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Max rolls his eyes at me and holds his hands up in a surrender gesture. “Hey, you take that up with your little girlfriend. She’s the one who asked me not to message you last night when I was going to.”
I blink at him. Since when does he do what people he doesn’t know ask? He sees the question in my eyes, snorts again, and shrugs.
“Hey, you know I don’t get involved in the boys’ love lives. Not my problem. The woman needed a place to stay. She hadnowhere else to go afteryoukicked her out on the streets. Fucking nice, by the way.”
I flip him off at the censure in his tone. “Where the fuck is she?”
Max smirks, jerking his head toward his spare bedrooms. Right. Where else would she be? Throwing him one last glare, I stalk over, knocking on the door that is closed.
“Max?” Ani’s sleepy voice calls through and I open the door. My heart clenches at the sight of her tear-streaked face. She’s absolutely drowning in Max’s Harvard shirt. Her eyes widen as she recognizes me. Snapping the door shut tightly behind me, I cross to the side of the bed, my hands shoved in my pockets as I look down at her.
“I shouldn’t have told you to get out last night. I’m sorry.”
Ani rubs her eyes and looks up at me. Nodding.
“It’s okay. You were upset,” she murmurs back, her fingers toying with the coverlet. The iPad is lying in the sheets with her and my jaw clenches.
“I suppose we should have the mature conversation we should have had last night.” I sigh, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking over at her. Ani watches me with inscrutable eyes and nods slightly. Jerking my chin towards her iPad, I lock eyes with her.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” I almost wince at the words as they come out of my mouth. What am I? Twelve?
“No,” Ani replies quietly. What? I start with surprise, my eyes darting back to the iPad. What the fuck? Ani’s eyes flutter closed,a single tear dripping down her cheek. She leans over, pressing the home button and placing the iPad in my lap. The picture of her and the guy stares up at me.
“This is Andrew,” Ani says quietly, her fingers brushing over his face. When I glance up at her, she’s looking at the picture, smiling softly. “My twin brother.”
Well, fuck me. I blew up over a picture of her and hertwin? I’m officially a fucking asshole.
“He was a Marine.”
My eyes drop back to Andrew’s smiling face. I note his cropped hair. Yeah, I can see it.
“We took this photo on his last leave home.”
Bile rises in my throat at the sadness in her voice. I don’t like where this is going. His last leave home. The Ani in the picture is a few years younger than the one sitting in front of me.
“A few months later, his transport hit an IED. My mom keeps the folded flag on the mantle.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Screw an asshole, I’m a completecunt.
“Ani,” I whisper quietly.
“We were twenty-two,” she murmurs back, her voice thick with tears. Fuck. Casting aside the iPad onto the bed, I scramble over to her, tugging her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her and pressing my face into her hair while she sobs into my chest.
“I’m so sorry,” I mumble into her hair. Ani nods, her face pressed against my chest as she keeps sobbing. Shit. I need to fix this.
Chapter Nineteen
David
At some stage while Ani is cradled in my lap, sobbing into my neck, the door cracks open and Max looks in. He’s dressed in a suit for work and his eyes dart over Ani, concern etched there. “I’m heading to the office. You two stay as long as you need. Call me if you need anything.”
I nod, my hands still stroking Ani’s hair and back comfortingly. She doesn’t indicate that she heard a word that Max said or has even noticed he’s here. Max casts one last look at Ani and quietly closes the door behind him. I maneuver my phone out of my pocket and send Christine an email telling her I won’t be in today and to hold all calls except for Uncle Bill. Hitting send, I drop it onto the bed and focus on Ani.
She eventually stops crying, lying quietly against my chest as I stroke her hair, her breathing ragged. When she sits back, I wince at her swollen eyes and red cheeks.
“I’ll get you a glass of water,” I murmur, and she nods, climbing off the bed when I do.
“I’m going to have a shower,” she croaks, and I wince again. Ani pads off to the spare bathroom that I point out to her, and I head to the kitchen. I open all Max’s cupboards. I’ve never really been in his kitchen before. I find a tray and get her a glass of water, as well as making her a cup of coffee and some toast.
