Page 17 of Setting Limits

“Yeah, we really do.” He looks down at her sleeping face as he says it, nothing but adoration is his tone.

“I didn’t like seeing her that upset. Think she’ll be like that again when she wakes up?”

He tucks some hair behind her ear. “She’s doing better.”

We’re silent for a few minutes, Shay’s favorite show droning on in the background. I know she’s seen it about a million times, but it also brings her comfort, which she needs right now.

“Do you think she wants to be home tomorrow? With her mom?” Lochlyn’s voice is a low hum, and I’m not sure if he’s quiet because she’s sleeping or because he feels vulnerable not knowing.

“I don’t know, honestly. You have a better handle on her than I do these days. What do you think she’d want?”

“I may understand her better, but you were with her. You were home with them both and saw how they interacted. I know the details, the feelings, but I didn’t see it or experience it enough to judge it.”

Taking a minute, I ponder the situation. “It was strained, Lochlyn. Really strained. Things with Mom and Dad are what they are, but they’re not around to be distant. They’re just gone. For Shay…her mom was alwaysright thereand yet just out of reach. I don’t know that she wants to have to take care of her mom again.”

“That’s good insight, Chels. Thanks.”

We fall back into a comfortable silence while Lochlyn lounges with Shay against him. She looks so at ease and definitely her best.

“Did she eat today?” Maybe it’s my turn to be protective of her. And any time I’ve had a chance to grab a bite with her recently, she’s picked at it and moved things around more than actually put it in her mouth.

“Yeah, just not much. And nothing for dinner yet since it was only four.”

“We should get some food for when she wakes up. She really likes the Chinese place by Wegman’s.”

“You’re right. I don’t know that I can order, though.” He gestures toward a clearly zonked out Shay.

“I don’t mind. And I’ll pay.” It would take all the money I have left until my parents give me a little more next month, but it would be worth it.

“No. My wallet is on the desk. There’s enough cash to get dinner for us. You’ll just have to grab it from downstairs.”

“Lochlyn, I ca—”

“Chelsea.” He doesn’t have to say more for me to know the conversation is over.

He’s always been that way with me. Bossy and needing to have the last word. Normally I’d argue, but things are still touchy between us, and I don’t feel it’s the best time to do that.

While things between us are on the upswing, he still doesn’t talk to me more than he absolutely has to, which is how I know he really wanted to ask about Shay being home. I also know that he won’t communicate again until it’s time to get food.

It’s in this silence that I take a moment to reflect on our relationship and our differences.

Lochlyn has always been beautiful. With those striking blues and sharp jaw, how could he not be? Not to mention he’s tall and built. He’s my brother, so obviously I don’t see himthatway, but I can acknowledge beauty when I see it, and it’s definitely engrained in Lochlyn’s DNA.

And let’s not forget the way all the girls at school have always swooned over him. Even from a younger age, he’s been good looking, and never had the awkward phase so many of us go through.

As much as Shay tried to hide noticing his features, she often failed miserably. But I had always taken it as just another girl noticing him, that they were too close to really see each other as more than friends or notice the true attractiveness of one another. I mean, anybody can appreciate something that’s aesthetically pleasing, which attractive people are. There’s more to it when it goes beyond just appreciation.

The fact that Lochlyn is practically a genius is just an added perk to most. I know it is for Shay. Most of the bimbos couldn’t have cared less if he could string a sentence together, let alone one that’s thought provoking or lyrical.

Though we share DNA, Lochlyn got the good genes. I guess you could say I’m pretty. Not nearly as much as Shay, but still pretty in my own right. It helps that I’m easy, kind of like my brother. It’s a fact that I know about myself, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

I like sex. A lot.

On some level, I think it helps me feel loved. That it helps fill some gap that my parents have left behind with their never-ending absence in my life.

But Lochlyn’s promiscuity is often far more overlooked than my own, and more easily forgiven. Perhaps it’s because the girls just want to be one of the many, or perhaps it’s because it seems to be more forgivable for a guy.

One thing I never wanted was for Shay to be one of the horde. One more tick on his bedpost. Learning the truth of the matter, of how Lochlyn not only is but always has been far less of the player I had believed, was shocking…to say the least.

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