Page 56 of The Archer Brothers

Livvie sits down quietly and EJ leaves me to go sit with her. He’ll never know how much my heart just broke in that moment, but I get it. He doesn’t see her a lot. I live here with him... or at least IthinkI do. Hell, right now I’m not even sure I’m in any functioning reality.

“How could you not tell me that our brother was alive? How could you do this to Mom?”

“Yeah, Nate, how could you do this to Mom?”

Both of us turn to find Evan standing in the doorway looking as cocky as ever.

“You both are making assumptions that you shouldn’t.”

“You’re twins! You have that freaky twin intuition. How could you not feel him orsomething?” Livvie pleads with me. I wish I had the answer she was looking for, but I don’t.

“Tink, why don’t you take EJ upstairs?” Evan says, asserting his control over the situation. “We need to have a conversation that EJ probably shouldn’t hear.”

“Can I take him for ice cream?”

“No,” I say.

“Yes,” Evan says at the same time. Liv looks back and forth between the two of us and Evan nods. I’m going to concede this one, but this will be it. I’m EJ’s dad, not him, and Ryley’smyfiancée. If Evan thinks that we’re just going to go back to the way things were, he’s out of his mind... if he’s even who he says he is. For all we know, he’s an imposter. He’s someone who has stolen my brother’s identity and is about to steal my life.

EJ hops down from her lap and pulls her hand into his. They’re out the front door before I can even tell him goodbye.

“How are you Evan?” I ask before he has a chance to say anything. By the way he’s standing I know he’s looking for a fight. He smirks and shakes his head.

“I should be asking you the same thing. How did it feel to be me for a while?”

I run my fingers through my hair, which is in serious need of a shave. Being gone for a month with no amenities takes its toll and I prefer to keep my hair as short as I can.

“I’m not sure what you’re referring to, but if it’s Ryley and EJ, I’m here because this is where you wanted me to be.” I stand and start pacing. There’s no way I’m going to let him attack me because of this. “You died, Evan. I identified your body. How you are standing here makes no sense. It’s unnatural.”

“I’m here because Ididn’tdie. Youdidn’tidentify me. You identified someone else.” He pushes himself off the wall and comes toward me just as Ryley steps into view with my sandwich in her hand. “The way I see it, little brother, you couldn’t wait to get Ryley all to yourself and EJ was an added bonus. You get to play Daddy inmyhouse withmygirl andmyson while I’m out in the damn jungle thinking about them every fucking day.

“So how was it, Nate? Did you conveniently ignore radio comms? Did you just happen to forget where I was? I’m hoping you can enlighten me because this is seriously fucked up and as far as I’m concerned, you’re the one who’s dead. You’re dead to me.”

Evan is standing nose to nose with me. I can feel the inhale and exhale of his chest against mine. He’s the only man that I can do this with. He’s the only man that can break me without even trying. But I’m not going to let that happen. We’re about to battle, and it’s not over some foreign land, a corrupt leader or political views. It’s over two people that we love the most in the world, the only two people who could destroy the both of us in a single solitary second.

His words echo through my mind...I’m dead to him. He doesn’t mean that. I know deep down that he’s angry, hurt and probably confused. I would be too. I know better than to take what he’s saying to heart, regardless of how much it hurts. He’s my brother. We’re bound by blood.

Small hands separate us, causing us both to step back. Evan’s anger is seeping through him and if I wasn’t the one on the other end of his torment, I’d tell whoever was to run. I’m not running.

“I didn’t know,” is all I can say as Ryley pushes me toward the steps and out of the living room.

TIME MOVES IN SLOW motion as Ryley pushes Nate up the stairs, the stairs that lead to the bedrooms, bedrooms that I don’t want her and Nate anywhere near. I’ve always been possessive of Ryley, even in high school. Once we started dating, guys flirted with her like crazy. Sometimes, her naiveté played in my favor because she didn’t realize they were doing it, or at least she didn’t let on that she’d noticed. Either way, I hated it. It drove me nuts that other guys thought that they had a chance with her, but on the other hand it was the biggest ego boost that she didn’t care.

The possessiveness started a few months before graduation. There was a guy in particular who was in her grade who couldn’t seem to grasp that she was with me. His name was Butler. John, Jeff, something with a J, I believe. We played football together, but other than that we weren’t friends. When he found out I had enlisted, he told Ry that he would be her shoulder to cry on. I wanted to set him straight, but Nate told me not to do anything to mess up my enlistment. A few days later, Butler showed up to school with a broken collarbone. I never asked Nate if he was responsible, but always suspected it. I never thanked him either because I didn’t want to acknowledge that he got to do what I wanted to do.

After that I made sure it was clear that she and I were together and short of pissing on her leg like a damn fire hydrant, all the guys in school knew she was taken. I let them all believe that I was the one who messed up Butler, and he never told them otherwise. When I would come home, I made sure to show up at school to surprise my girl, even in college.

Now, watching her with my brother makes me feel like an outsider. They share something that I may never understand. They were close before, but never like this. Now, seeing my girl clutch his t-shirt causes enough physical pain that my insides hurt. They share a connection that I’m not a part of.

I can’t lose her. Not having Ryley in my life is not something I’ve ever planned for. Knowing at eighteen that you’ve met the one person you were destined to be with is life changing. When she lay on the ground after I hit her, I knew. I knew she was the one and I wasn’t afraid to admit it. Never did I think that I’d be better with anyone else because she was the best of me. She made me want to be the best for her.

They talk too quietly for me to hear. I’m standing in the middle of a living room that I barely remember while they stand together on the stairs, and I can’t hear a single word they’re saying. And I can’t help but feel lost, left out and like I don’t belong. I step closer, only for Nate to turn and stomp up the stairs. Ryley makes eye contact with me. She descends slowly, never breaking our connection.

“What’s going on?”

Her hands brush over my shoulder, just like the many times she’d straighten out my uniform or my NWU’s. As her hands trail down my arms and into my hands, her fingers lock with mine.

“I need you to do me a favor.”

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