Page 136 of Burning Daylight
Ty chuckles. “Don’t hate the player, baby, hate the game.”
I laugh and shove his shoulder lightly. “That isnotwhat that phrase means.”
His brow quirks. “It is if we’re talking about the deeply capitalist system we were born into.”
My lips twist, something unsettling in my gut. “That’s not a game, Ty. It’s just the way it is.”
He hums. “Maybe I’ll see if my loving uncle will let me be your bodyguard or something.”
I roll my eyes. “With your temper? You’d get me killed.”
He shrugs. “I don’t know, seems like you have a pretty cake gig doing nothing around here. How hard could it be?”
“That’s not by choice.” I cross my arms, insulted and a little embarrassed that it’s noticeable even to him that there’s no real direction in my life. “And please don’t. I love you, but if I had to put up with you every day, I might actually kill myself.”
Tyler presses a hand to his chest. “Quit pretending I’m not your favorite cousin.”
“Not a hard title to claim when Rosalie’s your only competition.”
He purses his lips, sadness crossing his face for a fleeting moment. “Fair.”
My stomach grumbles, and that’s my cue. I stand up and put my hands on my hips. “Whatever, this entire family sucks. I’m hungry. Feed me.”
Tyler smirks, but relief filters through his gaze, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s because I stopped questioning him about Lance.
He throws his arm over my shoulder, dragging me into his side. “As long as we can hunt down the lovesick puppy in time.”
“Yeah, what’s up with that?” I question. “Did… Are he and Felicity…?”
Ty looks down at me knowingly. “I think if there was any truth to what he was saying, you’d know about it.”
His words give me a bit of reprieve.
“You know Alex loves things he can’t have,” Ty says as we make our way down the hall. “You reject him once and he’s like a dog desperate for a bone. No pun intended.”
“Gross.” I screw up my face. “Can you not make sex jokes about my brother, please?”
“What?” he asks. “It’snatural. We’re all adults here.”
I make a gagging noise, and Tyler laughs.
We’re both so into our conversation that we don’t realize when we round the corner and run almost smack dab into Frederick Lawrence.
My breath stalls in my throat, the amusement draining out of me like a wine that’s been uncorked.
Tyler stiffens next to me. “Freddy, hi. Didn’t realize you were back in town.”
“Hello, Tyler. Juliette.” Frederick’s eyes are heavy as they land on me, something flashing in his gaze that makes my hair stand on end. But just as quickly as it came, it disappears.
“Hey, Freddy.” I take him in.
He’s been a fixture in my life for as long as I can remember, but it’s been years since I’ve seen him. Once he started dipping his hands heavily into Marcus Montgomery’s life, my family pulled away. I know my dad still uses him, when necessary, but it’s not like he still comes to the family cookouts.
I snort to myself.As if we’ve had family cookouts.
He looks older. Worn out, maybe.
“It’s good to see you,” I say.
