Page 18 of Release

Grace smiled at me. It looked forced at first. I loosened my hold, ready to say something. I was ready to give her whatever she wanted. But she wrapped her arms around me, mirroring the hold I had on her to keep her from walking out the door.

“Get a job. Get into a position where when you see my brother again, you can say you’re doing better than what you were when he fired you,” she said against my chest. She looked up at me. “Because I can tell you he wants to say that since you fucked him over, he’s one-upped you. That’s how his mind works.” She shook her head. “You can’t give him that.” She took a breath and stepped back out of my arms. “But I need to go, so if he shows upat my apartment, I’m there and he doesn’t have another thing to hold over me.”

“All right,” I said. I didn’t have any other option. “I’ll find a new normal, but I need you to do me a favor while we’re making demands.” I struggled for a moment, afraid of how this would come off. I couldn’t make myself be a dick. I tried, but I couldn’t. “Come back.”

Grace’s brows went up, and she immediately nodded. “That’s the plan.” She paused and bit her lip. “Maybe not today. But don’t treat this like a moment where it’s gonna crash and burn.” She leaned up on her toes, giving me a chaste kiss. It wasn’t enough. “You’ll see me later this week, I promise.”

I let her go, not thinking of offering her a ride home. I went back to the couch and opened up my laptop. I eyed the job options she had been trying to get me to look at. Trying to figure out what I wanted to do ended up being so much of a chore that I just started submitting my resume to different companies.

I hated sales, and there was only one company on my resume. That could either benefit me or work against me. There seemed little point in trying to figure out just what I wanted to do with myself. Every option I looked at just looked horrible.

The door unlocked noisily before it opened. I didn’t even glance up from the screen, just down at the time on the taskbar. “You’re home early,” I said, expecting Cameron. “I haven’t had lunch yet, but if you’re willing to order it, I’ll get dinner.”

“I think I probably owe you one,” Kyle said as he stepped into the apartment, “but I don’t really care to pay you back for it.” He closed the door behind him and looked at me. “My sister here?”

I eyed Kyle, tempted to tell him about last night. If he was here expecting his sister to be here, that meant he was still salty about all of it. I sat my laptop on the coffee table and decided to lie. “Haven’t seen her since you busted in here. So, thanks, asshole,”I said, leaning back on the couch. “You were bitching about her ruining shit, but you royally fucked things up for me.”

His face darkened and he glowered at me. He said nothing. He stalked through the living room and down the hall. He kicked open the door to my room and even went as far as checking Cam’s room. He walked back down the hall and stood in the living room with me.

“If you’re expecting sympathy from me after fucking my sister, you can sit and spin,” he said as he flipped me off. “I came over to check on you and I found all three of you in bed with her,” he scoffed, “and you want fucking sympathy from me?”

I paused and tried to comprehend what he said. “You came to check on me?” Confused, I tilted my head as I looked at Kyle. “If I’m on your shit list, why would you check on me?”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Not today, dumbass. I don’t give a shit if you’re sick now. You’ve already shown me where your loyalty lies.” He went to the door. “I walked in on you because I was checking on you. I thought you were sick because you called in.” He shook his head. “But no, you were just fucking my sister.” He opened the door. “And if she’s not at home actually sick, I’m fucking firing her too.”

I slouched down on the couch, my stomach twisting up. It was my fault. All of this was my fault. I’d held up all of this from moving forward because I blamed her.

And he was on his way to her place.

“I want my fucking key back,” I said before he could walk out the door.

Kyle stopped just outside the door. He pulled his keys out, struggled a moment, then pulled the apartment key off his ring. He didn’t bother to step back in to hand it to me. He just threw it down the hall and closed the door.

I didn’t even bother to get it. I just picked up my phone so I could get a warning sent off to Grace. Then I sat back and let it sink in that the real fuckup here was me.

Chapter 11

Grace

My phone went off, but I didn’t bother to reach for it. I just buried my face further into my pillow. I felt fine, but if I was gonna call in sick, I might as well take advantage of the day off I had now. I needed a nap, even after having slept in.

It didn’t help the stress, but it still felt like a relief. It made me realize just how tired I was. Which was the reason why I didn’t bother with my phone.

I dozed, ignoring the apartment door opening. The situation with Shay was still strained, but she had been respecting my space. I should get up and make an effort to patch things up, but voices filtered in from the living room and I took that as a sign that she was on the phone.

It was just the motivation I needed to stay in bed.

“Wait,” Shay called out. Then my bedroom door flew open.

It was enough to make me roll over, confronted with the view of my brother standing in the doorway. “What the hell?” I asked. I should’ve played up being sick. I was sure that when he stood there glaring at me, he would just assume I was hungover.

“Just making sure you’re not fucking around,” he said angrily. “I mean, you’ve already done that. But if you’re doing it on my time,” he continued without stepping into the room, “I want to make sure I can react accordingly this time.”

“If I called in, it’s my time,” I pointed out. I couldn’t summon the energy to match his anger. I sat up and rubbed my face with both hands. “Fucking fire me already, Kyle. Go ahead and tell him I fucked all your friends.” I looked up at him, spotting Shay standing just behind him. “It’s only fair. I told him about Shay.” I felt numb. “Why not say something now? What are you waiting for?”

Kyle stood there, taking me in like he was ready to call me on my lie of being sick. He folded his arms over his chest, the button-down and tie ruining his attempt to look foreboding. He only mirrored our father, an expression of disappointment on his face. “What good would it do?” he asked. “You don’t even feel bad about what you did. No regret is on your face.”

I snorted and pointedly rolled my eyes. “I don’t think you’d be able to see someone else’s emotions even if they slapped you in the fucking face,” I said. I rubbed at the drool that had gathered on my chin while I slept, and I wished I could look like the asshole he thought I was. “You are so stuck up your own ass you can’t even see me trying to fix the damage I’ve done.”

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