Page 57 of Petals of Blue: Part One
That's what depression will do to a man.
I sigh, not at my brother but because of my negative thoughts. After checking the banana bread, I close the oven and lean against the counter. "I'm fine, D. Are you?"
He grunts and takes a swig of his beer. "He was right." I hate seeing him so troubled, but we deserved everything we got tonight.
"Obviously. But which part are you talking about?"
I would laugh at my brother's contemplative expression, but I'm feeling the same. There were a lot of truth bombs that exploded in our faces tonight. I think we're all struggling to see clearly again.
Declan fiddles with the rim of his can, seemingly getting his thoughts in order. "Erica, well Blue, really did make us strive to be the best we could possibly be."
Very true.
He continues. "I was always thinking about the best way to communicate without triggering her and learning how to make her smile. Our friendship taught me to be thoughtful and think of someone other than myself, you know?"
"I know."
Rage twists his features, not surprising me. "But that's so fucking stupid because while I thought I was far beyond my years with mythoughtfulness, I hurt her. I started only thinking about myself again!"
My big brother role perks up. "And what did you learn?"
Declan snorts a humorless laugh and finishes off his beer. "That loyalty shouldn't be blind. It's fucking earned. Not the result of blood relations. And Erica Bennett earned our loyalty. Not those pricks who created our sorry asses."
Amen. I open my mouth to agree when the back sliding glass door slams open, then a flash of Blue speeds past the kitchen and plants herself between us, the living room and the stairs.
"FELIX MOREL! Get out here right the fuck now!!"
Declan and I stand frozen, not wanting to draw attention to ourselves when there's a pissed off woman in our home. And not just any pissed off woman, but one who has every fucking right to rip our balls from our dicks.
"Jesus..." Declan whispers, sounding shocked and slightly terrified.
"FELIX!"
"Damn it, Blue!" Felix bellows, his stomps echoing fromthe back hallway. "My eardrums are going to bleed if you keep that up. What's your problem?!"
"YOU!" She stomps her foot, making her messy blue waves jump around her shoulders. "How could you say you want tocherishme andloveme, when you never gave me an ounce of your loyalty?!"
Shit on sticks. Felix's frown is funny for half a second before he questions how the hell she heard him say that not three hours ago.Fuck, it's getting late.
"Roman called me, so I heard the whole thing."
Blue crosses her arms, looking sassy and ready to fight. The baggy shirt she's wearing over leggings does nothing to take away from her sexiness right now. Her bare feet are a little concerning considering I'm pretty sure it's illegal to drive barefoot.
Declan makes a strangled noise and turns to me at the same time Felix's glare moves from Blue to me with scary precision. Blue saves me from having to explain myself.
"Don't look at him, look at me!"
"Believe me, sweetheart, I'll gladly look at you all day long."Why is Felix teasing her right now? She's pissed.
"Damn," Declan groans quietly and adjusts himself. I roll my eyes but tune back in to the heated scene on the other side of the dining room table.
"Stop, Felix. Just stop," Blue grinds out. "I don't want that. I can't give you any more than I already have. There's nothing left!"
Felix frowns and steps toward her. "What does that mean?"
Blue steps back and stiffens. "That means I can't be in a relationship with you because you broke my trust!"
Felixexplodes,his hands yanking on his hair as he faces off with the girl from our past. The woman we want to be our future.
