He blows out an exaggerated breath. “I may not have mentioned that you tore your shirt while wrestling with the sheriff to let Dad go. Or that you followed that lil’ lady into the barn to extinguish a fire someone started.”
My heart sinks. My heart sinks so fast I don’t know what to do.
“Aren’t you asshole of the year?” Dani spits out what I’m thinking.
Only, aren’t I the asshole of the year too? For listening to Theo? For assuming what I was seeing was the one thing I secretly feared?
“After everything we’d been through growing up—” Thorn starts, but his brother cuts him off.
“Yeah, after everything we’d been through, you chose a girl over me.” Theo is straight in front of Thorn now. “Over your blood.” He shoves him, but Thorn barely moves. “You were trailing Flora’s every move, clingy like a tick on a hound dog. So much so you forgot I was even alive that summer.”
“Bullshit.”
“You barely came home.” Theo takes a step, emphasizing his conviction.
“You didn’t want to be at home either.” Thorn counters.
“But at least being home with you was bearable. Being at home with Dad was a nightmare.”
“You spent most of the summer at the Walker Ranch doing the one thing you told her I was doing. The one thing you fucking knew I didn’t do.”
Thorn bunches the fabric of his brother’s shirt into his fists. Theo stumbles against him.
“If you were anyone else, my fist would land on your jaw,” Thorn thunders. “But I’m not dad. I just didn’t realize how muchlike that son of a bitch you are.” He shoves him back, and Theo slams into the pool table.
Thorn turns to me. His eyes ache with pain and betrayal that burns into my soul. “You should’ve talked to me before taking off.”
He storms past me. His forceful stomp leaves an imprint echoing behind him.
“Aren’t you a class act?” My sister charges at Theo and punches him straight in the nose before I can stop her.
“Shit! Woman!” Theo covers his nose, and blood seeps through his fingers.
“Oh, did that hurt?” My sister places her hands on her hips and smiles innocently as laughter fades, voices hush, and eyes turn our way.
“Of course, it fucking hurt, you crazy bitch.”
“Dani, seriously.” I want to chase Thorn, but what would I say?
Instead, I decide to help the liar.
“Get away.” He jerks back when I reach for his chin.
“Tilt your head back,” I instruct him. “Come on,” I insist when he just stares at me. “Do it.”
“Stop.” Dani pushes her way between us. “Go after Thorn.”
“He doesn’t want to see me.”
“Yes, he does. He’s wanted to see you since the day you left, and now he knows you didn’t leave because you didn’t love him.”
“But he also knows I didn’t trust him either.”
My sister places her hands on my shoulder. “Good. It’s out in the open. You can see you should have trusted him.”
My insides crush. “I should have trusted him. Besides Theo calling me, Thorn never gave me a reason not to trust him.”
“Don’t tell me. Go tell him.” My sister spins me by the shoulders and gives me a shove. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this one.”
