"Thought you were too busy climbing corporate ladders to notice anything below the penthouse."
The jab lands and his smile cracks for a second.
"Alright." He crosses his arms. "Let's do this. Get it all out."
"What?"
"Whatever's eating at you. I know you're pissed. Have been since you showed up this week. So let's hear it."
I stare at him. "Seriously?"
"Seriously." Matt leans against the wall. "Use me as your emotional punching bag. I want to clear the air before my wedding. Because we've got three more days of this, and I'd rather not spend them watching you glare holes into my skull every time I enter a room."
Something in me snaps. "Fine. You want the highlight reel? You bailed and left me behind. You got the fancy degree and the fancy job and the fancy life, and I got stuck here with Dad's disappointment and Mom's worried looks. And the worst part?" My voice drops so no one else can hear. "The worst part is that you used to be the only person who actually got me. Who didn't make me feel like the family fuck-up."
Matt doesn't flinch. "Keep going."
"And now you swan back in with your perfect fiancée and your perfect life, and everyone's falling all over themselves about how great you are. So yeah, I'm a little fucking bitter."
"That's all?"
"No." I grip my water bottle so hard the plastic crackles. "You don't even see how different you are now. All corporate speech and adult responsibility. It's like you're embarrassed of who you used to be. Who I still am."
Matt's quiet for a long moment. "You done?"
"Yeah." I exhale, feeling lighter than I have in days. "I'm done."
"Good." He nods, processing everything I just unloaded. "For what it's worth, not all of it was on purpose. Things just . . . happened. And then more things happened."
He glances over at Sarah, his expression warms. I follow his gaze to see her failing miserably at pretending not to watch us. Her eyes dart away the second I look over while Ivy chatters away with Kristal. Great. They definitely heard the whole thing.
"But maybe we can talk about all that shit later," Matt continues. "When we've both had a few beers and aren't standing in a room with my fiancée watching."
The knot in my chest loosens. "Remember Melissa?" I ask, changing the subject.
"When you came to me freaking out because she wanted to go 'all the way' and you didn't know what that meant?" He laughs. "God, you were clueless."
"Still am, apparently." I glance over at Ivy.
"Nah." He follows my gaze. "You just care about this one. Makes everything scarier."
For the first time in years, I feel like my brother actually sees me. "Truce? At least until after the wedding?"
"Truce." He holds out his fist, and I bump it like we used to.
"You're still an asshole, though."
His grin breaks through. "Yeah, but I'm the asshole who's about to save you from round two of Kristal's passion project." He nods toward where she's approaching with fresh determination. "Unless you want another chance to grind on Ivy."
"I hate you."
"Nah." He claps me on the back. "You love me. You're just shit at showing it. Kind of like how you're shit at hiding what Ivy does to you."
And he's right. About both things.
"The Tower means changeis coming," I say, trying to keep my voice steady as Virginia's high-gloss nails clench around her champagne glass. "Sometimes the universe has to shake things up so we can—"
"So we can what?" Virginia's face mask cracks as she sneers. "See the truth? That I'm dating an ass who thinks my new haircut makes me looksophisticated? Like I'm his pet project?"
