I wipe away a stray tear and try to steady my voice. “You know what I hate, Kane?”
He’s silent, but his attention is on me, warming the side of my face.
It feels nice, like the dying sun outside. The shadows are stretching taller, and it won’t be long until it’s dark.
The dark always comes to devour the light, sooner or later.
“I hate that some have so much while others have so little. All my mom ever wanted was for us all to get out of the Falls. She worked hard with whatever little she had to give us a better future, and the pieces fell into place for a while. We all went to college. We had food on the table. We were scraping by, but we were happy.”
The ache presses against my ribs, as if it wants to push through and escape. I can relate because I want to escape, too. Run off into the sunset and never look back.
“But then the cough started. We thought nothing of it at first. After all, the house is drafty in the colder months. The insulation sucks. We thought she had a persistent cold.” A bitter laugh claws its way up my throat, but nothing about this is funny.
You would think pain expresses itself through tears, but have you ever heard pain masquerade as laughter? That edge? That raw, hollow edge? It sharpens my brittle chuckle now, because how could we be so stupid? No one coughs for months on end.
“I found one of the bloodied tissues in the trash can when I was brushing my teeth one night.” My lips taste of salty tears, and I wipe my face with my sleeve. “And that’s when I knew.”
“Baby…”
He doesn’t know what to say. I don’t either.
“Chris is protective of me because he doesn’t trust you.”
Our eyes meet.
“He doesn’t want to see me hurt.”
Kane’s chest rises sharply with a held breath.
“All I’m asking is that you try to understand why he’s acting out.”
His throat works as if he’s swallowing words, then he says, “I get it. I do.”
“You do?”
To say I’m surprised is an understatement.
“If the roles were reversed and your brother was fucking my sister, I’d bury him six feet under. So trust me, I get it.”
I chew my lip, feeling a small smile try to slip out.
Kane watches my mouth. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll let him keep you from me.” His blue eyes lock on mine and darken, not with desire.
Possession.
I duck my head, then glance out the windshield at the last sliver of orange sky in the distance. “Tell me something about you. What are your dreams, Kane? What do you want to do in the future?”
“What are yours?” he deflects.
I decide to humor him. “Well, first things first. I’m gonna race my brother here at Dark Lanes.”
Kane’s eyes flicker with surprise. “Race your brother?”
“I have a problem with authority,” I say with a small shrug and a playful smile.
“I would have never guessed.”
I smack him, thrilled by his answering laughter.
