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Now I was standing, reading the harsh reality of what she was facing. For the first time, I doubted the outcome of all of this. No matter how talented she was, there was no way that Ashlyn could undo what was perpetually the problem here.
She was trying to fix the unfixable.
At the end of her branding campaign, she would leave, happily single once again, and I would still be the same screw-up from the very beginning. I swallowed hard, thinking that it was a good thing we were going to put Grove Communications on retainer, because I was going to need all the help I could get.
“This is all part of the job, you know,” Ian tried a joke. He could obviously read the torment in my face. “It’s okay, man. You were asleep. Sam handled it really well.”
“She shouldn’t have to. No one should,” I said.
“But you have. For as long as I’ve known you, actually.”
“That doesn’t matter. She’s my little sister. I don’t want her mixed up in his mess.” And I meant it. I’d done my best to put myself between my father’s drinking problems and my family.
Ian gave me hard look. “So it’s okay that he destroys your reputation, your life, but you draw the line at your siblings.”
I put a line of toothpaste on my brush. “Pretty much. I’m glad we got that cleared up.”
He glared, waiting patiently for me to complete the brushing. I rinsed and spat, unperturbed by his presence. “I wasn’t even here, you know. When those first texts came through. I was at Ashlyn’s.”
“Oh really? I didn’t think that your image rebrand was something that demanded that many weekend hours. Or perhaps your fake girlfriend is more real than any of us know?” Ian grinned, his voice a gentle taunt.
“This was a…special occasion. But I missed all of this. Fuck, I forgot where my priorities were supposed to be.”
“You think that if you had been home, this wouldn’t have happened?”
“Exactly,” I said.
“Wrong. It was going to happen at some point. Liam. Don’t let guilt cloud your good sense.” Ian looked down at his nails, inspecting a cuticle. “It sounds like whatever happened tonight, before all this shit, made you happy.”
“That doesn’t matter. Our relationship isn’t real. Which means that family must take priority. Always.”
“Says who? It seems like things have been changing between you two since that first night at the club.”
I grunted. For a moment I was tempted to tell him everything. How I felt around her. The nagging fear that I was in over my head.
But I couldn’t. So I just turned away, grabbing a sweatshirt from my closet.
“Liam…you've got to cut this martyr shit out. You’ve let your dad take over your life. It’s time to let him go. He’s a big boy. He needs to have to sort this out on his own. You aren’t doing him any favors by helping him.”
My temper rose, pressing hotly against the backs of my eyeballs. “You don’t understand.”
“But I do, Liam. I get what you’re trying to do, but you can’t keep doing it.”
“You couldn’t possibly understand what it’s like, Ian. You don’t have a parent like him.” I stopped, the words suddenly like glue on my tongue. Fuck. I’d gone too far.
Ian was still. His warm eyes turned to ice as he ducked his head. The smile on his face was deadly as he turned to leave the room.
“Maybe I didn’t have parents. But I recognize an enabler any day of the week. And you, Liam, are one of the worst.”
“Ian, please, I’m sorry,” I followed him out of my bedroom as he headed back towards Sam.
“You need to go, or you’ll be late,” Ian said.
