Page 28 of Win Some Love Some
“I don’t, but it’s a hard thing to pretenddidn’thappen.”
“Try harder.”
“You afraid your crush will come back if you actually spend time with me?” he asked, like he wasteasingme. Like I was a child.
“Oh, Nick,” I said with a wisdom beyond my years. “It was never a crush.”
That shut him up.
“So, it’s settled,” I said with some relief. It was hard being mad. Being hurt. I was alone in the world these days and being normal with Nick was a balm on my exhausted and anxious soul. “I am officially waving the magic normal wand. Now tell me about your brothers. How did this all happen?”
“I got a letter from a private investigator that Wyatt had hired after their mom died. Our….mom died.”
Oh my God, so many things to process.
“Your mom died?”
He nodded.
“Your mom left you and had another family?” I whispered.
Instinctively, I reached for his arm to offer comfort, but jerked it back at the last second.
He looked at me holding my hand clasped in my lap and raised a single eyebrow. “We said normal. Normal Nora was pretty touchy feely.”
I thought of the way I kissed his hand that night and wanted to die.
“Well, Normal Nora didn’t understand personal boundaries.”
“Or New Nora got duped, hard, and she’s embarrassed?”
Classic Nick trick. Deflect from his own shit by bringing it around to me and my problems.
“New Nora isn’t up for discussion until you finish the story.”
He sighed and turned left for the harbor. “There’s not much to tell. I met Liam and Wyatt for a drink in Boston. I didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t even tell Antony or Birdie I was doing it.”
“Why not?”
“What was there to say? I didn’t think it would amount to anything, so what was the point of bringing that drama into their lives?”
More classic Nick. I wanted to tell him that he was the point.
“I figured we’d meet,” Nick continued. “They would say whatever they had to say and that would be that.”
“Except that’s not what happened,” I prompted. Because they were in town, together, looking for Nick.
“I don’t know. They pissed me off.”
I laughed.
“What’s so funny?” He asked.
“Explain please and use your words.”
Nick opened his mouth. Closed it. “I don’t know. Wyatt was acting like he’d come to save me or some shit. Like if he’d known about me all along he would have found me sooner. Now he’s allwe’re familyand it’s horseshit. They’re not my family.”
“No,” I said. “We both know biology doesn’t make family, but it doesn’t mean you can’t get to know them.”
