Page 19 of Forever Your Touch

“Then stop interfering and be my brother who loves me.”

He let out a long sigh. “I’m just worried about you.”

“I know.”

“Love you, Sis.”

“Love you too.”

She hung up with him a few minutes later and sat back in her office chair, exhausted. Physically and emotionally exhausted. It had been a hell of a week.

When the computer finally came on, she checked her email and dealt with some fan letters. Then she spent a couple of hours editing a few game segments and set them to upload. Once that was done, she checked the clock. It was only a little after five. Friday was her early day. She’d finished with classes at one.

She wandered through the house and finally flopped down in front of the TV just for the noise. She hated the quiet. She grew up in a house full of family, and all this silence was getting to her. Another quick look at her phone showed no calls or texts from Ray.

It irritated her.

He’d gone off and left without so much as a goodbye. She hadn’t told Keith because it would only be one more thing to fight about. And the last thing she wanted to do was fight with her big brother for trying his best to look out for her, even if it wasn’t needed.

Flipping through the channels, she found absolutely nothing to interest her. It was because she was mad. Mad at Ray, mad at Keith, and maybe even a little mad at herself. Jo knew Ray sometimes put himself ahead of her, but she loved him and overlooked his flaws. He loved her as much as she did him. Only he didn’t always show it so well.

And that was the problem that had been grating on her nerves for a while. She was hoping with this move, that would improve. Ray had always complained about the pressure her family put him under, and that was no longer an issue. He didn’t even have to talk to her family, and still he seemed to forget about her needs.

Jo understood her family’s frustration with Ray. If she were in their shoes, she would probably be yelling at her too, but they didn’t understand. She and Ray had gone through a lot. They’d shared something she’d never told her family about that cemented her loyalty to him. He’d been there, stood by her, and helped her get through it. He could be an ass, and she knew how he treated her wasn’t always right, but she’d decided a long time ago to stand by him because he had her.

Didn’t make her weak, blind, or stupid.

She owed him for keeping her whole when her world splintered apart around her.

Shaking her head, she turned the TV off. This was not distracting her from painful memories. She couldn’t afford to go down that rabbit hole. Not today while she was alone and feeling vulnerable. What she needed was a distraction.

On impulse, she called Mason. Maybe they could start their movie review segment tonight. He picked up on the third ring.

“Something wrong, Josephine?”

“No. I was just wondering if you wanted to go catch a movie and start our review segment we talked about.”

“I wish, but I’m on nanny duty this weekend.”

“Is that some kind of weird new frat thing?” Jo scrunched her nose, imagining all kinds of insanity. Rush week would soon be approaching. Lord only knew what kind of stupidity they had planned for the new pledges.

“No, but that is an awesome idea.” Laughter rang out over the line. “I’m watching Delia and the twins so my brother and his wife can get some sleep. The boys seem to think it’s funny to keep them awake all night.”

“You’rebabysitting?” Dear God, those poor kids.

He laughed. “Don’t sound so shocked. I am perfectly capable of handling nanny duty.”

“If you say so.”

He huffed into the phone. “Ray working tonight? Is that why you wanted to go to the movies?”

“No. He’s gone fishing with his dad this weekend.”

Mason got so quiet, she thought for a moment he’d hung up. “He left you alone your first weekend in New York?”

Jo winced when Mason said it. The anger vibrating in his voice made her glad she’d kept that from Keith. Her brother’s temper would have skyrocketed.

“It’s no big deal. He and his dad go fishing all the time.”

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