Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 36999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
"You sure? If I need to handle the situation, I will."
"I'm fine!" I huff. "Jeez. He wasn't bothering me." I narrow my eyes on him. "Besides, he's your best friend. Shouldn't you be telling me what a great guy he is or something?"
"He is a great guy, but you're my sister. You come first. That's just the way it works. If he's fucking with you, he isn't the kind of friend I need." Keegan shrugs like the math is simple, but it's really not. Because I'm not sixteen anymore, and Coby is exactly the kind of friend Keegan needs. And Coby isn't doing anything that I haven't welcomed.
But if I tell Keegan that, I don't think it's going to matter. All he'll hear is that his best friend is messing around with his baby sister. After what happened with Parker, he won't take it well.
How the hell am I supposed to get him on board with this?
"You're wrong," I mutter, pulling my hand away from him. "Coby is precisely the kind of friend you need, Keegan. He's an amazing guy, and you know it. Don't be an idiot and boil everything down to us versus the world. You're the one who told me that it won't ever have to be like that for us ever again. So stop making it like that now."
"That's not what I was saying."
"Yeah, it was," I say quietly. "But I don't need you to take care of me anymore, Keegan. I'm not a kid. I can take care of myself."
"What do you need then, Elodie?" he asks, looking at me like he's genuinely mystified. "Because I've been trying to figure it out since you moved here, and I don't have a fucking clue. You've been different, and it's driving me nuts."
"Maybe I'm different because I grew up, and you're only just now seeing it. The only thing I need is for you to be my brother. Can you do that?"
"I thought I was doing that," he mutters.
"No, you were trying to be my hero. But I don't need one of those anymore." I push myself into his arms, hugging him fiercely. "You taught me how to be my own hero, remember?"
"Fuck," he growls, hugging me just as hard. "If this is you telling me to fuck off, I hear you. But I still reserve the right to kick Coby's ass if he's fucking with you. You've had enough of that shit in your life, Elodie. I won't let someone else I brought into your life be the source of more pain."
"He isn't messing with me, Keegan." We're just sneaking around behind your back. That's all.
I don't tell him that part, though. I'm more convinced than ever that if I do, I'll be the reason his friendship with Coby comes to an end. And Keegan may act like choosing me over Coby wouldn't hurt him at all, but I know my brother. Losing his best friend would destroy him. I'm not so sure I wouldn't lose him too.
He doesn't trust easily. Even before what happened with Parker, Keegan spent too many years listening to our dad swear he was going to get his act together, only to have to pick him up again every single time. When he should have been enjoying his life, he was taking care of both of us. Most nights, my dad couldn't even put himself to bed. Keegan had to do it.
We survived because Keegan made sure we did. And when things got really bad, he got me out of there. He was barely eighteen, but he worked his ass off to ensure no one could take me away from him. When everyone else was going to college and partying, he was working two jobs to keep a roof over my head. He made sure that no one had a reason to question his ability to provide for me.
He made sure that our father stayed far away. But I'm not the only one who has scars from the way we grew up. My brother does, too, and I think his may be even deeper than mine because he doesn't let anyone close.
How in the hell am I supposed to tell him that I'm in love with the one person he's allowed himself to trust? I don't know. Because I don't know how it possibly ends happily for any of us.
And yet…and yet I'm too selfish to let either of them go.
Chapter Seven
Coby
"You cooked for me?" Elodie asks, staring in awe at the kitchen table as I lead her into the house a little after eleven.
"My schedule is fucked up," I admit, placing my hand on the small of her back and steering her toward the table. "I work late, so I eat late. I figured you could eat with me tonight."
"I can eat," she says, smiling up at me.