Page 34 of Psycho

As long as my little brother was happy, I was happy for him.

A teensy, weensy bit jealous, but who wouldn’t be? Ash was…well, she was perfect. Indescribable. Unique in every way. There really hadn't ever been another girl like her in my life, or in Declan’s.

Hell. I couldn’t even blame that Ray Ruiz for being so obsessed with her. Weren’t we all? We just had more sane ways of showing it.

“Well?” Declan eventually said, breaking the silence of the room. Ash and Travis were downstairs; I didn’t want to think about what they were getting into on their own. Sawyer was in his room on the second floor, being miserable and letting everyone know it. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

He’d just explained everything that was going on between him, Travis, and Ash, and he expected me to have something to say about it. I did, I had a lot to say, but I didn’t know whether or not anything I had to say would be what he expected to hear.

“What do you want me to say?” I asked, figuring I’d play the safe route first. The last thing I wanted was for it to look like I was trying to butt in or take Ash from him. He was my brother; I cared about him more than life itself.

He sighed. “I want you to tell me if you think I’m making a mistake.”

“Declan, as long as you’re happy,” I started, stopping when he nodded.

“I am happy. I just…” He stood up, starting to pace the room in front of me. “I’m worried, I guess. I mean, what can I offer her? Travis is the one who has the ins and outs when it comes to…” Declan stopped, running a hand through his brown hair. “His family. He is the one who could protect her, not me. What could I really do for her?”

I didn’t want to comment about Travis and his family, so I simply said, “You could love her.” Love was a powerful force. It made people do some crazy things. I knew it; I knew it perhaps even more so than Declan did.

The things I knew…the secrets I kept from him would upset him. His life would never be the same if he knew the truth.

No. I would protect Declan for as long as I could. He was the only family I had left. Dad—Dad was a laughable parent.

“And what if love isn’t enough?” Declan asked, turning his brown gaze to me. He stopped pacing in front of me. “You…I’m not blind, Will. I see the way you look at her. I’ve seen it from that first week you spent here with us. I know you care for her, too.”

I practically stared into his soul, wanting him to believe me when I said, “I would never do anything to hurt you.”

“I know that, and I’m not saying…” Declan let out a loud sigh. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

I kept quiet, not knowing what he was trying to say.

“It goes both ways,” he said. “She looks at you the same way. She practically jumped you when you got here. Ash likes you, too. It’s not a one-way street.” Declan closed his eyes for a moment, trying to hide the fact that he was rolling his eyes. “Travis noticed it too, which was why he had to chain smoke like an addict for a half-hour straight. If it were up to him, I think he’d have Ash all to himself, but he knows that she’s…”

“She’s Ash,” I said, that time knowing what he meant.

“Yes, she’s Ash. She’s Ash, and he wants her to be happy. So do I.”

“And she will be, once her ex is out of the picture—”

Declan stopped me by glaring. It wasn’t a real glare, more of an exasperated, incredulous stare. “You really don’t know where I’m trying to go with this, do you?” He moved in front of me, only a few inches shorter than me. “Ash likes you. You like her. I love you both and want you both to be happy. Maybe it’s because I’ve already seen her with Travis, but—”

Now it was my turn to interrupt, “You’re saying…” It was nearly impossible for me to say what I said next, mostly because I couldn’t believe it. After what happened with Sabrina, sharing a girl with anyone, let alone Travis, should be Declan’s last thought. “You’re saying you’re okay with me and her being together?”

Oh, if Declan knew the truth, I couldn’t help but wonder if his feelings about it would change. Those he trusted perhaps shouldn’t be trusted.

Dad. I was talking about Dad, but his time would come soon enough. That man…he walked a tightrope, only he didn’t know it. A tightrope a thousand feet in the air with no restraints, no cables keeping him safe. No parachute in case he fell.

And he would fall—mark my words. He would fall, the truth would come out, and his sterling reputation wouldn’t be so sterling after all.

“I’m saying I don’t want you to play the brooding hero and keep yourself away from her because you’re worried about me,” Declan said. “I’m fine. I’ll be even better once we don’t have to keep looking over our shoulders for Ray.”

I wanted to make a comment about that, how on earth one of Travis’s brothers could possibly help this situation, but I didn’t want to dig up the dirt, not when Declan was trying to be good. No, not good. Happy. Sane.

I would do anything and everything to keep Declan as happy as he was now, serial killer aside.

Later that night, Ash brought me some extra towels. I was in the bathroom across the hall from the room I’d be sleeping in, having just finished brushing my teeth. The bathroom already had a towel hanging, but I didn’t know whether or not I trusted it. This was Sawyer’s house, after all.

“We did laundry yesterday,” Ash said, offering me the bundle of towels. “These are clean.”

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