“You see it now,” King said softly.
Jay nodded. He turned to King. “Okay.” He had no idea what he’d just agreed to, but his heart had opinions, and this time, Jay would listen. Whatever issues they needed to resolve, Jay couldn’t deny his brother the chance to be happy. Being part of King’s family was something special. Did his brother deserve it? Guess they’d find out soon enough.
King squeezed Jay’s shoulder, then joined the others outside. He said something quietly to Finch, who turned to stare at King. He looked so stunned that Jay couldn’t help but laugh. Finch seemed to snap himself out of it, then took King’s hand and shook it, his smile wide.
A heartbeat later, Finch came inside. “Can we talk? In private?”
“Um, okay.” Jay followed his brother outside and to the far end of the ER doors, so they were out of earshot of anyone who might overhear, mainly Ace.
“Listen, I, um, just wanted to thank you,” Finch said, his face looking a little flushed.
“For what?”
“Come on, Jaybird. You think King would have offered me a job without talking to you first?”
“King doesn’t need my permission.”
“No, he doesn’t. But you mean a lot to him, and he wasn’t about to hire me without your okay.”
Jay wasn’t about to tell Finch what he and King had talked about regarding Finch needing them. “He said you guys talked back at HQ before all this.”
“I promise you, I didn’t come when you called because I wanted a job.”
“I believe you.” And he did. “But I need you to understand that it’s not going to be like high school. This isn’t just a job for me. They’re my family, and I don’t want any of our past drama getting in the way of that.”
Finch’s brows drew together. “Well, that depends. Are you going to treat me like you did in high school?”
“What?” Jay blinked at his brother. Had he heard right? He narrowed his gaze. “I’m sorry. The wayItreatedyou?”
Finch studied him before his brows shot up. “Holy shit. You really have no clue.”
“I think I have a pretty good idea,” Jay replied, rolling his eyes.
“No. You don’t. Do you know what it was like to live in your shadow?”
Jay frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Jaybird, from the moment you were born, you shone brighter than anyone and everyone. You had mom and dad wrapped around your little finger. Everyone thought you were adorable, funny, and smart. You could do no wrong. And me? I had to be the responsible one. Dad’s perfect little soldier. The big brother who looked after you and kept you safe. And I got it, I did. Hell, I was proud to do it. But everything fell on my shoulders.Everything. When you made a mistake, it was just you growing and learning. If I made a mistake, I was told I should have known better. Dad gave me hell for it because what kind of example was I setting for my baby brother?”
“I…I didn’t know.” Jay recalled his brother and dad arguing all the time, but he figured it was grown-up stuff. His brother wasn’t that much older than Jay, but it always felt like he was. He’d been so serious all the time and so angry. Jay never imagined it was because of the pressure their dad put on him.
Finch shook his head. “My senior year was supposed to bemyyear. At home, I had to be perfect. I had to be what Dad wanted me to be. But at school, it was different,Iwas different. Then you came in and you turned the school upside down. You were everywhere, your light eclipsing everything and everyone. Anyone who didn’t love you or, at the very least, tolerate you had to leave you alone because of your entourage.”
Jay sighed. “Again with the entourage. I didn’t have an entourage.”
“Jaybird, you had half the school following you around like your personal cheerleaders. Hell, some of themwerecheerleaders. You were captain of the cheer squad, spirit club, drama club, and who the hell remembers what else?”
“So you’re pissed because I stole your spotlight? What did you want me to do? Pretend to be someone I wasn’t? Hide in the closet to make you feel better?”
Finch’s shoulders slumped. “At the time, maybe that’s what I wanted. I was seventeen, confused, angry, and still trying to figure out who I was. A part of me was jealous you could be you, and I couldn’t even admit to myself that maybe I wasn’t as straight as I thought I was. If I had the chance to do it over, I would have done things differently. What I would have liked was for you to be my brother and have my back. Jaybird, you were shitty to me all year.”
What?What?“You and your friends took every opportunity to give me hell about being gay. You yelled at me in front of the whole school! Do you have any idea how humiliating that was?”
“You’re right, it was a dick move. I should have stood up for you. Doing nothing was as bad as taking part. But any time I tried to talk to you, you were an asshole. So as a seventeen-year-old boy who was pissed at the world, I decided to be a bigger asshole. You were so busy being your authentic self that you were oblivious to everyone around you who couldn’t be. Jaybird, you were a Mean Girl.”
Jay shook his head with a laugh. “Oh my God, I was not a Mean—” Memories of his encounters with his brother flooded back, and his smile dropped from his face. “No. I would never be so… I…”
“You might not have had a Burn Book, but you and your little girlfriends were Mean Girls. Making fun of our clothes, calling us dumb jocks, and playing pranks on us?”
