He is the brother I never had. I am a brother to him. There’s a code. He broke it. Each mile driven my fuse grows shorter. Dylan wouldn’t have been able to stop my quest to kick Wes’s ass. Knowing her, she’s two minutes behind me.

I don’t remember arriving at his condo. I don’t remember the stair climb to the second floor. I don’t remember the walk down the hall or pounding on his door. The first vivid picture my mind takes is the opening of that door, my right hook connecting with his jaw, sending him flying back through the foyer into the living room.

The first sound I remember is Hayley screaming at me to stop. I know I won’t be able to. Wes and I tumble around the room, tripping over furniture as we go.

“How could you?” I scream at him. “You fucking prick. My sister?” My fist crushes into his rib cage. I can feel the full exhale of his lungs in my face before he lowers his head and drives his shoulder against my body.

“This,” he shoves me off him and backs up, “exactly this.”

“She’s not another conquest. She’s not another notch on your third bedpost. She’s my sister.”

My teeth grind as I charge forward again. As I reach him, Wes quickly raises his arms to hold me at bay. In a reflex, he connects with my cheek. My legs tangle up and I catch the corner of his coffee table with a glancing blow to my temple.

I struggle to get up and defend my family but the room tilts as Hayley screams.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” I hear from above me. “Talk to me, Goose. Jesus Christ, talk to me. Hayley, it was an accident. I swear.”

I can feel tears falling on my cheek as my eyes open and I try to focus. “Eli, Eli can you hear me?”

Question. She’s asking me a question. “Yeah.” Her soft fingers are stroking across my forehead. A piercing pain is forming behind my eye as I contemplate sitting up.

“You fucking idiot. Are you trying to hurt yourself permanently this time?” she scolds.

“This is a fight for your honor.”

“Her honor is intact, brother. I swear.”

I growl. “Don’t call me that. Not ever again.”

Hayley’s hand stops moving. “Eli, you don’t mean that.”

“I mean every word.”

My vision may be as blurry as my thoughts, but I can see the blood trailing from the corner of Wes’s mouth and a dark circle beginning its formation under his left eye. I never could havepredicted this. We’ve never been in a fight unless it was together. Our first is tearing us apart.

The next words I hear are preceded by the startled squeak of sneakers on Wes’s entry tile. “What the fuck? Eli.” Dylan’s chilled hand is cupping my cheek as her bag falls to her side with a thud. “What did you do?”

Even in this, our worst moment, Wes jumps to my defense. “It was me. I did it. I did it. He tripped and hit his head. He should be looked at.”

“You’re right. You did it. You broke my sister and me. You broke us. I hope it was worth it.”

Dylan snaps, “Shut up. You’re going to regret everything. He’s right. I’m taking you to the ER right now. Can you walk?”

“Viper, let me help him,” Wes begs.

“Don’t come near me,” I growl back again. “Hayley, come with us.”

Dylan and Hayley exchange a silent dialogue before the two of them struggle to get me to my feet. My right arm slings over Dylan’s shoulder as she supports the weight of my body like a beautiful crutch. Hayley’s hand wraps around my back as we slowly walk toward the hallway.

My focus is centered on one foot in front of the other. Random vertigo moments make this walk even harder. Between spin cycles, I notice the cut and bruising across my knuckles.

Another scar to add to the growing list.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Wes

Don’t ever call him brother again.