Page 102 of SnowBound

For the second time in as many minutes, reality acted like a cold shower. Riley Burns, the man about to propel me to stardom, was my big brother. Half-brother. But still, we were related, sharing DNA.

“Fuck no.” I hesitated between throwing my glass at the wall or crying. This couldn’t be true. It had to be a mistake. A fucking joke. Was it another one of my nightmares?

“As I said, we need to talk.” His deep baritone voice reverberated through me.

“You. Are. Sick. Aren’t you done messing with both your sons’ lives? Aren’t you too old to play games? You can’t be serious. We have a deal, he and I.”

“If you could listen for two seconds, I’ll explain everything.”

“Not interested. I already heard that song. From my mother. Wasn’t interested then, and I’m still not.”

“Anderson. Please…”

I sighed and spotted the server returning with my meal. Dammit.

My father looked straight into my eyes. “Riley, he-he doesn’t know about you. And, for now, I wanna keep it that way.”

I buried my face in my hands.

“Stop. Shut up. Leave. Don’t talk anymore. Just go.”

“I’m sorry, Anderson, but you can’t sign up with him.”

My heart plummeted ten stories down my chest, and I stayed there, frozen, seeing my dreams crumble before my eyes and unable to do anything about it.