“You can’t be serious. Just because your brother isn’t athletic, doesn’t mean he’s better than you.”
He pulls me closer, and this time his eyes glint with humor. “No one’s ever put it that way before.”
“Well, it’s true.” I’m still fuming over the whole thing. How many times has Lucas had to go through this kind of patronizing fuckery?
“It’s also true Harry’s the smart brother. And Mac’s the brilliant sister.”
“Going to university doesn’t make you a better person than anyone else.”
“I’ve never said Harry’s the better person.” He’s obviously enjoying my defense of him. “And he never went to university. But he got the brains, and I got the brawn.”
I scoff, not sure whether he’s pulling my leg, now. “Your brother didn’t get hit with the ugly stick, so it stands to reason you ended up with your fair share of his brains.” I’m not entirely sure that came out the way I intended, so I cup his jaw in the hope it distracts him from any negative slant he might decide to take from it. “Are you fishing for compliments?”
He tucks my hair behind my ear, and it’s such a gentle, unexpected gesture, that it warms me deep inside.Stop falling so hard for him, Vi…
“I’ve never had to fish for compliments.” If anyone else said that, they’d sound so up themselves. But Lucas just sounds kind of wistful, and a strange ache squeezes my heart. “But at home I was always the odd one out.”
His confession slays me. I know exactly what he means. There’s no logical reason, when I know I’m as much part of Dad’s family and relatives as my half-brother, but sometimes I get a pang when I see Mum, Dad, and Sam together. The three legit Hendersons.
“You know,” I say softly, “it was probably all in your mind. I bet the rest of your family never thought that about you.”
He appears to consider that, almost as though it’s never occurred to him before. “You could be right.”
“Of course, I’m right. Trust me, I would’ve noticed if your brother or sister were being snotty about you that night I met them.”
He gives ahuhof laughter. “None of my family’ssnotty. Just highly intellectual.”
I stroke his jaw, loving the way his overnight stubble grazes my palm. “That’s not their fault. They can’t help it.”
“That’s true,” he concedes. “Genetics are a strange thing.”
“And so are families.”
“Are we still talking about my family?” He winds a length of my hair around his finger. “Because yours seems solid.”
I want you to meet them.
Luckily, I don’t say that out loud, as I don’t want him running for the hills. I dated Geoff for three months before he met my parents.
Wait, I haven’t talked that much about my family, have I?Yet somehow Lucas picked up that we’resolid.
That shouldn’t thrill me as much as it does, but I can’t help it. He reallydoeslisten, and although I’m over comparing him to my ex, Katie has often moaned about how her boyfriends never hear anything she says.
“Wearesolid. It’s not that. It’s just sometimes I wish I was Dad’s real daughter, you know?”
“I thought you were, the way you’ve talked about him.”
“He tried to adopt me, when he and Mum married, but my bio dad kicked up such a stink, they put it on ice.” I heave a sigh and wrap my arms around Lucas. While it’s hardly a big secret, it’s not often I admit the truth about my birth name, but I want Lucas to know. “Henderson isn’t even my real name. It’s Dobbes.”
He pulls back just enough so he can catch my gaze. “Nah. You’re not a Dobbes, Violet.”
“One day I’m going to legally change my name.”
“What’s stopping you?”
Okay, I hadn’t expected that question, and I’m not sure why. It’s a perfectly reasonable one, but I don’t have an answer for it. Then again, no one’s ever called me out on it before. “Um, nothing. I just haven’t got around to it yet.”
“If you want something, you’ve gotta go for it.”
