Page 67 of My Brother's Best Friend

He was the loudest, most annoying guy I knew, but he had never been one to get this terrifyingly quiet. Not even when Spencer had broken my heart. He had gone on nothing but a rage back then.

“I’m just trying to look out for you,” he said. “Redwood is?—”

“Fucked up?” I interrupted. “Yeah, I know it is.”

“Maddie,” Oliver said, “I?—”

“Stop it!” I found myself yelling. “I don’t want to listen to it anymore. I’m so done with this. I’m so done with everything. All I want is a normal life, where I can date whoever I want to date without feeling so bad about myself.”

Instead of facing my brother and having a civil conversation with him, I ran up to my bedroom and slammed my door, then locked it so he wouldn’t be able to come in at all. I just wanted to be alone tonight, to think through everything that had happened.

Tears were streaming down my face. Part of me felt like I was overreacting. Oliver was just being a big brother. But so much of my life had been controlled by him and by Spencer when I had been dating him. Alec made me feel so free, and that was what I wanted.

Freedom.

CHAPTER41

ALEC

After driving around Redwood in an attempt to find scumbag Spencer, I headed back to my place. Finding him was one of the two reasons that I had wanted to bring Maddie home and why I hadn’t wanted to stay the night.

She didn’t want me to hurt him, but he was going to get everything he fucking deserved.

When I opened the garage, only Dad’s car was parked inside, which was better than facing Mom, but I didn’t want to deal with him either. Though if I hadn’t come home, I would have been screwed. Mom would have thrown a hissy fit, like she had at Redwood today, and I would have been grounded for weeks without the option of playing hockey.

Slumping my shoulders forward, I walked into the house.

She pissed me off too. Why had she wanted me to sit through the next few hockey games? I didn’t even do anything other than protect myself and protect Maddie today. Oliver had come at me, swinging his fists and screaming at me for dating his sister.

I gritted my teeth. “Fucking Spencer.”

He had caused all of this drama. If he hadn’t dated Maddie—IfIhad had the courage to ask her out freshmanandsophomore year, like I had wanted—then none of this would be happening right now.

And that damn hacker would pay.

Shit kept getting worse in this fucking town, and I couldn’t wait to leave. Only a few more months, and I would whisk Maddie away to a faraway city, where I could play hockey and all she had to do was carry our children.

“Dad!” I shouted, wanting to get his yelling over with tonight so I could relax.

I had no doubt in my mind that Mom had told Dad what happened, andthatwas why he was home tonight. He rarely ever showed up during the week, having meetings and conferences all over the States, and didn’t give a shit about me unless it was about hockey.

When he didn’t answer, I grumbled to myself and headed toward his office. I would rather turn in for the night, crawl into my bed, and FaceTime Maddie, but I didn’t want him to barge in and have her listen to him scream at me.

Seizing the office door handle, I blew out a low breath and shoved the door open.

“Listen, I know that?—”

“Alec!” Dad shouted.

I snapped my gaze up from the ground to him.

Dad had Jamal Simmons, football player and Jace Harbor’s best friend, bent over his desk with his cock buried in?—

Bile rose in my throat. God, I didn’t want to know where my own father’s dick was.

They both snapped their gazes up to mine, eyes wide. Dad pulled out of Jamal, yanked up his pants, and began shuffling himself together. He stepped toward me, but I stepped back toward the door.

“You’re cheating on Mom?” I asked, mouth dry.

---