Although she understood his reasons for doing it, she knew this lie was going to end in disaster. Lies always ended in disaster. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said with a heavy sigh. “Now enough about me and enough about you. How’s Kevin?”
“He’s…Kevin.”
“You need to talk to him.”
Turning his cup on the table, he tossed his arm over the backrest of the wooden chair. “I was just in there. All he did was play video games. He doesn’t want to talk, Jo-jo.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re telling me that you’ve been here since yesterday and all you did was play video games? Geez, Max! Get back in there and do…I don’t know…just dosomething.”
“What do you want me to do? You know how he gets. He wants to be alone.”
“Well, Bink shouldn’t be alone right now. He’ll do something stupid.”
“Then you go talk to him,” he clipped irritably.
“Me?” He couldn’t be serious. He was very aware of her severe case of foot-in-mouth syndrome. How could he even suggest such a thing? “Max, we both know that I am the worst person to be around in a time of crisis. You remember what I said after Penny the Parrot died. Shane cried for two days. I didn’t even send you a message on your birthday because of what happened to Danny. I always end up saying the wrong thing. I think it’s better if you go.”
“No, you.”
“No! You!”
“Let’s settle this the democratic way,” he said, leaning forward. “Rock, paper, scissors.”
She rolled her eyes. He was an asshole. Possibly a bigger asshole than Mervin. Then again, this was precisely the reason why she’d wanted to see him. She gave in and leaned forward as well. “One…two…three.”
She went for paper but Max threw out a fist with his index finger pointed out.
“What’s that?” she asked, confusion wrinkling her face.
“It’s a stick of dynamite and…”
This was why Mom had banned them from playing games together. “It doesn’t work like that.”
“…it can blow up rock, paper or scissors…”
“You’re being ridiculous!”
“…so I guess that means I win…”
“Just when I thought you couldn’t be a bigger moron.”
“…and you’re going in there.”
Dread built inside her and she hoped pleading would help. “Max, please.”
“Jordan, it’s up to you now. Who knows what will happen if I go back in there? We could get all emotional and then our dicks will fall off and then we’ll start listening to boy bands and you don’t want that for your brothers, right?”
She groaned, recognizing the words from a text she’d sent him in April. It was official. He was a bigger asshole than Mervin and she found herself asking God the same question she had asked a million times. Why couldn’t she have had four sisters? “I can’t believe you would use my own words against me.”
“You should always watch what you say to me. It may come back to bite you when you least expect it.”
“I hate you!” She finished her coffee and stood up. “Fine. I’ll go talk to Bink but you’re on Tyler duty. Just make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble.”
She left the kitchen and grumbled again. The last person she wanted to see was Kevin. Max was just a momentary distraction. Now she had to suck it in and face the pain.
*****
So far it hadn’t been as bad as he’d expected. It was a beautiful home with wooden beams across the high ceilings and smooth, rock finishes. Take a cozy log cabin, quadruple it in size, add just the right amount of modern décor and that was the Shepards’ family home. The sheer size of it gave Tyler a sense of comfort, because it was easy enough to stay hidden. Pictures of them hunting were lined up on the mantle above the fireplace, so he knew they had guns and staying tucked away in the living room was his safest option.
