Page 15 of Broken

"Thank you. All three of you for being here. But I know you guys all have lives of your own. I can do this myself. Really." Guilt ate at me. They didn't want to be here. Especially Kai.

As if he had planned it, Kais' pocket buzzed the moment we sat down to eat. He pulled out his pager, pressed a few buttons, and put it back in his pocket.

"Well, duty calls. Thanks for bringing the pizza, bro." Kai patted his older brother on the shoulder. Noah might be the older brother, But Kai towered over him by a few inches. He nodded to me and Mia. "I can have some guys from the thrift store pick up the furniture tonight. It was good to see you again, Sin."

Without waiting for my thanks, Kai walked out the door, and back out of my life.

eight

Kai

IknewIshouldn'thave gone to Layla's house. I couldn't help myself. Seeing her sitting on the porch broken and alone reminded me of all those years she sat there after her mom hit her dad and punished her for nothing that was her fault, to begin with.

Sinclair shattered my heart twelve years ago. I don't know what I did to hurt her back then, but she wanted nothing to do with me. She even went so far as to lie and tell me she slept with Noah.

I laughed at the memory. I spent the entire first semester hating my brother. Then when I came home for Winter break, I didn't say a word to him, but I planted my fist right into his jaw. That was our first real fight.

My actions didn't surprise my parents much. They figured with three boys in the house, there were bound to be some fists thrown during our adolescent and teen years. But we all got along fairly well until that winter. We were back on brotherly terms within a few hours. Noah said Sin and Adam fought, and she didn't want to go home.

I never got the chance to ask my friend what he and Sin fought about, because that night, Sinclair's father murdered Adam. Beat him to death on the front lawn. After being arrested and sent back to prison for manslaughter, Howard Grant took his own life.

No wonder Sin didn't want to go into the house today. I didn't blame her, the house held too many dark memories and ghosts. I offered to have the sale handled for her, so she could continue the life she carved out for herself. She declined my offer, for whatever reason, and the selfish side of me was glad she did. Sin coming home gave me hope that she would let us back into her life. We needed to go slow with her.

The timing couldn't be worse. My brothers and mom planned a party to celebrate the end of my residency for tonight. I would love to have Sin join us, but I didn't want to push her too far. When she left twelve years ago, it broke Mia and her little sister Tess.

She left us all broken, but Mia and Sin were like sisters and my best friends. To see Mia broken the way Sin broke me, hurt twice as much. I wouldn't put Mia through that again. I hoped this weekend would be what Sin needed to come home to us, even just for the weekend. I needed to give her space, and I needed space too. For my own sanity.

Quietly, I thanked my brother for paging me rather than calling my cell, giving me a valid excuse to leave early. I sent a text to Mia and Noah on my way to Callum's, letting them know I thought it would be better if we didn't invite Sin tonight. I was sure Mia wanted her there, and my mom would be happy to see her, but I wanted to give her whatever space she needed.

Cals bar was close to the only hotel in town, the same one Sin checked into last night. The bar was small with a rustic vibe. It sat closed for a few years and was outdated and needed a lot of work.

Callum bought it shortly after our father died, and it only took him about a year for the bar to be ready for business. I was proud of my baby brother and the hard work he put into his little bar.

I walked into chaos. Millie, my brother's head waitress, directed the catering staff where to put the food. Other bar staff decorated the bar. Banners across walls, and balloons in every corner. I hated that my whole family went to so much trouble for this party, but it made my mom happy seeing her son follow in his father's footsteps.

I took over the family practice my father ran for the almost twenty years he lived in this town. Yesterday, Noah pulled dads old desk out of storage and moved it to the office for me. I think he's as proud of me as my mother is.

"Hey, Millie "

She turned around and smiled at me. "Oh. Hey Kai. How's it going?" I walked in the direction of the organized chaos of the party setup.

"It's good, I got a page from Cal, he sent a 911. Everything okay?"

"I was just trying to save you from making a bad decision." Callum came out from the back kitchen. The tiny galley kitchen had enough space for the necessities, a sink, dishwasher and drying racks, and a small convection oven and fryer for easy bar snacks.

"And what bad decision would that be?" I knew he meant Sin and all the things I wanted to say to her, to do to her, with her. Fuck!

For years, I tried to get over her. I had girlfriends, one-night stands, and weekend flings, but it always came back to Sinclair Grant. My 'One who got away'.

"You know what, or should I say who I'm talking about Kai." Cal's voice was a little harsh. He never cared for Sin. I don't think he hated her, he hated seeing his older brother get his heart broken again.

From the day I met her, I loved Sin, so I made a point to be her best friend. Sin never saw me as anything other than a friend. At one point, I thought she had a crush on Noah, it made sense, seeing as how he always came to her rescue. But she stole my heart that first day, and

I never got it back.

"Is she coming tonight? Did you invite her?" Cal interrupted my thoughts. He asked a valid question; he planned this party after all. Okay, Cal planned it for my mom. I sighed and rolled my eyes; my mother insisted on this godforsaken party to celebrate my taking over my father's practice.

"No. I didn't invite her. Why?"

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