Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
Brian
Rain
Sorry I haven’t texted back. Busy here. Carnival prep in full swing. Games this weekend. So much work
The text had come around eight this morning, almost a week after Maddy and I had moved back to Allentown with Linny.
I’d felt my phone vibrate but had been in the middle of loading a truck for a customer at the lumberyard. The manager had taken me back, no questions asked. He’d actually seemed happy to see me. He was a good guy, and the job paid decent…but I didn’t want to be here.
I thought I’d been able to hide that from Linny and Maddy. The three of us were living in Linny’s old apartment until I could find my own, hopefully close by. And hopefully soon because sleeping on the fucking couch had already messed up my back. For right now, though, it was all I had because I’d given up the lease on my old apartment.
Add my frustration at not hearing from Rain and it was getting harder every day to hide my frustration. Linny looked at me sometimes like I wasn’t hiding it well enough. I needed to work on that. She didn’t need to worry about me along with everything else on her plate.
I’d wanted to reply to Rain immediately, but the day had been busy. And when lunch had rolled around, I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to tell her how much I missed her and that I fucking ached to hold her. But that felt unfair. I still didn’t know what I should send back when I walked into the apartment to find my sister sitting at the dining table. The expression on her face… My stomach dropped.
“Hey.” I stopped to take off my boots. “What’s wrong?”
I breathed a little easier when Linny’s lips curved in a tiny smile.
“Nothing, actually. You have a visitor.”
“What? Who?” Who the hell could be visiting?—
From the corner of my eye, I caught movement in the doorway to the kitchen.
“Hey.” Rebel stood there, hands shoved in his pockets.
I just stared at him as my sister got up from the table. “I’ll give you guys some privacy. Nice to meet you, Rebel.” Then she disappeared into her bedroom.
I stared at him for several seconds before I spoke. “What are you doing here?”
“Probably being an unwanted pain in the ass.” He sighed as he took a few steps closer. “I talked to Rain yesterday. And I don’t know what you did to her, but you better fucking fix it.”
“What the hell are you talking about”
Had Rain told Rebel about us? What had she said? And why wasn’t Rebel trying to beat the shit out of me?
“Bullshit. Don’t be a dick. I know my sister well enough to know she cares about you and you hurt her when you left.”
That cut through my gut like a knife. I hated to think that I’d hurt Rain.
“Mom said Rainy’s been quiet. When have you ever known my sister to be quiet?”
Hell, she wasn’t even quiet in bed, but I definitely wasn’t going to tell her brother that.
Rebel took a step closer. “Look, man. I love my sister. She may be the second-biggest pain in my ass in my life, but I will fuck up anyone who messes with her. And apparently, you’re messing with her.”
Fuck. “This is none of your business.”
“My sister is my business.” Reb lifted a hand and stuck an index finger right in my chest. “And you are my business, asshole. You’re one of the only friends I’ve ever considered as close as a brother. I can handle the distance between us, but she fucking misses you. So you need to be the bigger person and tell her how you feel.”
“The bigger person, huh?”
Rebel rolled his eyes. “For some unknown reason, she cares about you, asshole. And not like she cares about everyone else. You’re special.” His jaw flexed. “And I’m not going to be the asshole who stands in the way of what she wants. So if you’re avoiding her because of me, knock it the fuck off.”
“I’m not.” I grimaced and ran a hand through my hair, which definitely needed a trim. “I texted her the night we left. I texted her the next day. You know when she got back to me? Today. I’m not fucking avoiding her, but when she doesn’t text for a week and then only to tell me how busy she is, I’m not an idiot. I get the hint. Why the hell do you care anyway? I figured you’d be glad she was getting rid of me.”
“Is that what you think? That I’d be happy you hurt my sister? You think she wants space? Did she actually say that?”
I tried to shake some reason back into my head. “Reb, what the actual fuck are you doing here?”
For a second, I thought he’d turn and walk out the door, because that was how he usually handled conflict. Or punch me. I might’ve preferred that because at least I’d have a response.
Instead, he took a deep breath. “I’m checking on you,” he spoke way too slowly, as if I was an idiot and couldn’t understand him, “because my mom is worried about my sister and my sister’s worried about you. I was close. So here I am. Checking on you.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what was going on between you two. And I don’t want to know. What I want is for my sister to be happy again so my mom doesn’t worry and ask me to check on you. Text. Her. The. Fuck. Back.”
I nearly choked on a laugh, because the situation was just too absurd.
“You drove here just to say that?”
Now Rebel looked like he was going to punch me. “Yeah, actually, I fucking did.” He stopped to suck in air and glance at the ceiling for a quick second. “Look, I know how important family is, okay? I get it. But,” his jaw worked, like he was having trouble forming words, “we’re your family too. I might want to punch you occasionally because you’re an asshole, but then I do the same with Rowdy. And …” He sighed. “I don’t like when my sister’s upset.”
Fuck. I didn’t want to cause her any pain. “I thought it’d be easier on her if I didn’t text all the time. You don’t know how many times I’ve picked up the phone to call…”
“So why haven’t you?”
I shook my head. “Because I’m an idiot. Is that what you want to hear? Because maybe she doesn’t want to talk to me. Because the one and only time she texted was to tell me how busy she is. Maybe she’s just too fucking busy for me.”
Rowdy rolled his eyes. “Jesus, maybe if you both weren’t so fucking blind, you’d be able to see you’re making excuses not to be the first one to put their heart on the line and risk getting it smashed.”
I just stood there and looked at him for several long seconds. “Dude, who the fuck are you?”
Rebel didn’t take the bait, even though I was being fairly serious.
“I—”
The door opened, and I turned to see Maddy walk through.
She gave me a smile that quickly turned into a wide grin when she noticed our company.
“Rebel! What are you doing here?”
With an ease I hadn’t seen in a while, she walked up to Reb and gave him a hug, which he returned.
“Good to see you, Mads. How’s school?”
She shrugged, her gaze sliding away. “It’s okay.” Maddy had agreed to go back to her old school, so she wouldn’t be home alone while Lin and I were at work. But I could tell she hated it. Another item to add to the worry list. “Uncle Bri said you’re playing for another team now. He said we could go see you when you play here.”
“That’s another reason I’m here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out tickets. “The Redtails play here tomorrow night. I hope you’ll come.”
She looked at me. “Can we?”
“Of course, if you want to go. Why don’t you go tell your mom. She’s in her room.”
Maddy knew when she was being dismissed. “Good. I miss hockey. See you at the game, Reb.”
Once she disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door, Reb crossed his arms over his chest. “You need to text Rain. And then you need to figure out what the fuck you’re doing. Because whatever it is, neither of you are happy.”
“Will Rain be at the game?”
“No. The Devils play. Mom and Pop will be though. And you’re sitting with them.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Thanks for the warning.”
“I gotta go. I hope you use the tickets. And don’t disappoint my sister again. She cares about you.”