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This was a man standing in front of her.
One who’d been through something. That was easy to see.
She took him in. His dark hair was longer on top and shaved at the sides. He had a short dark beard. Tattoos went up his neck and over his hands, which were the only bits of skin that she could see clearly.
“Cash,” she whispered.
He was staring at her almost as awkwardly as she was at him.
She hated this. When he’d called her, it had been like this too. She’d blamed it on the fact that they were on the phone. She hated talking on the phone. She needed to see people’s faces to discern what they were thinking or feeling. Text and calls just didn’t work for her.
But right now . . . she couldn’t see what he was thinking anyway. He was completely closed off from her.
“Hi, Greer-bear.”
A sob left her at the nickname. It was one she hadn’t heard in years. He was the only person to ever call her that. She could see the sob shocked him as much as it did her. Then he grimaced.
“Don’t cry.”
She flung herself forward into his arms. She didn’t care if he didn’t want a hug. He’d just have to put up with it. Another sob escaped.
“Greer. Do. Not. Cry.” The words were said between gritted teeth.
She smacked the palm of her uninjured hand down on his chest. “Shut up! Shut. Up.”
“Greer?” There was confusion and worry in his voice, but she didn’t care.
She drew back, glaring up at him as tears streamed down her face. Then she pulled her foot back and kicked him in the shin.
“Ow! Fuck! What the hell was that for?” He stared down at her in shock.
Greer waggled a finger at him. “You do not get to tell me not to cry.” She wiped her face with her arm. “I’ll cry if I want to fucking cry! I have a right to cry. My baby brother just came back from the dead, then he scared the fuck out of me when I thought he was an intruder. He chased me and made me fall over, and then he tells me not to fucking cry!”
She kicked his shin again.
To her shock, he didn’t try to stop her, so she did it again. A bike roared toward them, but she didn’t pay it any attention as she kicked him another time.
“Well? Don’t you have something to say? Where were you? Where were you when I needed you? Where?”
She knew she was acting crazed, but she couldn’t stop it. All of the fear and sadness she’d felt over the years was rearing up and overwhelming her.
Aiden’s neighbors were probably going to call the cops if she didn’t stop. She needed to calm down. Go inside. Talk to him like a rational adult.
Too bad she didn’t feel all that rational. Or very adult.
“Why? Tell me why,” she pleaded.
“I can’t tell you why,” he said quietly. “Kick me again.”
But she didn’t want to. She was barely aware of the bike parking next to them and someone jumping off. She was too busy losing her mind.
She fell against him again, sobbing as she smacked her fist into his chest. “Why. Why. Why.”
“What’s going on here? Greer?”
Oh shit.
What was Hack doing here?
