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“She’s a firecracker, isn’t she?”
I laugh. “How exactly do you know that?”
“I always figured that about her.”
“She is.”
He smiles. “Good for you.”
“Terrible for me.”
“What? Why?”
I sigh, watching the kids. “It’s a friends-with-benefits thing. I’m not sure if it’s the right call, or if we can keep it strictly physical.”Because I don’t think I can.
“When did it start?”
“Recently. A couple of weeks ago.”
“Wow, not before then?”
Shaking my head, I wonder if telling him is a mistake. “You won’t tell—
“Not a soul, Rowan. You know me.”
I chuckle. “Honestly, I kind of don’t. You’re never around, Parker.”
“That’s fair.”
But he doesn’t add any explanation to it. So, I have to ask, “Why is that?”
He sighs, staring out over the water. “I guess I never felt like you all needed me around.”
That was the last thing I had expected to hear, and it gutted me. “Are you kidding?”
“I’m the baby of the family, which means you guys were fine before I came along. You, and Sawyer, and Brooks, you all had your thing. None of you were interested in anything to do with me. You don’t like my music—
“Not everyone is into zydeco, Parker.”
“I’ve branched into throat singing, too, by the way.”
I laugh. “Seriously, man, you can’t blame us for not liking your weird shit.”
“And I don’t. Not at all. But it would have been nice to be asked about it.”
“Is that what all this is about? We never asked you about your strange hobbies?”
He gives a gentle shrug. “Partly, I think. But also, you three areguys’ guys, you know? The only thing I have in common with normal guys is boats.”
“And you’re a hell of a captain, Parker.”
“Thanks.”
“And a great fisherman.”
“Again, thanks.”
I sigh and see him in a strange new light. “Parker, do you get why things are weird onourend of all this? That it’s hard for us to see our brother, who has so much fucking potential, do nothing with it?”
