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But he wasn’t going to go down the same path his brother had. He stepped back and gave Angelica a smile that felt forced to him, hoped she didn’t pick up on that but the way her smile dropped he thought she might have. She moved away from the door and he opened it and walked into the hall where Jock and Delilah were waiting for them.
Jock gave him an easy smile until his gaze slid past Max’s shoulder. He turned back with a frown and saw Angelica standing there watching him with her arms around her waist. But before Jock could say anything Angelica stepped around him. “Tell your parents hi from me. See you later.”
She pushed him toward the front door and he went. He walked out into the cold December Texas night and toward his car. He didn’t look back because he knew there was nothing he’d want to see—only disappointment on the face of the one woman he hadn’t wanted to hurt.
Chapter Fifteen
Max had prettymuch made her question everything after he’d left. She watched him leave in his sports car as Jock came up behind her. Delilah had gone back into the kitchen after making a vague excuse.
“What was that about?” Jock asked as she closed the door and leaned back against it.
She swallowed, not really wanting to have this conversation with anyone let alone her oldest brother. Jock always seemed to have it together even when he competed on his televised cooking show and seemed to be losing. She just didn’t know what was going on.
“I…I was pushing a little,” she said. “But it’s really none of your business.”
“Bullshit. If he’s doing something to hurt you that makes it one hundred percent my business.”
“Except I’m thirty and he’s an adult too so it’s not.”
“Ange, I literally can’t help this. I’m your older brother and I have to protect you. I think it’s in my DNA so you either make me understand so I can live with it even if I don’t like it, because I’m a modern man and not a Neanderthal. Or I just go after him, kick his ass and get him to tell me,” Jock said.
She wanted to laugh and also cry. Instead she hugged her brother and whispered, “Thank you.”
“I need answers,” he said. She felt him clenching his fist even as he was hugging her. “The worst part of that viral video was watching the online world hurt you and not being able to do anything. But this is a guy…remember in high school how I’d come back and—”
“This isn’t high school and it’s complicated,” she said. “You’re lucky that Delilah comes from a big loving family so she gets where you are coming from when you want to nib into her family business.”
“I don’t nib.”
“He totally nibs,” yelled Delilah from down the hall.
“We might as well go into the kitchen since they are both listening,” Angelica said leading the way down the hall, relived that Jock followed her. She wasn’t mad at Max. She understood what he was trying to tell her and she got that not every family was like her own. She knew that he needed space but she wondered if it was just for the night or forever. Was this the moment where they stopped growing together and started to grow apart?
It sort of felt like it.
“So is this getting serious?” Jock asked, not letting it go. He could be so relentlessly stubborn that she wished she was still a teenager and could just kick him in the shins.
“I don’t know. We both agreed to keep things casual but he’s got some stuff going on…”
She trailed off. She didn’t want to tell them that Max had seemed like he could use someone in his corner. Some kind of emotional support. She knew he’d hate it if she did. Mainly because he wasn’t a man who showed any weakness and also she knew guys having grown up with three brothers. They hated emotional things. But also they were casual and this didn’t feel casual.
“Okay I think I get it,” Jock said on a long, exaggerated sigh. “Give the guy some space—he’ll figure it out.”
“Easy for someone without a heart to say,” Delilah said.
“Hey, you know I have a heart,” Jock said, turning toward his wife with a pointed look.
“I do. But you don’t really pay attention to other people’s emotions. Angelica is worried about him and wants to be there but she’s not sure if he’s ready for her to be.”
“And he’s probably thinking this is a fucked-up mess. I don’t want her getting caught in the fallout,” Jock said. “Ladies, trust me, a man doesn’t want anyone especially the woman he cares about to see him dealing with emotional stuff and get hurt if he isn’t sure how the situation is going to play out.”
Angelica looked at her brother, realizing in his blunt way he’d just helped her to see Max’s point of view. She wanted to be there to protect him and leaving her behind was his way of protecting her. “You’re right.”
“I know.”
“No! Don’t tell him that,” Delilah said. “There’ll be no living with his ego.”
“As if there is room in our house for anything other than yours,” he said with a wink. “Don’t worry, you keep me humble.”
