Sneaky shit. Rat bastard full of love for his brother who had been nothing but trouble.
“I know I don’t say it often enough…. Okay, I haven’t said it for years, but I love you, Clay. Thank you for being my big brother.”
“But I’m not—”
“I’m older, but you’re the one who went out of his way to make my life better. So you’re a lot more mature than me. Well, except for that gun comment. That was pretty juvenile.”
He chuckled, and a weight lifted from my shoulders. Maybe we’d be okay after all. “I’ll see you soon, Matt.”
He disconnected, and I stared at the phone for a few moments, then slid it back into my pocket.
“Clay?” came Charlie’s voice.
I nodded, too choked with emotion to actually speak. The familiarstep-thumpof his gait had me smiling, and I sighed when his arm wrapped around my waist, happy for the fact he understood my need to have a connection right now.
“I’m proud of you. I hope you know that.”
That made one of us. All I saw myself doing was correcting my own lifetime of mistakes.
“Turn around,” he said, in a tone that told me he understood my feelings.
I spun and buried my face in his neck. He backed us up to the couch and sat down, holding me against him.
“I’m here to talk if you need me, you know. You don’t have to, but I wanted to make sure you knew the offer was on the table.”
Every time Charlie held me, I felt safer than I had in so long. He had this aura about him that told me he cared and would do his best not to hurt me. It dawned on me that I needed that if I was ever going to heal.
“I asked Clay to come over because I want to talk to him about things. But I need you to know that no matter what else, if I have to choose between him and you, I’m going to take you every time.”
Charlie sat back. “Hold on now. I need you to listen to me, okay? Don’t say anything, just hear what I’m telling you. You never want to be forced to choose one person over another. It’s not fair, and in the end, you’ll end up regretting it. Clay and I are adults, and we’ll handle our problems like it, I promise. I would never ask, or want, you to feel you needed to split from your family for me.”
My laugh bordered on hysterical. “I split from them a long time ago.”
He stroked my cheek, and his gaze bored into me. “True, but that was your own choice. It wasn’t about me. I don’t want you to do this because of me. I only want you to do it if you think there is no other way. Remember, Clay has always been there for you. He came when you called and didn’t hold it against you that you’ve pushed him away. You’re his brother, and he loves you. Let him do that now.”
Charlie was too good to be real. No one could be this patient and caring. “How are you so perfect?”
That got a belly laugh out of him. “Oh, I amsonot perfect. You know how you are about your stuff? I’m the same way with my writing. I hate it when a story isn’t going like I want. I’ll fuss and fume about it, cuss to myself. Hell, I’ll even yell at the characters if they’re not behaving like they’re supposed to. So not perfect, and I would appreciate it if you don’t put me on a pedestal, because it gives me that much further to fall.”
Okay, fine. Maybe he wasn’t perfect in every way, but in my eyes, he was as close as any person I’d ever met.
