Page 112 of Love Not Qualified

“Ryker,” I said with gritted teeth. “Don’t make me fucking take this door off its hinges.”

Nothing. The bed still hit the wall with each thrust, the girls sounded more aroused than ever and I was losing my patience.

I buried my palm into my pocket and fished out the set of keys I had, searching for the one from his room. When I got a copy, I got it for emergencies, but I saw myself needing to use it now.

Once I found it, I didn’t hesitate to throw it open. The girls immediately covered themselves with a blanket, but I didn’t spare them a glance. My eyes were solely focused on my brother.

His face looked unrecognizable. One of his eyes was so bruised he couldn’t even keep it open, his cheeks were cut and blood was flooding out of his lips.

“Out,” was all I said, locking my fists by my side. The girls scurried away, gathering their things before walking out of his room. I didn’t bother closing the door when I walked to his bed.

Ryker had his arms stretched under his head, a cocky grin on his face. I didn’t think. I just grabbed him by his ear and raised him to his feet. He stumbled and cursed under his breath.

“Fuck.”

“If you insist on acting like a child, I’ll treat you like one. What the fuck is wrong with you?” I yelled.

Silence again. It was almost as if he enjoyed the pain and I was sure if I dragged him any harder, I was going to rip his ear off.

I let him go, then took a step back. “Answer me, for fuck’s sake! I’ve had enough of your stupid fucking silent treatment. You have a tongue, use it when I talk to you.”

He shrugged, his left eye trembling. “I prefer to use it in other circumstances.”

Oh. I don’t know how I was able to stop myself from strangling him. On this day, God chose to give me patience and not power, because if it would’ve been the latter, I would’ve killed the son of a bitch.

I nodded, looking down at my feet. “I get it. I’m a fucking clown to you. All right,” I kept nodding.“Grab your stuff and leave.”

Ryker didn’t even flinch. “I’ll give you the money Dad left you and you can do whatever the fuck you want. I don’t give a shit,” I raised my hands in the air, watching him in the eye. “But don’t think I’ll fucking let you disrespect me ever again. I’ve been your goddamn punching bag for too long.”

I was waiting. Waiting to see if he would react in any way. But he just stood there, waiting for me to finish. Unfortunately, I had a lot to say.

“What did I do wrong, huh?” I questioned, squinting my eyes. “I let you come with me even when everything I wanted was to be alone. I gave you freedom, let you live your teenage life without setting stupid curfews, and let you throw parties and skip school even when I knew you weren’t sick. I tried to offer you a great life and you did nothing but disrespect me, cause me problems and terrible headaches,” I said in a breath.

I walked to the door with my back to him and turned before walking out. “You either get it together or pack your shit and leave. Your choice.”

On my way out, I slammed the door after me and took a moment in front of the staircase to calm down. I couldn’t believe I kicked him out. But what was I supposed to do? How else was he going to understand?

If being thrown out of his house wasn’t going to wake him up for good, then it meant Ryker was lost forever.

A hand ravished through my hair and I whooshed all the hair inside my lungs out. I was so over his shit.

Until now, I kept finding excuses for his behavior. Like how he was young, how he was just trying things for the first time, then he’ll never do them again. Or that he was going to wake up one day. Now I was done finding excuses just because he was my brother.

“That was a little tough, don’t you think?” Haelyn asked me at the bottom of the stairs.

Shit. I forgot she was even there.

She had her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes jumping from side to side.

I sighed, then took the last step. “Maybe,” I told her. “Let’s get you home. It’s late.”

Haelyn nodded and we walked out of the house through the garage, where I started the car and drove out of the garden. She kept fidgeting in her seat, releasing air out of her lungs.

I ignored her the first time, but when she kept going on with it, I decided I had to say something. “If there’s something you want to say, say it.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s not my place to talk. Especially when I don’t know the entire situation.”

“Haelyn,” I pushed. I was curious about what she had to say, but I also wanted to know how things were looking from her perspective.

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