Page 8 of Weathering the Storm of the Century

“And you’re barely telling me this now?”

“Can you focus?”

“Yeah, I’m focusing on how you think it’s acceptable to keep important information from me,” he huffed. “What the fuck, Cutter?”

“Are you really making this about you?” I asked, already rubbing my forehead with my free hand. “It’s a long fucking story.”

Silence.

“I hate you.”

“You wished that you could hate me,” he snorted.

As quickly as I could, I gave him a quick rundown of the past week, including how I’d shown up at Merritt’s place uninvited, then had browbeaten her into staying with me. Though Cotter did deserve an apology for the oversight, I didn’t have time for that right now. Right now, I needed to bounce ideas off him. Besides, it wasn’t like he could stay mad at me forever.

“I still have no idea why you’re calling me,” he said when I was finished with my recap.

“I don’t want to scare her off,” I admitted. “And if I tell her that I’ve been in love with her for two years, I’m pretty sure that she’d run for the door and never look back.”

“Well, obviously you’re not supposed to tell her that,” he practically snapped. “You’re supposed to woo her, Cutter.”

“Did you seriously just use that word?”

“It’s a valid word when used appropriately, and this is an appropriate time to use it,” he shot back. “She’s fresh off a breakup, so the last thing that you want to do is overwhelm her with more feelings.”

“Who the fuck gives a shit about feelings?” I bit out, frustrated. “I’m trying to keep her from ever leaving my place again. That’s what I need help with.”

“Then you need a lawyer, because that’s false imprisonment, Cutter,” he retorted.

“I’m serious, Cotter,” I replied, doing my best to keep it together.

“I know you are, and that’s the problem,” he countered. “Merritt isn’t a merger, Cutter. She’s not your latest acquisition. She’s a human being.”

“Are you done?” I deadpanned.

“Look, it’s common knowledge that you’re ruthless when it comes to getting what you want-”

I barked out a laugh. “And you’re not?”

“I’m not the one rationalizing committing felonies to force his assistant to live with him,” he pointed out like an asshole.

“Just wait until you fall in love,” I snorted. “Let’s see what you’re willing to do then.”

“Luckily, I’m in no danger of falling ill with that particular affliction any time soon, so let’s get back to you, shall we?” he drawled out, clearly clueless about his real feelings for Aelix.

“I only have one chance at this, Cotter,” I told him, explaining why I was acting like a lunatic, instead of the cold-blooded, rational, calculating powerhouse that I was. “Only one.”

“Then take holding her against her will off the table for right now,” he advised. “Start off slowly, Cutter. I don’t know…cook her dinner tonight or something…something domestic like that. Show her the side of you that no one else sees.”

“There is no other side of me that no one sees,” I reminded him. “I’m me, and I act accordingly to whichever situation that I’m in. What the fuck, Cotter?”

My brother let out a heavy sigh over the phone. “Have you ever cooked a woman dinner before?”

“Just Mom,” I answered.

About a year after Cotter and I had gone to live with Phin and Sheridan, we’d started calling Sheridan by Mom. It had started out as a way to annoy her, but since Candy hadn’t minded, no one had bothered to correct us. Yeah, Sheridan used to get side-eyes in public whenever we’d call her that, but she never asked us to stop, and fuck what other people thought anyways.

“Mom doesn’t count as a woman,” he replied easily. “I meant one that you were ever romantically involved with.”

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