They stare at me.
“Don’t lie to me,” Sebastian says. “Don’t I pay you enough?”
“Of course you—”
“You don’t have any friends,” Cash says. “We work like twenty-four hours a day. There’s no time for friends.”
“Talk to us,” Ryland says. “We’re here for you.”
I throw up my hands. “She’s not a friend, okay? She’s a woman. I met her last week. She’s really fucking hot, and I’m building her a gym for her cat as an excuse to spend time with her. I’m not running away from the news about Mom.”
Cash crosses his arms over his chest. “Why didn’t you tell me about this woman?”
Because I don’t want to jinx it.
“It’s too fucking convenient,” Sebastian says. “You find out about Mom, and you invent a woman out of thin air? You’re running.”
He points at me, and I’ve had enough.
My brothers live with me. They don’t get to dictate my every move.
I start toward my truck. I’ve explained myself. I don’t need to tell them anything else.
Just as I’m reaching for the door handle, a solid mass of Cash slams into my back and knocks me on the ground. Gravel digs into my hands as I push myself up and try to roll him off.
“Get off me, asshole,” I say.
“You don’t have to run,” he says as he shoves me down. “You don’t have to make up fake girlfriends.”
“I’m not running,” I say through gritted teeth. I shove upward with all the strength I have, and Cash tumbles off me.
As quickly as I can, I leap to my feet and swing the door to my truck open.
Cash grabs for the door, but I’m faster. I pull it shut before he can stop me.
Shoving the key in the ignition, I start the engine as he pulls on the door, yelling at me to stay and talk it out.
As I’m backing out of the driveway, he jumps into the truck bed. I guess he thinks I’ll stop to talk him into getting out of my truck, but I just back onto the street and take off with him yelling at me and banging on my back window.
Amelia’s house is just over two miles from our house. Cash can walk home.
When I get to Amelia’s, I park on the street and hop out onto the sidewalk.
“What the hell?” Cash asks. “Where are we?”
“We’re at my friend’s house,” I say. “Like I told you.”
He points at me and rolls his shoulders back. “You almost got me, but I can tell when you’re lying. Take me home and let’s—”
I start up the sidewalk to Amelia’s house.
“What are you going to do? Knock on a stranger’s door and convince them to let you in just to trick me?”
Amelia opens the door and steps onto the porch, her smile so welcoming I want to kiss it.
“Thanks for coming over so quickly. I got out of work early today, and I—” Her gaze strays toward the street. “Did you know there’s a confused-looking man in the back of your truck?”
“That’s my brother. If we ignore him, he’ll probably go away.”
