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“We're in my house, so she'smywoman.”
His face settles into that scary blank look he gets sometimes, but I'm not worried. I'm honestly amused by his big reaction. Squeaky wheels and all that. Plus, it's a great distraction from me imagining what's happening upstairs.
“Let me get this straight: when she's at our house, she's Nova's girl and when she's here, she's yours? What about when she's at The Slice or the beach? Do you hear how ridiculous that sounds?”
I lift a shoulder, my lips tugging to the side in a smirk. “Outside of these walls, she's still mine. But she's his too.”
“I love you, man, but I'm going to tell you what I told my brother: you’re going to let astrangertear this family apart.”
“Nah, see, that's where you got it wrong. Evangeline and I didn't just meet. We met years ago. Eight years ago, to be exact.” I take a sip of my coffee, letting the bold flavor wake up my senses as I wait for him to piece it together. The man's too smart not too.
He shakes his head a few times, his gaze going distant like he's traveling into the recesses of his mind.
“What? When?” His voice is low and measured, like he's slowing down to avoid a collision.
But it's futile. We both know that.
“Summer.”
“No,” he breathes.
“August twenty-first.”
“Fuck me.” He tips his head toward the ceiling and drags his hand down his face.
“Yep.” I inject some pep into my voice.
August twenty-second was the day I threw myself into the Rosewood Reapers. Like Silas and Nova, I'd grown up in the life. But unlike Silas, I didn't want to stay.
I had one goal: get the fuck out of Rosewood.
And I was gonna do it too. I had it all worked out. It was senior year, and I'd already accepted a full ride to Lakeside University to play football.
One dirty play during the last game of the season took a match to my dreams of leaving and burned them until only ash remained.
Chad Plimpton got what was coming to him, the Crestview fuck, but the damage was done. There would be no scholarship.
There would be no escaping Rosewood.
I was trapped.
“Is she the reason—”
“Yep,” I interject.
You could say I didn't take the change well. I was in my nihilist phase, and I was all too happy to burn everything down with me.
“Does she kn—”
“Nope.”
“Would you stop interrupting me,” he snaps.
I chuckle, and that seems to fan his anger further. “Just trying to catch you up, brother.”
“Still doesn't explain why you're fucking all-in so quickly though. People change, Bane. All the time and definitely over eight years. For fuck's sake, look at how different you are than eight years ago.”
I tilt my head toward the staircase. “Thanks to her.”
