“Katy!”
I jolt, recognizing the voice even after all this time. I panic and jump to my feet. I shuffle backward to the door and pull it open. Katy stares at me in confusion as I close it behind me and duck out of view.
“Over here,” Katy yells. I stay where I am, crouched down pathetically on the floor below the window. What the hell is he doing here? Does he know I’m back? I feel my stomach churn as I fight the urge to throw up.
“What are you doing over here? This place gives me the fucking creeps.” Banner’s deep voice floats through the wall to me. Even though I know he would sooner set me on fire than hold me, there is a part of me that wants nothing more than to step into one of his hugs.
“If you hate it here so much, you shouldn’t have bought the house next door.”
What the fuck? Why the hell would he do that?
“You didn’t tell me what you’re doing here, Katy.”
She sighs. “I’m not doing anything. I just wanted to get away from Mom and Dad for a while, and you weren’t home. They won’t listen to me, Banner. They don’t understand me at all. They don’t even try.”
I hear him sigh before he answers, and I picture him running his fingers through his hair. “Try and see it from their point ofview, Katy cat. They’ve already lost one kid and very nearly lost a second. You’re their baby. It’s hard for them to let you go.”
“Well, they are going to have to, at some point.”
“Would it really be so hard to go to college? I’m not saying it has to be the one they want, but one of the Bannerman kids should go.”
“Would you have? Just to appease Mom and Dad?”
I don’t need to see him to know the answer to that one.
“No, but I’m not you.”
“And I’m not Alec,” she tells him softly.
“That’s not fair, Katy. You don’t understand what it’s like for them. Try to cut them some slack. They miss him, that’s all.”
“But I’m still here, Banner, and I don’t want to be the substitute kid that has to walk in her dead brother’s footsteps. I want to be me.”
“Nobody is saying you have to be Alec. We just want to keep you safe, that’s all.”
“But it’s impossible to keep me safe all the time, now, isn’t it?”
Maybe it’s because I can’t see her that I’m hyper-focused on her voice. There is something in her tone that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“Katy?” Banner questions. I guess it wasn’t just me who picked up on it.
“Forget it, Banner. I just want out of this godforsaken place where I will never be anything more than either the sister of a war hero or the dead football star.” I stand up when I hear her stomp away, only to freeze again when I hear a tortured curse come from Banner, who I assumed followed Katy.
“I miss you.”
I feel my palms start to sweat when I hear him speak. The urge to comfort the man, despite everything, makes me want toslap some sense into myself. Instead, I stay still and send up a silent prayer that he doesn’t see me.
“Fuck, Alec. In what world does it make sense for you to be taken and for me to survive?” He’s silent for a moment as if waiting for a reply we both know will never come.
“I’m sorry, bro. If I could swap with you, I would do it in a heartbeat.” I hear the gravel crunch under his feet as he walks away, finally leaving me in peace.
Well, fuck me sideways. I can’t stay here with Banner living next door. I need to get this place on the market as soon as possible.
Staying to clean it up is no longer an option because I won’t survive another run-in with Banner. I barely survived the last one.
Chapter Four
BANNER
