The sly curve of her smile tells me she was just trying to derail my rant—and damn it, she succeeded.
“He does tend to carry big dick energy.”
Everleigh crinkles her nose. “Does he really, though? Seems more small pee-pee energy to me.”
I giggle, tension gone as I down the vodka and crunch a pickle, and I drop back into the chair. "It does, doesn’t it?"
“So, the man actually gives a shit after fighting so hard to pretend he didn’t,” she states.
I shrug. “That’s what he’s claiming. After three years of showing me the opposite, I find it hard to believe. How do I make peace with the fact that the man I loved actually loved me but refused to let me know it?”
“Do you want to try again?”
“Of course, you ask the troublesome question,” I mutter. “Yes. No. I don’t fucking know. I think so. Maybe.” I groan and flop back, tossing my arm over my eyes. “Why is this so damn hard? It shouldn’t be. It should be the easiest decision ever after the hell he put me through.”
“Relationships are far from easy,” Everleigh says softly. “Love doesn’t make sense. Love is…problematic and never as black and white as we want it to be.”
“I think that if he’s serious and truly wants me, he has to be sincere and prove it. So far, he’s failed at that. Until then…until he makes me feel safe and secure in him…I think the question is moot.”
“Then you have time to decide. Personally, I’d tell him to choke on a poisonous cactus, but that’s just me.”
Even as she jokes, her shoulders are stiff and her voice too sharp. I sense it—the frustration simmering just beneath her words. Right now, she’s got a vendetta against the world, especially men, and honestly, I can’t blame her.
My doorbell rings, and my brows draw together.
Who the hell?
Everleigh glances at me with a lifted brow. “Expecting company?”
I shake my head, grab my phone, and pull up my security camera app. “What’s your brother doing here?”
“No idea,” she replies as she stands up, coming around the chair to follow me to the door.
“Hey,” I say, opening the door for him. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for my bratty ass sister,” he replies with a laugh, his eyes falling to Everleigh.
"Congrats, you found me, ass muncher," Everleigh says.
I shut the door behind him, leading them back into the den.
“I can’t stay long. I need to head home. There’s some shit I need to take care of.”
Something in his voice makes me look at him harder. I remember little things he’s said during his visit to Granite Bay, and now I’m burning with curiosity about what this ‘shit’ really is.
“What shit?” Everleigh asks, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at her brother.
Titan places his palm in the center of her forehead and pushes her head back gently. “As much as I want to dig into you and your biker fucker, I haven’t, because I know you wouldn’t want me to. So, keep your nosey ass out.”
“Fine,” Everleigh pouts, knowing how much of a softie her brother is for her.
“Stop pouting. It won’t work this time. Unless you’re going to tell me what that cunt ass bitch did to hurt you.”
Everleigh loses the playfulness. “No.”
Titan sighs. “Yeah, didn’t think so. I’m here when you’re ready, Squirt.” He turns towards me. “How are you?”
I shrug. “Good. Trying to figure out what to do about that asshole I’m stupidly in love with.”
