Page 22 of Top Shelf

“What are you thinking, Tyson?” she asks, ignoring me.

“Dem…” I start to say.

“No, just…just let me say this, okay?” she says. I sigh.

“Proceed,” I say.

“I get that she’s in a fucked-up situation or whatever,” she says, “but I just…shebrokeyou, Tyson. She was your…yourperson, and she broke you. She was drowning in her own life, and she took you down with her. You know I loved her before,” she says, “but please,pleasedon’t let yourself trust her.”

“Dem,” I say, trying to keep my tone gentle, “I’m a grown man, okay? It’s been eight years. This is just a friend helping a friend. I’ll be careful. But in the meantime, she might be around now and then. So, try to be nice, okay?” I ask.

She scoffs.

“I can’t believe you’d even suggest that,” she says. I laugh. My other line beeps. I look down and see Lo, my younger sister, calling. I smile and shake my head.

“Okay, gotta go get reemed out by your younger sister now,” I tell her. “I love you, see-ster.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she says. “Love you too or whatever. Bye.”

I click over.

“Hello, baby sister,” I say, turning into my townhouse complex.

“Hi, big brother,” she says, her tone much more easy-going than Demi’s.

“You may now proceed with your debate of my personal life,” I say. She giggles.

“Levi told me about it last night,” she says. “But Tate just gave me a few more details.” I smile. As much as I hated to admit it at the start, Levi and Lo were a match made in Heaven. Things are just…easy. Even when they fight—which is so rare—he’s gentle with her. They’re patient with each other. And after what my sister’s been through, she deserves it. That easy, slow-moving, Sunday-morning kind of love.

I’d kill for it.

“Just be careful, okay?” she says. She was still a kid when everything happened with me and Sadie the first time. But she noticed her absence the most. She adored Sadie.

“Always,” I say.

“Okay,” she says. “Love ya.”

“Love you too.”

* * *

It’s Friday, and I am more than ready for this weekend. Not because I have anything planned, but because it’s been a bit of an emotional whirlwind the last two days. My classes go by in a blur, and before I know it, I’m finally getting into my truck to go home. The football team has a bye this weekend, so I actually have a free Friday night.

I pull into my driveway, grab my backpack, and walk up the steps to my house. It’s an end-unit townhouse that I bought a few years back, and there’s something about it that still doesn’t quite feel likehome. I mean, my dad and brother and I have made some pretty big changes to it over the last few years, everything is updated and repainted and works, but it’s just…quiet. I grew up in a big house with a big, loud family.

I know I needed to move out, but sometimes I just can’t sit in the silence. Odie, my big ol’ bloodhound, is the only thing that stops the loneliness sometimes. But even still, there are the occasional nights where Odie and I will pile into my pickup and drive the eight minutes up the road to Dad’s for dinner or a beer.

When I open the door, Odie lifts his head and pushes himself up, jogging over to greet me. He gives me his hello howl, then bumps my hand with his head until I pet him.

“Okay, okay,” I say, “I see you, buddy. Did ya miss me today?”

I scratch behind his ears and pat his side a few times before I kick off my shoes and walk into the house. I grab a soda from the fridge, pick up the remote, and plop down on the couch. I watch a few episodes ofRiver Monsters,and then I reach for my phone.

I want to call her.

I want to see her.

Fuck.

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