Page 24 of Landlord Daddy's Girl

“What happened between Sierra and me wasn’t behind your back,” I tell him. “I went into your place to fix your bathroom and ran into her. I didn’t even know she was there?—”

“Oh, so you just decided it was a good time to fuck her?”

“Again, it’s not like that.”

I grit my teeth and try to keep my anger in check. Getting pissed off at him isn’t going to do either of us a bit of good, but it’s getting difficult to sit here and take his abuse without responding. This whole taking the high road thing sucks ass, andI’m about tired of it. Derek takes a step back and looks uncertain when I jump to my feet, my face twisting with anger.

“All right, get down off your fucking high horse and listen up,” I snap. “Sierra is a grown woman who can make her own decisions. We’ve been getting to know each other since you’ve been gone, and I’ve come to care about her. A lot, man. She’s a great girl. She’s smart. Fun. She’s got a great sense of humor, and we just click. We’ve got a real connection.”

He’s silent for a moment and seems to be considering what I just said. His face is still etched with anger, but there’s something more thoughtful in his eyes. He shakes his head and seems to be trying to push it all away. He looks at me again with a complex mix of emotions on his face.

“She’s my kid sister, man. Couldn’t you have found somebody else?” he asks.

“It’s not like we planned this,” I tell him. “It just happened.”

He shakes his head, and I can tell there’s something more he wants to say. Something he’s not letting himself say. He’s holding something back. As I search his face, I get the feeling I know what it is, and it sends a dark lance straight through my heart.

“You don’t think I’m good enough for her,” I say.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. It’s written all over your face.”

Derek doesn’t say anything more, which confirms what I was thinking. I’m not a guy who cares much what other people think of me. Never have been. And I’m a guy who doesn’t let people get very close to me. Derek is different. He’s family, and his opinionof me has always mattered. It’s always something I’ve valued. So, learning now that for all these years, he hasn’t thought I’m good enough to be with his sister hurts. It cuts deeper than I thought anything ever could.

“Wow. I’m … wow. I guess it’s just good to know what you really think of me deep down,” I say, grimacing at the pain I hear in my voice.

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Dude, it’s not that. It’s just?—”

“You need to walk out of here right now before I say or do something we’re both going to regret,” I tell him, my voice low and flat.

“Slater, she’s my sister?—”

“I said, get the fuck out of my place. Now.”

“Really? You’re the one fucking my sister behind my back, and you’re going to play the offended party card? Is that how it is?”

“You need to get the fuck out of here,” I growl. “Now, Derek.”

He looks like he will continue arguing with me, but his face hardens, and he nods. “All right then. Cool.”

Without another word, Derek turns and walks out of my room. A couple of moments later, my front door slams hard enough to rattle the windows as he goes. Left alone, a cyclone of emotions tears through me as I realize my lifelong friendship with the only person I’ve been close with is over. The brotherhood we shared has been broken. And as if all of that isn’t enough, he’s left me with one unsettling question spinning through my mind.A question that I perhaps should have asked myself earlier but never did because I already knew the answer to it and simply didn’t want to face it.

In this whirlwind romance I’ve had with Sierra, I’ve never stopped to consider that maybe Derek is right. Maybe I’m not good enough for her.

14

SIERRA

“What in the hell are you doing here, Derek?” I seethe as he comes through the door.

“I live here. And since I have a two-week break and thought I’d come home for a bit,” he replies angrily. “The better question is, what in the hell are you doing?”

He tries to slam the door behind him. It bounces open again, having been broken by Stu last night. It seems to frustrate him. With a growl, he closes it again as much as it can be, then rounds on me, a sneer on his lips. He doesn’t look bruised or battered, which I’m sure he would have been had he tried to physically fight Slater, so a small breath of relief escapes me and makes me feel all right about laying into him. Not that I wouldn’t have lit him up for what he did, anyway. But I’m glad he didn’t do something exceedingly stupid by picking a fight with somebody who would have smashed him.

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