Page 68 of Give My Everything
I need to remind myself of that and tell Remmy since she seems to think—erroneously—that I was a nerd. I wasn’t. I was just…not as sociable as the other kids were. I spent a lot of time on my own, studying, working for my dad, volunteering for…okay maybe I was a little bit of a nerd.
“Look, I get that you’re being a protective brother—I have a younger sister, too—but Remmy and I need to talk.”
His eyes narrow, but he steps to the side just enough to let me walk through the entry and into their foyer.
“Look who it is!”
A shout from a nearby room has me looking to the right just in time to get barreled into by Remmy’s other brother, Mathias.
With his arms wrapped around me, he gives me a strong pat on the back. “It’s the man who is making me an uncle!”
My eyes widen when I process his words, and over his shoulder, I catch another sneer from Dominic as he spins and leaves the room.
Well, I guess I can understand why he looks like he wants to kill me.
Mathias pulls back and looks at me, a big grin on his face, his hands on my upper arms. “Congratulations, man. Welcome to the family.”
The smile I give him must not be enough because he looks at me with a hint of embarrassment. “Don’t be mad at Rem for spilling the beans, okay? She didn’t mean to. And our parents still don’t know.”
I shake my head. “Well, glad to know someone else is excited for us,” I say, giving him a grin.
He claps me on both arms again and then waves for me to follow him.
“Yeah, it might end up just being me, if I’m completely honest. Dominic is always a little emotionally stunted, and our parents are going toshit a brickwithout a doubt,” he says, leading me through a courtyard at the center of the house that has an open roof. “But don’t worry—I will always have your back.”
I’m not certain anything he just told me is reassuring, but I still manage to give him a smile when he stops in front of a wet bar and pulls down a bottle of whiskey.
“Thank you so much, but I’m gonna pass on a drink,” I say. “I’m just here to see Remmy, so would you be able to point me in the direction of her room?”
Mathias’s easy smile returns. “Sure, man, but I don’t think she’s in her room. Try checking my dad’s study. Just back to the front and up the stairs, third room on the right.”
I nod and give him some sort of weird salute then spin around and head in that direction.
Even though it would be simple to just stand there and wait with Mathias, have a drink or two, and find something to shoot the shit about, I’d much rather go see what the deal is with Remmy.
She sent me a text this morning that I didn’t see until this afternoon. With all the busyness at work, sometimes I’ll put down my phone and not see it until hours later.
Ivy tells me it means I’m a workaholic. I say it just means I’m dedicated to my job.
I glance back at my phone, seeing her one-word message again.
Remmy: Hi
I can’t help but want to laugh at how short it is, almost like she’s just reaching out and dipping her toe into the water to make sure things aren’t too hot or too cold or too…something.
When I finally make it up the stairs and to the door, the Wallace Estate feeling more and more like a labyrinth with every step, I give a light knock on the door, which is cracked open.
“Yeah?”
I push the door farther open, smiling when I see her sitting on a chair facing an easel, a large canvas in front of her. She’s facing a massive window overlooking the courtyard, a sliver of ocean off in the distance.
I’ve never seen Remmy paint before. I didn’t even realize it was something she was interested in—or good at, which is definitely the case if the artwork on her canvas is anything to base things off of.
But I only catch a glimpse before she turns her head over her shoulder, her eyes widening when she sees me standing here, leaning against the door frame.
“I got your text,” I say, giving her a small smile.
Her eyes fall away, dropping to the floor, and I can see how uncomfortable she is just in the way her body is angled and how she’s sitting.
