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“Ugh!” The noise is a combination of shock, hurt, and betrayal. She wants to be insulted by my blunt words, but I’m right and she knows it. She just doesn’t want it to be that way. She paints over her family’s shortcomings with excuses that her childhood wasn’t that bad, but it was fucking bad enough, and it’s continuing now.
She deserves so much better.
She deserves the best. Her heart is too tender, her soul too good for the shit those people shovel onto her. And this is my weakness—I want to save her, help her, make her see that she could never be forgettable because she wiggles into your psyche with sunshine and smiles, happy dances, and excitement over the simplest things, somehow making everything more interesting.
I rip the Band-Aid off slowly, knowing that I’m going to cause more damage as I tell her, “Janey, I was in the hallway. They fucking passed me to get to you, thinking they were safe because I wouldn’t follow them into the ladies’ room. You know that, right? They walked in there, talking shit and wanting you to hear. They meant to hurt you.” I implore her to hear me, to understand that what I’m telling her is the God’s honest, ugly truth about her cousins.
“They said they didn’t know I was in there,” she says quietly, wanting to sweep it away like she’s done so many times before, but she knows. Something she saw in their faces tonight... she knows they did it on purpose. So though she’s making excuses for them, they’re only lip service.
“I waited... waited for you to tell them to fuck off, but you didn’t. So I did what you asked me to do—protect you from them. Maybe it wasn’t the way you wanted, but I can guarantee you that none of them see you as weak tonight. They probably think your boyfriend is a psycho,” I admit, “but not that you’re weak. Not that you froze. Not that you are anything other than a loved, cherished, beautiful woman with a man who cares deeply for you and will defend you, no matter what it takes.” My voice is steel as I say, “That’s what they’ll remember.”
“Oh,” she says, almost inaudibly with her eyes staring holes in the floor.
I threw a lot at her, and not a single thing was a soft ball. I basically told her that her family is full of manipulative shrews—hey, nice to meet ya!—and I’m sure she’s reeling, probably trying to figure out a way to spin it the way she always does. I’m a grumpy, loner asshole, so I’m starting at a deficit, but I can’t think of a single way she can silver-lining her way out of this one and that’s got to hurt.
So I give her a moment to process.
I fill two mugs with hot water and pull a box of cheap hot cocoa mix from a cabinet. Silently, I stir the powder into the water, letting the marshmallows rise to the top. “Sit on the porch with me?” I ask stoically, but there’s something akin to hope in my gut.
Janey lifts her chin, looking at me with clear eyes. She’s still working it through, but she’s getting there, little by little.
“Okay,” she answers, sounding defeated.
On the porch, I set the mugs on the little table and wait for her to sit first, but she doesn’t move. Taking the cue, I sit on the lounge chair that’s become ‘mine’ over the last week, expecting her to sit in ‘hers’.
Instead, she stands beside me with a look I can’t decipher. “Janey?”
In answer, she sits down with me, arranging herself between my outstretched legs and leaning back against my chest. I’m shocked, but there’s no way I’m going to ask her to move. I grab the blanket from behind me and throw it over her to keep her warm, though I’m burning up like a furnace at her being this close.
My cock’s already growing in my slacks, and there’s no way she can’t feel the effect she has on me, so I don’t bother trying to hide it.
“I’m really sorry your family sucks,” I say as I press a kiss to the top of her head. Her curls are soft and spring up around my face, tickling me and making me smile instinctually. Janey’s got a lot of ways to do that, though, even if she doesn’t see them all.
“God, they really do, don’t they?” she answers sadly with a humorless laugh. But her voice is lighter than I would’ve expected. It’s a small difference, but I notice it anyway.
I should’ve known—she’s been through hell tonight, but she bounces back, finding a happy place even if she has to create it herself. That’s what she does best—create happiness.
“Can we talk about something else? Tell me how awful your family is to make me feel better.” She wiggles, snuggling in deeper to the blanket and rubbing over my hardness. I swallow thickly, doing my best to ignore it and focus on what she needs, not what my dick wants.
“Yeah, uh...” I stare into the forest, trying to think of a story that’ll help, not just be comparatively worse. And then I’ve got it. “My brother, Chance, he’s a real goody two-shoes. Never met a rule he didn’t follow, a goal he didn’t smash—”
“So, the opposite of you?” she teases, and I can hear the small smile in her voice. I wish I could see it, but the night surrounding us is too dark, broken only by the light of the moon. I can imagine it, though, her lips lifted wide to show the little chipped tooth that makes her smile that much more intriguing.
I chuckle. “I’m not that bad. That’d be my brother, Kyle. He’s the real heavy-duty rebel of the family and won’t follow even a good rule just to be contrary. I’m somewhere in between. I’ll follow rules if I agree with them. But I’ve got a healthy dose of ‘ends justify the means’ when the situation warrants.” She nods in agreement, and I go on. “Karma, being the bitch she is, brought Samantha into Chance’s life. She says what’s on her mind with zero fucks or platitudes and basically drove him crazy from minute one when she spilled a bag of dicks at his feet.”
Janey gasps in shock and I explain, “She’s a relationship therapist and sells sex toys to supplement her practice. Anyway, Chance brought Samantha home to meet the family, kinda how you did with me tonight. Except Grandpa Chuck’s old-school. He asked, flat-out at the dinner table, if she was a gold-digger.”
“He did not,” Janey whispers, horrified.
“Yep. And Samantha told everyone—Grandpa Chuck, Grandma Beth, Mom, Dad, all of the siblings, plus Aunt Vivian, my cousin, and his fiancée—that she was only in it for the dick, so he didn’t need to worry about the pre-nup he informed her she’d have to sign. I thought Grandpa was going to have a heart attack right then and there. It was awesome.”
I think back to that dinner fondly. Chance has always been uptight, and Samantha is good for him. And despite her arguing to the contrary, they are engaged now, though I don’t know what they decided to do about the pre-nup. It’s not my business unless Chance makes it so.
Besides, I already ran a background check on my sister-in-law to be and her best friend, Luna, who is married to my other brother, Carter. They’re clean, criminally speaking.
“She sounds kinda awesome,” Janey says. “Maybe she could teach me her ways?”
“No. You don’t need to be like Samantha any more than I need to be like Chance. I mean, he’s my brother, but the man probably irons his socks and reads tax code for fun on Friday nights. You need to be the best Janey, and that’s enough. It’s always been enough and always will be.”
