Page 133 of Ruin
“Nah,” he says, reaching for the bottle. “Just a big brother doing his brotherly duties.”
I roll my eyes and kick the swing, then throw my feet up to spread out. I’m entirely too long for the seat, and my feet hang off the edge. Conveniently, I can reach the posts to kick off to keep moving.
“Tell me what happened,” he says, not wasting any time.
I sigh, listening to the creak of the swing as it rocks me back and forth. If this were more comfortable, it would lull me to sleep.
“He lied.” I hold my hand out, and when I feel the bottle against it, I close my fingers around it and bring it to my lips to take two big swigs. It burns all the way down, settling heavily in my stomach. I hate how much I miss him. “Again.”
“When did he lie the first time?” he asks, tapping my arm. I hand him the bottle.
“Nine years ago, when he said he’d come back for me and never did.” I grab the post by my head and push so I swing more. It creaks, the crickets chirp, the wind blows. My brother doesn’t say a word, he just sits and waits for me to finish talking. So I do. “We were going to leave together, but he didn’t come back. I never knew why until recently.”
“It must have been a good reason,” Kaison says.
I see the bottle from the corner of my eye, so I take it, bringing it to my lips. I nod slowly. “It was.” I take a sip, handing the bottle back. “Lucas. He got into an accident. Was in a coma.”
“Fuck,” Kaison says under his breath.
“They took him off life support, and that’s why he came back here. He said that he and Beth—“ I pause, taking another sip and thinking over my words. Did he say they were divorced or separated? I can’t remember now. All I remember thinking is that they were no longer together. That’s all that mattered to me. “He stayed with her because he couldn’t bear letting her deal with Lucas alone.”
“What changed?”
“I don’t know,” I answer. “We didn’t really talk about it.”
“Don’t you think you shouldhave?”
I huff a laugh. “Yeah, probably. But… that’s us, I guess.”
“So what happened tonight?”
I purse my lips, staring at the green bottle in my hand. It’s half gone already and will be empty before the night is through. Maybe we’ll work on a second bottle. A third, if I’m lucky.
I could so easily put this behind me. What was said doesn’t really matter, does it? What matters is he’s here, with me, and there are divorce papers in his house. But are his actions more important than his words? I was working on trusting him, and this is a set back, right?
He came back to me.
But he lied.
“I found out he isn’t divorced yet.”
“Okay,” Kaison says carefully.
Make a wise choice, Kolton. This could all be over. You can make it better.
What did he say? Just remember what he said!
I let out a heavy sigh, staring down at the bottle. The conversation is fuzzy. Mostly I recall how I felt and not so much what he said. But I have to tell Kaison something.
“He’d told me they were already divorced.”
Chapter Fifty-Five
Kolton
Saturday comes quicker than I expect it to. I’ve been so busy all week getting everything together for the next charity event and planning other events around the state to start up more chapters. There’s a lot that goes into it, like finding good areas and areas of need. Our club has a purpose, and we don’t want to get too big and let things get out of control. It doesn’t help that I can barely think straight because I miss Lucian, but I’m too stubborn to call or go to his house.
I know I could. I know he wouldn’t turn me away. And I also know he isn’t abandoning me. That has to mean something, right? I’m not panicking that he’s going to leave and be gone forever, but I hate that we aren’t together. I know he’s still here, awaiting my return. He’ll welcome me with open arms when I’m ready. He knows I need space. He always knows what I need.
