Page 4 of Unwanted

If I didn’t, it would be the ultimate fuck you to my family. And while I had made them feel insignificant enough over the years, that was not the message I wanted to be sending right now.

And I owed Clem.

She’s always been the one thing holding us all together.

There were five of us. Brought together by bad circumstances, shitty parents, and the foster care system, and despite our age differences, Clem was always the glue that kept us from falling apart.

No matter where we’ve gone or what we’re going through, she has made sure we’re all happy and taken care of. And I know without her there’s no way I would’ve received a call today to tell me about Lennox’s accident. It’s like pulling teeth with him already, and I’m certain this new hurdle will only push him further back into the hole I spent a few years so desperately trying to get him to crawl out of.

Picking up the office landline, I press the button that directly connects me to my boss.

“Frankie.” Jordan’s voice comes through loud and clear. “What’s up?”

“Can we talk?”

The line goes dead, and in less than a minute Jordan waltzes through the door, looking as sexy as ever. With his full lips, god-like jaw, and gray-blue eyes, there was a time when I thought he could be the guy who changed the game for me.

The guy who could replace my past and be my future.

But, unfortunately, that bounce in his step and smile on his face has nothing to do with me and everything to do with his partner, Gael.

Truth is, I never stood a chance, and that’s probably why I chose to pursue him in the first place. It was easier to hook up with emotionally unavailable men than getting my heart broken.

I’d barely survived it the first time, and as far as I was concerned that was already one time too many.

Jordan takes a seat in front of me, the look of concern on his face making me feel guilty about what I have to ask and grateful I have someone here in Seattle in my corner.

“What is it?” he asks. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I run a hand over my face before looking back at him. “I need to take some time off and fly home.”

“Home?” he questions.

“I’m from Los Angeles.”

“You are?” He leans forward, resting his forearms on my desk. “Why didn’t I know this?”

I tilt my head. “Talking really isn’t why I kept you around.”

“No shit.” He chuckles. “So, what do you need to go home for? Is everything okay?”

“It’s my brother,” I confess, and I watch Jordan’s expression morph into complete surprise. “He’s in college. Football scholarship,” I add proudly. “But I just got a call from…” My voice trails off as I try and figure out how to describe who Clementine is, but opt out of it. Jordan doesn’t need to know my history, even if we are friends now. “I got a call that he’s been hurt pretty badly. I have to go see him.”

“Of course.” He nods emphatically. “I can’t believe you have a brother and I didn’t know.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” I say truthfully.

I’m not sure what Jordan sees on my face, but his eyes soften. “Whatever you need, man.”

“Are you sure? Because I don’t know how long I’ll have to be there or when I’ll be back.”

“Frankie.” Jordan’s voice is full of sympathy, and it makes me want to run and hide. I don’t want his niceness, not when all I’m feeling is guilt.

His niceness is the last thing I deserve.

Seattle was supposed to be a fresh start, where I could hide my past and be a version of myself even I didn’t recognize. I was a well-sought-out real estate agent for a booming agency. I was making a name for myself here.

In Seattle I wasn’t a foster kid from the wrong side of the tracks. In Seattle I wasn’t a brother, I wasn’t a traitor, I wasn’t selfishly living out my life while the most important people in my life were struggling.

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