Page 38 of Chasing Forever

I couldn’t believe the gall of the man sitting across from me. I knew my brother had an addiction, and I always thought that was the reason behind his cold nature and lack of empathy. I told myself over and over that, underneath the poison twisting his mind, he really loved me. But now I saw it for what it was. He didn’t care. Not about anyone but himself. The boy who’d spun us around on the merry-go-round over and over again until we both fell off laughing then proceeded to puke our guts up, was gone. I didn’t see a hint of him in there anywhere.

“You really don’t care about him at all, do you? He’s your son, Ozzy.” I didn’t bother hiding the disgust in my voice.

“Listen, I didn’t want the kid in the first damn place, okay? But Cindy wouldn’t get rid of it. Then her ass bailed, and I was stuck with him.”

I didn’t understand. Levi was the perfect kid. He was so full of love and light and happiness. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that there would be anyone out there who didn’t fall in love with him as soon as they got to know him, let alone his own father. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for that little boy. I would crawl across broken glass and bleed myself dry for him. A part of me hated my brother for what he’d become, he couldn’t give that to his own flesh and blood.

My mom had refused to give up on him, even when she was so sick from chemo she couldn’t get out of bed. She passed away believing the old Ozzy would come back, so after she died, I’d picked up that torch of hope and carried it all this time. But I was done. I couldn’t fight and plead for someone to change at the expense of my own happiness anymore. I’d spent too long putting Warren and my brother first. It was time for that to change. I needed to prioritize myself if I wanted to make a good example for Levi.

“Look, I didn’t come here to fight with you.”

“Then why’d you come, huh? You want to make me feel like shit for not bein’ as perfect as you?” He curled his top lip away from his teeth in contempt, and mocked, “Perfect little Merritt, always does everything right.”

I couldn’t let his words get to me. This wasn’t about me. This was for Levi. And I was strong enough to do this, damn it.

“I came to ask you to sign over custody of Levi.”

Ozzy’s brows slammed together. “To who?”

“To me.” My heart began to beat faster now that the words were out. “You said you never wanted him, and I do, Oz. I want to take care of him, to raise him. Please, sign over custody.”

“What’s in it for me?”

Just when I thought he couldn’t get any worse, he found a way to top it. I blanked my face, taking a page out of Rochelle’s book and masking everything I was feeling. “There’s nothing in it for you, Ozzy. This is your chance to put someone before yourself. To finally do what’s right for Levi.”

He snorted, a calculating grin turning his lips up. “I don’t know, baby sis. Looks like I’ve got somethin’ you want. If he’s really as important to you as you say, you’d be willin’ to do anything.”

I was willing to do anything. But what Ozzy didn’t know was I already came in here expecting this to be a long shot. I was prepared to fight him for Levi, and this was one fight I wouldn’t lose.

“I came here as a courtesy, because you’re my brother. I wanted to give you a chance to do the right thing on your own. But make no mistake, Ozzy, I will get custody of Levi, and I will make certain that you never darken his doorway ever again. I will protect him from everything that could hurt him, including you, and when he’s grown and starting his own family, you’ll be nothing but a hazy memory.”

He shot forward, but I didn’t flinch. I refused to give him the satisfaction. “You self-righteous little bitch,” he hissed viciously. “You think you can come in here and start makin’ demands? It’s because of you I’m in here in the first fuckin’ place. You owe me, you stupid cunt!”

I couldn’t fathom how he could possibly blame me for the fact that he overdosed and got himself locked up for endangering his child, but the twisted inner workings of my brother’s brain were no longer my problem.

And I was done taking his abuse.

I stood up, turned my back on him, and started for the door.

“Don’t you walk away from me, you fuckin’ bitch!” Ozzy bellowed.

I heard a scuffle, but I refused to turn around. I was done. My brother no longer existed for me, and I wouldn’t give him another second of my time.

Chapter Twenty-One

Tristan

Ipaced from the kitchen to the living room and back again for what felt like a million times as I waited for Merritt to get home. I lost count of how many times I looked at the clock on the wall, but it felt like the goddamn arms never moved.

I felt like I was coming out of my skin, and I didn’t even have Levi there to take my mind off things since it was a school day. I tried to fill my time by cleaning out the garage so I could create a sort of make-shift workshop for her to restore antique furniture. She’d shared with me how it was something she’d learned from her mother, and missed working with her hands like that. I wanted to give it back to her. But I was so damn antsy I blew through the project and finished a lot sooner than I expected.

The more time that passed, the worse the scenarios running through my head became. There was nothing rational about how I felt. All I could think was how that asshole could say or do something to hurt her, and I wouldn’t be there to protect her. I wished she would have let me go with her, but at the same time, I respected her need to confront her brother on her own.

I was seconds away from saying fuck it and driving to the prison any damn way, when I heard her car pull into the driveway.

I practically threw myself on the couch, snatching up a book that had been sitting on the coffee table without bothering to look at the cover and flipping it open so it didn’t look like I’d spent the last few hours wearing a hole in the carpet.

I felt a judgmental tingle on the side of my face and glanced over to find Doc staring at me from his dog bed. “Don’t give me that look. You have no right to judge. You can be just as pathetic.” I lifted my brows. “Remember how you threw yourself on the ground and screamed when that cat took a swipe at you? Didn’t come close to touching you, and you still freaked out.”

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