Page 58 of Edge of Unbroken

“Not too much. She said that Randi is older than Ran and she ‘has a reputation.’”

Steve presses his lips together, forming a thin line. “I bet that made you feel great,” he says, an edge to his voice as his nostrils flare.

I huff. “Oh yeah, all the things I wanted to hear while my boyfriend is two thousand miles away from me.”

“I don’t know why Vada would have told you these things. She should’ve known it would freak you out.”

“I mean, I trust Ran,” I say to ward off any impression that I’m a jealous little schoolgirl, and I blink at Steve. “But, yeah, of course I worry a bit. I just wanted to talk to you about it. I guess I’m hoping you’ll ease my mind a little.”

He nods, his jaw set, brow firm. “You know Ran loves you. He’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“I know, but I think I’d feel better, maybe, if I knew a bit more about this Randi girl. What does she look like? Does she really have ‘a reputation?’”

“She does, but…” Steve sighs. “Randi’s about two and a half years older than Ran, so that would make her… fuck… I think she just turned twenty last month. She’s this little thing, or at least she was when I last saw her. Short—maybe five feet, can’t weigh much more than a hundred pounds, long brown hair. She’s definitely pretty,” he says with a one-shouldered shrug. “Her dad was the pastor of my grandparents’ church, and I don’t know if it’s in spite or because of that fact that Randi was kind of a wild child. So, when I say she had a reputation, I don’t necessarily mean she waseasy. She had a reputation for being a troublemaker, for running away from home, skipping school, things like that. It’s just… she’d do things that tended to get her in trouble. Be it drinking, stealing, doing drugs, hanging out with boys, or whatever. She was just really outgoing. Great singer. Holy cow does she have an amazing voice.” Steve smiles. “Randi’s just kind of a rebel. And man, when she and Ran were together, they’d constantly sneak out and raise hell. I mean, Ran never really shared with me—he’s too damn private—but let’s just say that the two of them didn’t hang out innocently.” He looks at me meaningfully, and I understand what he’s alluding to.

I nod for him to continue.

“I remember one night they got caught drinking in Randi’s truck. The sheriff brought Ran back to my grandparents’ ranch.” Steve laughs. “Holy shit, my grandma was so upset. He didn’t get into trouble or anything, and I can tell you that Ran definitely didnotclean up his act afterwards.” He turns serious. “But what you need to know about Randi is that she has a heart of gold; as crazy as she was, she’s one of the most giving people I know. She puts others before herself, sometimes to her detriment. If she knows you’re with Ran—and I’m sure she does, right?”

I nod again.

“Yeah, then you don’t have anything to worry about. I don’t think she’d put Ran in a situation that could compromise what he has with you. Not that Ran would ever allow himself to be put in a situation like that, but Randi also wouldn’t go there, so you really don’t have anything to worry about, if you ask me.”

“Thank you, Stevie. I feel a lot better.” I move in for a hug, wrapping my arms around his sturdy frame, his lean muscles firm underneath his hoodie.God, so much like Ran, I think to myself like I do each time I hug his older brother.

Steve and I always got along great, but ever since Ronan was in the hospital, fighting to survive even just the night, Steve and I have become even closer. It’s almost like he’s my brother, too. We talk regularly and I almost spend more time at his house than I do even at Vada’s, especially now that my mom and Penny spend so much time together.

“Anytime.” He hugs me in return, his right hand rubbing that spot between my shoulder blades. “Vada shouldn’t have opened her mouth and told you these things in the first place. She doesn’t know Randi or her relationship with Ran. It just wasn’t her place.”

I step out of his hug to look at him. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It kind of is,” he says. “She knows Ran isn’t here to defend himself or clear anything up with you. And she should know that throwing shit like this at you would, understandably, worry you. It’s kind of a shitty thing to do, especially knowing you don’t have the ability to talk to Ran right now. She should’ve given you the chance to ask Ran about it on Sunday rather than talking about something she doesn’t actually know shit about.”

I’m taken aback by how strongly Steve’s reacting to this situation. “Don’t be angry at her,” I say. “I don’t think she meant any harm. She was just sharing information with me.”

“Doesn’t really matter; the outcome’s still the same. It was just a crappy thing to do and not at all helpful to Ran or you, especially right now. Neither of you needs to have anything added to your plates; not Ran, not you. This all is difficult enough,” he says, running his hand across his head, grasping a fistful of his light-brown hair.

“Stevie, are you okay?” I get the feeling there’s an undercurrent of something else; this is not just anger at Vada for blabbing about Ran and his ex. He seems on edge, exhausted, apprehensive.

He sighs, releasing his hair, and his arms fall to his sides. “I’m fine.”

“You know, Ran says that all the time, and in exactly the same tone you just used,” I say, tilting my head to the side, seeking his eye contact. “Especially when he’s not in fact fine.”

Steve’s gaze moves to mine and there’s a deep sadness reflected in the warmth of his cinnamon-brown irises. “I don’t know,” he finally says. “I’ve been watching some of the surveillance with my dad. Not so much the stuff where Ran gets hurt—I can’t bring myself to watch it. I’ve seen maybe a handful of things, and it honestly makes me sick to my stomach.”

“So, what then?” I ask softly.

“It’s just the day-to-day stuff, Cat. You know, I never realized that Ran shouldered basically all the chores. He dideverything. And my lazy ass didn’t do shit. I had no idea, Cat. And it drives me fucking crazy. I had no clue what was happening. How did I miss this?” His eyes are full of despair before he buries his face in his hands.

“Stevie, it’s not your fault.”

“How could I be so blind? I mean, I lived in the same house as my mom and Ran this entire time. I spentsomuch time with Ran. We’re as close as brothers can be and still, I fucking missed it. I saw him do crap around the house all the time—the fucking dishes, the laundry, the cleaning, whatever—but did I ever bother to jump in and help him out? Nope. Did I ever offer to take shit off his hands? Also no. And sometimes I even gave him crap for doing so much. He was like, neurotic about leaving a mess. He’d rinse a glass immediately after using it and put it back in the cabinet instead of leaving it in the sink like I did. He always made sure his crap was put away. He’d, like, erase any trace of his existence. I just thought he was being weird about shit, but now I know he did these things to avoid being hurt. And Cat, you should hear how my mom talked to him. The things she said to him were so vile. I don’t understand why she’d say things like that to him, but never to me. I don’t get it. Why him? Why not me?” he asks, his voice cracking.

I put my hand on Steve’s chest. “It shouldn’t have been either of you,” I say. “You can’t make sense of this. Don’t even try, you’ll just drive yourself mad.”

“I can’t help it. It’s eating me up, Cat. The more I find out about what happened to him, the shittier I feel.”

“Maybe you should talk to someone about it?”

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