammed in my face.”
I roll my eyes. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s all good.” He sinks his first ball. “So tell me about him.”
“Who? Aubie?”
“Yeah. How did he get my stubborn ass brother to change teams? I’m assuming he was the instigator. I can’t see you initiating this.”
I feel myself blush. “He was kind of relentless.”
He smirks. “So you do know what that’s like? Interesting.”
I’m saved any further explanation by Aubie himself, who appears on the stairs looking at the two of us.
“You’re both standing, so that’s a good thing.”
I glance at Callum and shrug. “For now.”
“Your mom wanted me to tell you dinner’s ready.”
Like the social butterfly that he is, Aubie keeps conversation flowing throughout dinner, peppering my mother with requests for stories about me as a kid. Callum throws his two cents worth in, and before I know it, I’m defending myself against both of them.
“It all goes back to the fact that you were always Dad’s favorite,” Callum says after a particularly embarrassing account of how Dad had to rescue me after I forgot my uniform pants before a game.
“What planet are you living on?” I shoot back. “You were always everyone’s favorite.”
He tips his head toward Mom. “Tell him how Dad fussed over him like a worried hen the first few weeks after you brought him home from the hospital.”