She leaves us standing there as she strides away, my eyes drinking in every inch of her body. When she gets back to Maggie, I finally relax a little.
“You’re welcome,” Yak tells me.
I smack his chest, making him wheeze.
“Love you too, buddy,” he huffs out as I hide my smile.
Yak might just be the friend I need.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
ASPEN
Making amends.
It sounds easier than it actually is. Words are hard, especially when you are trying to apologize. No matter how hard it is, though, it needs to be done.
Apologizing to Maggie sucked, but I did it. Apologizing to Calloway is completely different. He’s my brother, and I hate the thought of disappointing him. He’s the person who has been in my life the longest, and yet, I worry he will walk away, leaving me behind like everyone else, even though he’s gone out of his way to prove that he won’t.
Sometimes the brain doesn’t care about reality and likes to fuck with you anyway.
I wipe my clammy hands on my thighs as I walk up my brother’s front porch. Maggie is out, giving me the perfect opportunity to talk to Calloway alone.
Before I can knock, he steps out, holding the door open.
“Everything okay?” he murmurs.
“Yeah.”
I step under his arm and into his house. I can’t help but smile as I look around. Before Maggie, this place only had the bare bones necessities. He didn’t have pillows, blankets, or even pictures on the wall. Now it looks like a home rather than a crash pad.
“Man, look at all these feminine touches,” I tease.
“Fuck you,” he mutters with no heat, making me laugh.
I sit down on the couch, and he sits in the chair.
“So what’s up?” he asks.
“Aren’t you going to offer me a drink or something? Man, if Maggie knew how bad your manners were, she would die,” I quip.
“Trust me, Maggie knows. She’s nice enough for the both of us. Plus, you’re my sister. You have two arms, two legs, and know where my kitchen is. If you wanted a drink, you could get it yourself. Now tell me what’s wrong.”
“You know, I know I wasn’t supportive of your relationship with Maggie when I first found out, but I’m happy for you. You two make sense, and I’ve never seen either of you happier. I’m glad you found each other.”
“Aspen, cut the bullshit and tell me what’s wrong.” He sighs.
“What? Can’t a sister just tell her brother that she’s happy for him?”
“Yeah, maybe normal siblings, but that’s not us. We don’t do the mushy shit. Just tell me why you asked if you could come over.”
I look away from my brother and let out a slow breath.
I love Calloway, really, I do, but at the moment, I kind of hate him.
Why does he have to call me on my shit? Why can’t he let me ease into this?
