Page 111 of Book Club Confidential

Both men turned to stare.

“Yes,” Dad said.

Tessa gritted her teeth and locked eyes with her brother.

“What’s really going on here?” Devin asked. “Because I’m starting to think your problem is with me.”

“You quit your job,” she said, attempting to sound far calmer than she felt. “To play video games.”

“I didn’t quit so I could play games.” Devin narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

“Just tired of working?” she asked. “Changed your mind? Or is it something else?”

Devin shifted. Awareness registered in his heated gaze.

“Tessa,” their dad warned. “If there’s something you want to talk about, why don’t we sit down and sort through it?” He rubbed a fist against his chest and cleared his throat.

“Good idea,” Devin said, his voice hard and jaw set. “I would love to talk about this.”

Dad went to the sink and filled a glass with water.

Tessa’s waning control slipped completely out of reach. “Why did you quit your part-time job while asking me to help you find full-time work?” she asked.

“I didn’t ask you to do that,” Devin snapped.

Why did he get to raise his voice without being told to settle down? That was the second time, and Dad hadn’t said a word.

She turned her back to their dad, no longer looking for support. She’d never found it there, and today wasn’t any different. Instead, she focused on her brother. “I saw Hank Daria at the grocer.”

“Yeah, and?”

“And you turned down his job offer, and it was the exact kind of position you said you wanted. Now I come here to bring over some decent food, because you can’t be bothered to shop or cook, and you haven’t even gotten out of bed. Why? Because you were up all night playing video games. A luxury you can afford, because you quit your job!”

Devin’s stoney expression dissolved at the high volume of her voice.

“Tess,” Dad said behind her.

Devin strode forward. “You think I don’t want to work?”

“You. Quit. Your. Job.”

“Tess,” Dad repeated.

She didn’t look at him, didn’t want to see his disappointment in her outburst or his pleading expression for her to stop upsetting poor Devin. The thought spun her around. “You always take his side,” she said with inexplicable calm. “You’re so afraid of upsetting him. Why aren’t you ever concerned about upsetting me?”

Her dad’s eyes widened. His mouth opened, then shut.

“You think I’m using again,” Devin accused her. “Of course that’s what this is about.” He gave a long humorless laugh that turned her around once more.

Attacked on both sides. Her heart rate rose, and tears threatened. “Are you?” She swallowed a lump of painful emotion as her rage turned to fear. “Using again?”

Devin scraped a hand through his hair, and his face reddened. “No, Tess. And I didn’t take Hank’s job offer, because I’ve already accepted another offer. A full-time job with a bank. They need me next week, and when I gave notice at the other place, they fired me on the spot. So, for the record,” he seethed, “yes, I wanted to spiral, because that didn’t go as planned, but I didn’t. I called my sponsor. We played games online and talked it out until I got my shit together.”

Tessa’s stomach dropped. She bit her bottom lip. She had really messed up. “Dev—”

“No. Forget it, Tess. I’m going to go put a shirt on so we can make something to eat. Thank you for bringing the groceries.” He stormed out without a backward glance.

Tessa lowered her gaze before looking, shamefaced, at her father.