Page 91 of Ever With Me

“Oh, that’s a rough one.” Brian leaned back in his chair, relaxing. “Depends on what you did. I’ve had some friends who haven’t spoken to their siblings in years. Those grudges go deep.”

“I got drunk while watching my four-year-old niece.”

Oof. Amazing how horrible that sounds.How had he ever thought it was a good solution to his problems in the first place?

Both Brian and Peter cringed.

“That’s a tough spot to fix.” Peter reeled his line back in, then cast it again.

“It doesn’t make it any better that she was asleep and it was at night, does it?” He already knew the answer to that, though. He hated himself for it.So much.

“Circumstances matter.” Peter gave him a sympathetic look. “And it sounded like you had a lot you were dealing with when you arrived in town. But your sister has every right to be angry. Have you talked to her about what you’re going through?”

Nope. Because how can I complain to Kayla when she’s dealing with her own bad news?Mike wasn’t just a problem for Brooks, and Kayla didn’t need anything else to worry about. She’d come to him before the concert because of that.

But he’d also never gone to Kayla with any issue. That wasn’t the type of relationship they had.

“No, I haven’t,” he admitted. “To be honest, I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“Simple is often the best. You never know. It might be worth a try,” Peter said.

Brooks leaned forward, taking the bait, and letting the conversation lapse naturally into the comfortable silence of the water lapping against the sides of the pontoon. Could they be right?

Was straightforward conversation what he needed with Kayla?

After a lifetime of complexity, simple seemed so dubious.

Then again, what did he have to lose at this point?

If he didn’t try, he might lose the only people in the world he cared about.

And then he’d really know the meaning of rock bottom.

Fuck. When did life become so complicated?

Scratch that.

When will it stop being complicated?

25

MADDIE

Maddie glancedup from her laptop as her younger brother, Jake, slid into the seat opposite her at her favorite booth at Yardley’s Pub. She’d come here for lunch and to get some work done—and because things still weren’t any better with Naomi.

Their relationship had survived plenty of trials before—it was the nature of sisterhood—but Maddie wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen Naomi hold on to hurt like this before. Normally, they were back to normal after twelve hours.Max.

Maddie broke her thoughts away from Naomi and caught Jake’s stare as he drummed his fingers against the tabletop. “Soyouskipped family pizza night last night,” he said at last. “Could it be because of a certain rumor I heard about a certain rock star who’s hanging out with a certain sister of mine?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny the rumors,” Maddie said, taking a break from the keyboard to grab a fry. She wasn’t about to tell Jake she’d spent the night in her apartment, in bed, trying to process the past week. Then she cringed. “Mom wasn’t mad that I skipped, was she?”

“No, but I was. Why the hell didn’t you bring Brooks Kent to meet us? That’s not cool, big sis.” Jake crossed his arms, his blue eyes narrowing to match his mock scowl.

That hewantedto meet Brooks was a good sign that Pops, Lindsay, and Naomi had probably kept their word not to say anything about the car accident. Maddie dipped a fry into some crab dip.

“Look, Jake, I love our family, but they’re kind of a lot for anyone to meet, let alone a guy who’s shy and insanely private.”

“Brooks Kent shy? Come on, Mad. Then why did Logan get to meet him?”

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