Page 126 of Wild Catch
“Well, shit. I didn’t see that one coming,” Starr admits.
“I did.” We turn to Rivera. “That shit your brother pulled last week clued me in. That was some psycho behavior.”
“He’s never got officially diagnosed, but my old therapist believed that Lewis is a sociopath, actually.” What do you know? It feels freaking great to get that off my chest. It’s like I’ve been protecting Lewis all these years by keeping it quiet, instead of talking. And that spurns me on to add, “And both of my parents are narcissists—and not of the kind that just like their own reflection in the mirror. The manipulative kind.”
“So the great TJ Kim is evil?” Machado asks to clarify.
“Yup.”
Starr watches me closely. “Do I understand correctly that the whole thing with your brother messed you up and you didn’t say a word about it to anyone, and then Williams came in and basically poked a sleeping bear?”
I don’t respond.
“You ass, you could’ve trusted us.”
I grunt. “I’m not used to trusting. My biggest nightmare was me not being able to hold it together in front of other people, and that just happened tonight. That’s the only reason I’m even saying shit—that and I’m drunk on gluten and sugar.”
“So now that your worst nightmare already happened and you didn’t die, are you going to start trusting us at last?” Rivera narrows his eyes at me when I don’t answer right away. “Don’t make me punch you in your pretty face, you little shit.”
“It’s not that easy.” The words come out of my throat loaded with irritation. “It’s not a switch I can turn on and off as I please. I don’t even know if I have one, and that’s the big issue because…”
“Rose?” Machado asks sharply.
I groan. “Shit. Don’t tell me you’re another clever fox I have to watch out for.”
“Oh, thanks. No one’s called me clever before.” He smirks. “In fact, my own kid thinks I’m dull as a rock.”
“Wait, I don’t consider myself clueless, but how does this relate to Rose?” the Boricua asks.
Machado clears his throat. “I might’ve overheard them a little at the clinic.”
“You are on borrowed time, Machado,” I say through gritted teeth. That’s about as much mojo as I’m able to put into the threat at this point.
“It wasn’t much, something about how you don’t seem to understand that you’re enough for her.” He raises a leg and rests his arm on it before tipping his chin at me. “So is it actually because of your trust issues?”
“I trust her.” I growl.
“Then what’s the hold up, man?”
“Why in the freaking hell would I want to put her through this?” I motion toward my head, which they now know is a royal mess. “She could have any guy in the world. A doctor. A teacher—I don’t know, someone who isn’t a powder keg. Why would she settle for me?”
“Because she wants to, period.” We all turn to Starr. “As your resident guy who is going steady with a woman who teaches him something new every day”—Here he interrupts himself to chuckle dryly—“I can confirm that women make their own decisions regardless of your opinion, and the sooner you adapt to that, the happier you’ll be.”
“Checks out.” Rivera nods.
“Yeah, that’s true.” Machado rubs his jaw. “Ask me how I know.”
I reel back. “You’re saying that I should go along with Rose even if I’d be a terrible addition to her life?”
“But she chose you for a reason, you gigantic, steaming pile of turds.” Starr opens his eyes wide. “Ever stopped to think with that busy brain of yours that maybe her decision isn’t flawed?”
“But—”
He raises his paw. “Shut up for a second and hear me out. We now know that the princess made a bad call in dating Williams.” We all give various forms of acknowledgment to that. “Now tell me, are you like Williams?”
“Hell freaking no.”
“Which already means you’re an improvement.”
