Page 25 of Master Debater

Rylee burst into my office the way she entered every room—with enough chaotic energy to power a small village. She’d also be the star of the village, if not by their insistence, hers. She wore a floral print dress that only had one sleeve, as if they’d almost finished the garment and then declared it good enough. A floppy tan hat sat atop the long dark waves streaked with caramel-colored highlights she spent a fortune to maintain. If I paid that much for my hairdo, I sure as hell wouldn’t cover it up.

“Hey, big brother,” Rylee said, rounding my desk to air kiss my cheek. The fact she was greeting me so warmly while reminding me I was her big brother didn’t bode well.

“Hi, little felon sister.”

A scowl marred her face, her pearly lipstick extra pronounced as she stuck out her lips. This was why I’d become immune to pouting. My dad frequently told me he refused to raise an entitled, lazy asshole, and had frequently pushed me to take on more, insisting I attend a top college while maintaining a job. Funny how the same didn’t apply to my sister, who majored in sunbathing and cocktail drinking during college and hadn’t worked a day in her life.

I jerked my chin at her dress. “Was it too expensive to get the other sleeve? You probably would’ve had enough money to finish it if you hadn’t bought those pricey name brand jeans that were too short and already riddled with holes.”

Rylee rolled her eyes. I’d be a bigger fan of her hippie style if it didn’t cost more than non-damaged clothing. The last time I’d mentioned as much, she informed me it was called “boho chic” and added that I should look it up.

I’d replied that drunk and disorderly conduct combined with breaking and entering came with up to three years in the county jail, and that if she was going to be a smartass, she should look up the mustard-colored jumpsuits so she could get a glimpse at her future fashion.

Hopefully, the lack of a snarky comeback this time around meant she was slowly but surely learning not to bite the hand that fed you.

Three years ago, she’d been cited for having an open container while seated in the passenger seat of her friend’s car. It’d been within months of Dad’s death, and I was able to sway the judge with that fact, despite her also being nineteen at the time. At the end of the ordeal, both Rylee and the driver agreed to a year-long probation period and paid the minimum fees.

With this last foray on the wrong side of the law, I worried I was just another enabler, and that she’d make more and more reckless decisions if she didn’t learn a hard lesson, or five.

My chair squeaked a complaint as I sat back in it. “So? To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“It’s Kinsey’s twenty-first birthday this month, and my friends and I want to go all out to celebrate, since she’s the last one of us to hit that milestone. Sebastian’s dad has this beach house down in Florida, and?—”

“I’m going to stop you there,” I said, holding up a hand. “Not happening.”

“You didn’t even let me finish.”

“Does it involve going to Florida?”

Her bottom lip popped out epically far, and her voice raised a squeaky octave. “It’s our last chance. Seb’s dad and stepmom are getting divorced, and she’s a total shrew, so his dad’s having to liquidate assets to pay her settlement. Yes, we’re going to party a little, but we’ll be responsible about it, I promise.”

Sometimes I just stared at Rylee, wondering where the sweet kid who’d been obsessed with My Little Pony had gone. Yeah, she’d always been a pinch spoiled, and I got that certain stuff seemed to matter more when people were younger, but lately, she’d been downright destructive. “Still no. You know you can’t travel out of the state while your case is pending.”

“But I’m sure you could pull some strings, and?—”

I slapped my hand on the desk, the noise an emphatic punctuation to my decision. “It’s not happening, Rylee. You made your bed, and now you have to sleep in it. And since Sebastian convinced you to break into someone else’s boat and consume all their alcohol, only to leave your drunk and disorderly ass behind when the cops showed up, I suggest you kick him out of it.”

“He’s apologized a dozen times.” She crossed her arms and set her jaw, and now we were exactly where I didn’t want to be, smack dab in the middle of a stubborn-off. “People make mistakes, Nate.”

“There are mistakes, and then there are things you can’t take back, Ry. Gil and Bobby have apologized a handful of times too. But the truth is, if it weren’t for them, Mom wouldn’t have had to sell Dad’s boat, and you could go joyriding all you wanted without tacking on a felony.”

Rylee explained that’s why she’d been in the harbor that night—she missed sailing with Dad and went there with the intention of reminiscing. Then that asshole she claimed to love turned it into a dare and left her there. After being so doted upon by Dad, how did she end up with such shitty taste in men, going for a dude who was our father’s polar opposite?

She shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe I should forgive them. They say they’re sorry, and I do miss them. Not as much as Dad, but losing him and my uncles all at once…” Her voice cracked and her eyes glistened with the threat of tears.

My heart constricted, a hint of self-loathing and grief coming along for the ride. I hadn’t meant to push her into crying territory. I only wanted her to take responsibility for her actions and become an upstanding citizen.

I reached for her, and all traces of vulnerability fled as she twisted away. “I can take care of myself. You keep treating me like a kid instead of realizing I’m an adult now.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen what you do with all your grown-up decisions,” I shot back.

“Well, if Uncle Gil and Uncle Bobby are willing to help me where you won’t, maybe they deserve my forgiveness. It’s not like I’m a flight risk, and I bet they’d be able to convince a judge of that so I can go to Florida and enjoy this last trip with my boyfriend and friends.”

“That’s a low blow, and you know it. Not just to me either. But to Dad.”

Her chin quivered, and I buried the twinge over throwing that at her, despite her having no qualms to do the same to me. “Don’t you dare say that. He was my favorite person in the world, and you have no idea what it’s been like for me the past few years.”

“No idea? Really?” The lid on my exasperation blew off, and I flung a hand in the air, done with this fight and this day in general. “As your lawyer and your brother, I’ve always had your best intentions at heart. I’m sincerely trying to help you here. But if you’re not satisfied and want to put your life in our uncles’ hands, go right ahead.”

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