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“Well, I was doing this before you showed up and started yelling at me.”
He let out a harsh bark of laughter. “You don’t look like you’re enjoying a damn minute of this.”
“Well, that’s because you won’t let me.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yeah, it is. I was perfectly fine on my own before you came racing up here and started criticizing me.”
“I wasn’t criticizing.”
“What would you call it?”
“I would say I’m looking out for you. Tell me what’s going on, and don’t fucking lie to me.”
I sighed, tipping my head back and trying to figure out the quickest way out of this. “Look, Jameson is off doing his own thing without me.”
“What do you mean he’s doing his own thing? I thought you two were working together.”
“So did I, but he said the label didn’t want me for this one. I wasn’t invited.” My chest tightened with the sting of rejection.
“Well, that’s a bunch of horseshit,” Mav said. His defensiveness made me happy; it felt good to have somebody standing up for me.
“Yeah, I think so too.”
“Did you tell him how you feel?”
“He knows.”
“Does he? Because one of the worst things you could do is expect him to understand what’s going on in your head without you spelling it out.”
“He doesn’t actually know what’s going on, but I made it pretty clear I wasn’t happy about it.”
“All right. I just know when I assume Clara feels one way, I’m usually wrong, and it comes back to bite me in the ass. Every time.”
“He’s not my wife.”
“No, but he’s—”
“He’s my writing partner.” I couldn’t contain the harsh tone I used on him.
“Yeah, I get it, but that’s like marriage, too, don’t you think? The two of you work closely together. You’ve got to trust each other.”
I hadn’t thought about it like that. “You might be right.”
“I am right. I’ve learned that you have to give people a chance to prove you wrong. If you don’t, you’ll never really know the truth.”
I nodded, and with a heavy sigh, I let myself agree with my big brother. I didn’t want to admit it, but he was on to something. “All right, so what do you think I should do?”
All he did was grin at me.
“I have to go talk to him, don’t I?”
“Yep. You do.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
With a low, rumbled laugh, he clapped me on the shoulder. “It’s not gonna get any better if you don’t. You and I both know that.”
