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Upon noticing Ares leave Bru in such a way, I was curious, though, and I eyed Bru as I walked him to the door. He laughed. “What?”
“You, what?” I nudged him, and he shrugged.
“He actually apologized to me,” he said, my eyes flashing. Bru scratched his neck. “Him and Prinze. They said it was shit how everything happened and apologized.”
It was shit how it had all happened, but I think that was a collaborative effort. I even felt I’d played my own part. I hadn’t seen that he needed space.
“I told them it wasn’t their fault, though. At least not completely.” His eyebrows narrowed. “And I really am sorry for how I left. I didn’t want to hurt you. That was definitely fucked.”
He’d needed space, and I got that now. He did seem lighter and more at ease. We got to the door, and my toe followed the line separating two polished tiles. “Just tell me you’re okay. You seem okay.”
“I am,” he said, causing my heart to dance. Especially when he smiled. He braced his arms. “And it seems like I’m not the only one. You and Brielle going AWOL freaked the shit out of us all, by the way.”
I figured that’d been the case. I mean, why else would Bru show up out of the blue?
“But it seems it was worth it.” Bru eyed me, and I laughed too.
I nodded. “She’s great. And we had such a good time.” I released a heavy breath, stupid emotions always betraying me. I smiled tight. “It was like having a mom. It was nice.”
My gaze averted, my brother grabbing my shoulder.
“You do have a mother, and it’s okay to have it,” he said, but it didn’t feel okay. Not after everything that had happened. How did I get to have all this, but he felt the need to run? It wasn’t fair. His head cocked. “I think this all just overwhelmed me. This house. This family and this world.” His smile lifted. “But all this is you, and you need to experience it.”
“It can be yours too, you know?” I questioned, and Bru acknowledged that with a bob of his head. I squeezed his hand on my shoulder. “You are a part of this family, and they want you in it.”
“I know that. I do.” His eyes warmed. “But I also know I needed to figure out what all these changes mean to me first, which is what I’ve been doing. It’s been great actually.”
“You really do seem happy.”
“I feel it.” He laughed like he couldn’t believe it himself. He pocketed his hands. “I do, and it’s been amazing. I’ve been doing all those campus visits, seeing stuff and where I could be in a couple years, which is nice, and staying with Callum has been great. He’s not home a lot, but that’s been okay.”
“Where’s he been?”
“You know how he works. Travels?” His shoulders popped up. “Really, it’s been great not to have the hover. My head got to clear, but when he is around, we travel a lot.” He chuckled. “We even went to India to visit one of his airports over Thanksgiving break. Did I tell you that?”
He told me he’d been busy, but that hadn’t consisted of international travel. I shoved him. “No. What the fuck?”
“Right? It was fucking sweet, and he’s been showing me all kinds of things regarding running a business. It’s actually been piquing my interest to go the business route in college.” He popped his coat collar. “Can you see me as a business major in a couple years?”
He could be anything he wanted to be. He was brilliant. I grinned. “You’d be an awesome businessman. Though, maybe a little stubborn.”
“And who do I get that from?” He leveled me a look, making us both chuckle. He folded his arms. “I really am happy, so you don’t need to worry about me. I do think I just needed time, and I’ll try to be here for the holidays. I miss everyone. It was just overwhelming, you know?”
I did know that, still overwhelmed, but it was getting better.
“And I hope this isn’t a weird ask, but maybe you should swing by too. See what’s going on with me and where I’m staying, yes, but also to talk to Callum. He’s been asking about you. I think he just wants to know you’re okay like he asked me.”
His boot followed that same line dividing the tiles, this a tricky ask but not necessarily a weird one. Bru knew things were more complicated for me. Even if I was ready to address all that… see Callum and all that, doing so would open up a lot of things I wasn’t sure I wanted to open up.
“He’s hurt a lot of people, Bru,” I said, and my brother chewed his lip.
He squeezed my shoulder. “You do what you need to do. I just want you to know that’s out there, and I get it. He does too.”
I supposed there was a reason Callum had been planning for a liaison to continue reuniting me with my family.
“Just don’t rule it out if that’s something you want, though,” he said, his head tilted. “And anyway, I’m glad you and Brielle decided to ignore your phones today and freak us all the fuck out. It was nice seeing everyone and for us to talk.”
He brought me in then, a tight hug.
