Page 78 of Shameless With Him

“Don’t. Don’t bring up our sad parents and their sad drinking.” That wasn’t a conversation I really needed, and hell, we were all mentally healthier now. Devin getting with Erin had forced us all to look into our pasts, so that part of us wasn’t hurting anymore.

“I’m not going to. I don’t need to. Because I thought we had moved past that. Now, you going to tell me why you almost beat the shit out of that man because he thought Zoey wasn’t yours? I was pretty sure she was.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Tucker and Devin came over soon after, both glowering at me.

“What the hell is going on? Family fight?” Tucker asked, frowning.

Dimitri snarled. “No, he almost beat the shit out of a groomsman for daring to talk about Zoey. But I don’t really see Zoey around, so why don’t you tell us what happened?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Caleb?”

I closed my eyes and wished for death. Because, seriously. This was par for the course on this fucking day.

“Christy,” I said, turning to her.

I noticed my brothers and Tucker glare at each other, and then look directly at me. Their eyes felt like daggers digging into my back, but I ignored them.

“Hey, sorry for leaving you like that.” I cleared my throat.

Christy smiled but it didn’t look happy, more resigned. “Don’t be sorry. The wedding’s beautiful. But, hey, I know you said you had a girl, and I was here to help you make a decision. You were very clear about that. I’m going to go.”

“Jesus Christ,” Dimitri grumbled.

“I’m going to fucking kick your ass,” Devin grumbled.

“Not if Amelia does it first,” Tucker whispered.

“I’m sorry,” I said, ignoring them. “I’m an asshole.”

“You are,” Christy said, raising her chin. “Not to me, though. You were clear and upfront regarding what this was about. And I only said yes because I wanted to make sure that you knew you had fallen. I came here as your friend, not to hurt anyone. But I clearly think I did. So, you are the asshole. But not to me,” she said again. “You better fix this, Caleb. Fix it quick, or you’re going to lose the best thing you ever had.”

And then she walked off, and I just shook my head. Hell, Christy was right, but I couldn’t fix this. I didn’t even know if there was anything to fix at this point.

“Okay, you’re going to tell me what happened right now, or I’m going to fucking kick your ass,” Dimitri said, his muscles bulging beneath his jacket.

“And be quick about it,” Devin mumbled.

“I’m fine,” I lied.

“You may be fine, but Zoey clearly isn’t,” Tucker said, practically spitting the words.

“I knew something was off during the wedding, but I didn’t think you had actually brought a fucking date to Zoey’s sister’s wedding,” Dimitri snapped. “I thought I raised you better than that.”

I flipped him off. “You didn’t raise me.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Devin said, sliding between us. “You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to lash out because you’re hurting. Is it because of the doctor? That can’t be it.”

I looked away, shame crawling over my skin.

“You still didn’t fucking tell her,” Devin said. “Are you serious?”

“I don’t know what to say. You know the doctor didn’t have anything to say, he didn’t even show up. Just the nurse saying they were still waiting on more test results, and they would probably give me more details later. But they all sounded worried. You were there.”

Devin nodded. “Yeah, I was there. They were worried because they didn’t have answers, not because they thought that you were going to die.”

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