“Was Lucky ever a loner?” There. I may as well shake the closet and see how many skeletons are about to tumble out.
“Loner?” He ticks his head to the side, clearly confused. “Lucky was popular in high school. She had boys calling twenty-four seven. I had to kill the landline.”
I’m stumped. “I don’t get it.” I shake my head at him. “What’s going on? Why would she say those things?” I know I should keep my mouth shut. I know I shouldn’t be processing any of this out loud, but I can’t seem to stop myself. “Did something happen to her to make her believe all this? Is she okay?” God forbid she has a mental health history I know nothing about. I’d do anything to make her better.
Jet’s eyes darken as if a storm’s just moved in. “Lucky doesn’t have a sister, never did. And I don’t know what other things she’s told you, but she is not a liar.”
“I think she might be,” I say it low, mostly to myself.
“Take it back, dude. This is not going to end well.” His leg starts to shake. He taps his foot manically in an effort to keep himself in check.
“Is your sister a liar, Jet?” I give him a hard shove in the chest, and all four of our boys are front and center, but Jet holds his hand up, letting them know he’s got this.
“If you want to come at me, then do it. I’m not fighting you, dude. But do not, I repeat do fuckingnotcall my baby sister a liar.”
“She’s a liar.” It comes out sad, like a fact. In an instant, all the hurt, the pain, the outrage, and rejection I’ve ever felt in my life comes bottle rocketing out of me, and I shove Jet Madden’s burly ass into the wall so hard I would bet he left an impression. “It’syourfucking fault!” My fist connects with his jaw, and I feel a satisfying pop under my knuckles. I pull him in close by the shirt because I need him to hear me. “You and your one-man protection league have her trained to live some undercover life, because if she lives her life out in the open like any normal human being, you come at her and everything around her like a fucking cyclone. She can’t get away from you, so she creates another reality—one that doesn’t include you.” I knock him hard against the wall one more time. “She lets you believe she’s Miss Congeniality while she eats her lunch alone. She makes up a sibling to replace you. She tells me that she’s slept around and lets me take her virginity like some fucking animal.” It occurs to me as I finish rioting those words over his face that perhaps that last piece of information would have served me better as something to ponder on my own.
“Fuck!” he shouts into my face and scoops me in by the collar.
Owen plucks me loose, leaving my shirt with a tear from my neck to my armpit.
Rex jumps in front of Jet and glowers at me. “We’re done here. Owen, you’d better make sure Jet gets home, and think about chaining his front door shut.” He looks to me with a tired blink. “Lawson, you’re coming with me.”
It turnsout Rex’s great escape plan is to haul me into his truck and drive us up to the Witch’s Cauldron—WB’s first and foremost site for copulation.
“Swear to God, if you try to put the moves on me, I’ll throat punch you.”
Rex huffs a quiet laugh. “Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re into your stepsiblings.” I give an obstinate smile his way. “Last time I checked, I qualified.”
“Sorry, sweetheart, you’ll have to fish in another lake if you want that kind of attention.” He offers that disappointed look my way I’ve seen him give me a time or two. “Look, dude, I know that you don’t care for the fact I’m with your sister. But Scarlett and I are in it to win it. I’m proposing soon. This isn’t going away. So get used to it or hide the hell under a rock because we’re not holding our breath for your approval.”
The anger that’s been percolating inside me for the last solid year comes bubbling to the top. “It makes me insane to know you’re fucking my sister!” I shout with such a marked aggression the windows vibrate.
His hands fly up. “Geez. You feel better?” He slumps in his seat, observing me as if waiting for me to finish my tantrum. “Look, I know you think that I’ve stepped in and ruined her life, but I promise you that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Scarlett is special. I thought that long before our parents ever got hitched. She’s my best friend. We’re in love. Are you in love with Lucky?”
Rex pins me with a dead serious look.
“Yes.” It comes out inaudible. “I am in love with Lucky.”
“Do you think you can stop caring about her just because her brother doesn’t approve?”
His words cut through me like a knife to the gut. “No.” And just like that, Rex Toberman proves his point. “I guess I owe you an apology.” Crap. “I’m sorry, man.” I hold out my fist, and he offers a quick bump.
“No problem. In all honesty, I think you wouldn’t have approved of me regardless of the fact our parents are together. I get it. There’s just something hardwired in us to want to protect our sisters. Don’t think for a minute that I won’t lose my mind when Trixy starts dating.”
“You know she’s dating.” I hate to burst his bubble. Trixy is beautiful and has a great personality to boot. Her dance card is filled for the next two years.
“Seriously dating. She’s having fun right now. Group events. Lots of friends are involved. But when someone comes along and she starts bringing him around, I’m going to keep my eyes open. I don’t want to see her hurt. Just like you don’t want to see Scarlett hurt. Were you this hard on Duncan?”
Duncan Wormier is the asshole Scarlett dated until Sabrina snatched him for herself. I hate Duncan twice as much for screwing over both of my sisters.
“No.” It’s true. I never took him seriously. “In a way, I knew he wouldn’t be around for the long haul. I guess I feel differently about you because I know you will.”
“I will. And I promise you, I will never break your sister’s heart. Feel free to kick my ass if I do.”
“It will be my pleasure.”
