Page 133 of Winning Brynn

Roman:Hey, man.

Alex:If you’re texting to tell me I crossed the line, I already know.

Roman:I mean, you did. But I’m just checking in.

Alex:I’m fine.

Roman:Are you?

Alex:No.

Roman:You wanna talk about it?

Alex:No.

Roman:It’s killing him, you know.

Alex:I said I don’t wanna talk about it.

Roman:Do you think maybe you could forgive him?

Alex:No.

Roman:He loves her, dude.

Alex:I don’t care.

Roman:He misses you.

Alex is typing…

Alex is offline

Alex is typing…

Alex:I miss him too.

Chapter Forty-two

Brynn

Leo’s jaw is anasty paint splatter of violet and maroon, intensified by the brilliant white of the bathroom’s spotlights. He winces as I hold the ice pack against the bruise, and I stroke my fingers down the other side of his face to counteract the pain.

“He got you good.”

He grimaces with a bitter laugh. His head sags as he stands between my legs, his hands gently stroking the small of my back, where I sit in front of him on the bathroom counter. “I deserved it.”

But he didn’t.

The worst thing he did to Alex was hiding our relationship from him. But we wouldn’t have had to hide it in the first place if my brother wasn’t so irrationally protective of me, if he hadn’t decided it was his responsibility to police who I can and can’t be with, simply because I was born with a vagina a few years after he was.

If I’d been born a boy, would he have treated me the same way? I don’t think so.

It’s sexist is what it is.

“You didn’t.”

“I fucked his little sister, Brynn. I went behind his back. I betrayed his trust. I lied to him. Hell, he should have hit me again.”

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