Page 81 of Ghosted

My shoulders go still and Johnny smiles.

Fuck sakes.

My brother lives for reactions. Any reaction. Anger is his favorite, but he’ll take irritation, disgust, hate, a punch to the mouth if he can make it mean he pushed you to do it.

I give him nothing.

He strolls up to the cage and hooks his fingers through the chain-link like he’s visiting me at a petting zoo.

“Little brother,” he says.

I keep rolling my shoulders. “Johnny.”

“Wow. Such a warm and loving greeting.” His eyes drift over me, then to the guy across the cage. “Big night for emotional constipation and amateur dentistry.”

I say nothing.

That’s the rule with Johnny.

You don’t feed him unless you’re ready for him to chew through the bone and act like you offered dinner.

Johnny taps ash onto the concrete and studies me through the chain-link, smiling like he’s already halfway inside my head and just waiting for me to notice. “Someones quiet tonight.”

I roll my shoulders and keep moving.

Left. Right. Slip.

“Don’t tell me you’re learning self-control. That would be so very tragic.” His fingers curl through the fence. “I like you better when you’re one bad sentence away from committing a fucking felony.”

“Leave.”

“Oh, there he is.” Johnny’s grin widens. “I was starting to think you forgot how to talk.”

The referee shouts something behind me. My opponent bounces on his toes, impatient and stupid enough to think this fight is about him. The crowd keeps chanting my name in broken pieces, some drunk, some eager, some just betting with their lungs.

Johnny’s voice slides through all of it.

“You look tense, little brother.”

“I’m warming up.”

“No.” Johnny leans closer to the cage, fingers hooked through the chain-link, eyes bright with that bored, mean amusement he gets when he knows he’s close to something soft. “You’re wound the fuck up.”

I roll my shoulders and keep moving. “Find someone else to bother.”

“But you’re my favorite.” His smile stretches. “You get so quiet when you’re trying not to care. Like if you stand still enough, nobody will notice the leash.”

My jaw tightens.

“Ouu now we’re getting somewhere,” he murmurs. “I was starting to worry your new little toy wasn’t serving her purpose.”

I stop moving.

Only for a second.

Too fucking long.

Johnny’s grin gets lazy. “Calm down. I just meant you’re all tense.” His eyes stay on mine through the chain-link, bright with amusement. “What’s wrong? Your new little toy not doing her job? Pretty thing like that should’ve taken the edge off by now.”