Page 86 of Love Thy Brother
Rubi’s death grip on my shoulders eased.
I missed it. Didn’t miss the flammable tension between him and Nash, though. “You need to talk.”
Rubi lit another joint. Not answering.
“He’s right,” Embry said. “You’re angry with yourselves, not each other.”
“Thanks for the analysis I never asked for,” Rubi retorted.
“Don’t be a dick.” Mateo, this time, but there was no edge. He seemed lost in thought, and Embry’s attention eventually drifted to him.
They left.
Only Saint and Alexei remained, two people who loved and understood my burdened older brother better than anyone.
I didn’t know Alexei that well.
Saint, though. Whether I called him brother or not, I loved him, and if he had something to say, I wanted to hear it, no matter how long it took him to get it out.
Rubi moved away, disappearing into the kitchen again. I faced Saint and waited, still enjoying the weed buzz, Saint’s restless tapping on the tabletop a mellow beat in my head.
Huh. Maybe smoking weed was the answer. But then... no. I hated smoking, and too much of this shit made me paranoid as fuck. Not like Rubi, who could smoke all day long and still be a reasonable person at the end of it.
You’re never a reasonable person.
“He thinks he’s let you down.”
I blinked, startled by Saint’s rough voice. “Who?”
“Cam. He was starting to hope you believed the club was moving in a different direction. Now we have to go crawling in shite again, and he’s scared of losing you.”
A frown creased my face before my brain caught up. “But it’s my fault. Rubi attacked Jonsey because of me.”
Saint didn’t disagree. Just watched me with eyes that were as unfathomable as Rubi’s were kind. “Porth Luck has always been a problem. It’s why your dad bought that land in the first place, to stop the Crows settling in there.”
“I don’t need a history lesson.” I said it with a smile, but Alexei glanced up from whatever clever shit he was doing on his laptop.
“Maybe I do, little brother. These people forget they do not come with an instruction manual.”
“Little brother? That’s the best nickname you could think of for me?”
Alexei shut his laptop. “It is what you are.”
“What did you call Nash?”
“What he is.”
Nash was lots of things. I tried to guess which of his attributes would speak to Alexei the most, but it got me nowhere but a bunch of rabbit holes that helped no one right now.
Cam.
Rubi.
They need me.
I turned back to Saint. “Tell Cam it’s fine. If I was going to be a massive dick about it, I wouldn’t be here.”
Saint nodded, tilting his head, appraising me. “You sure you want to be involved, though? Mateo’s not as lively on the road as he used to be, but without him, I’m gonna need soldiers.”
