“Why do I always have more faith in you than you do?”
“Because you see me differently to everyone else.” He pulled me closer, being careful to avoid the injuries on my back versus the injuries on his chest. It was like an awkward game of bodyJenga, trying to pull at the pieces that wouldn’t send us tumbling down. “And stop turning this around on me. Take me where you need me to be,” he whispered with a grin.
Pushing up on my toes, I pressed my lips to the part of his that weren't swollen or split. When I landed back on my feet, I slipped casually under his arm, ignoring his growl of protest as I headed toward our room. I would bring Tate to us. It was easier than explaining to Sutton why we were all in his daughter’s temporary living quarters.
“There’s several answers to that, which could possibly get me in trouble with your doctor.” I grinned back at him.
“Definitely trying to kill me.”
“I’m the one torturing myself here.” I laughed, pushingthe door out of the way and guiding him toward the bed. Helping him to sit on the edge of it, I looked down at him with a smile and backed away to leave again. “I’m going to get Tate. Try and stay out of trouble, Mr. Tucker.”
“Sure thing, darlin’.”
Swinging around the doorframe with one last grin back at him, I made my way through the corridors of The Hut to find my kid brother and the ex-girlfriend he was alone with. I knew him better than anyone, and the fact that he’d stood up to me about Libby and his relationship told me everything I needed to know. Sloane was his friend now, nothing more, nothing less, and if he proved me wrong, I was going to kick his ass.
When I could finally move without groaning.
The one thing that truly sucks about having injuries is that everything becomes a gargantuan effort. The corridors I’d navigated so easily in the past now felt a mile long, and the floors might as well have been at awkward angles for all of my nimbleness. The fact that I was huffing out breaths when I arrived at the right door was just humiliating. It didn’t stop me from knocking, though.
Sloane answered in a pair of ratty sweats with her hair in a messy bun, one of the twins asleep with her head on her shoulder. Her eyes were red and swollen and her skin was pale, which told me she’d been crying a lot over the last couple of days, and that my intuition about my brother had been right the first time.
“I’m so sorry, Sloane.”
“Thanks, Ayda.” She looked at me like she wanted to say more, but decided against it, rearranging the toddler in her arms. “You looking for Tate?”
I nodded, reaching out to take the little girl’s miniaturehand that was balled up into a fist as she let off a sigh, while Sloane simply stepped to the side and revealed my brother sitting on the bed, cradling the carbon copy of the kid she was holding against his chest. He looked entirely too comfortable with a child in his arms.
“Hey, you.”
“Ayda.” He and Sloane traded a look that said a hundred things before he got up and laid the sleeping toddler on the bed. The moment he stood straight, he curled his shoulders in and pushed his hands into his pockets as he walked toward me.
Smiling at Sloane, I stepped back and out the way, not at all surprised when the door behind him closed.
“I know what you’re gonna say.”
“Do you?” I asked, heading down the corridor with a slow limp. “Because if I’m being honest, I don’t have a clue what I’m going to say.”
“You’re not pissed about Sloane?”
“Unless you slept with her, no,” I said, looking up at him. “I know who you are, Tate. Libby’s hurt, but trust takes time, and I’m pretty sure what she has is invested in you anyway. You just have to be honest and open with her about your friendship.”
“Sloane’s messed up. I’m just listening.”
“How bad?”
“She feels guilty because she’s upset with Maisey for dying, pissed at her dad for assuming she would take responsibility for the twins, and scared that she won’t get to go to college now.”
“And you?” I asked, veering into his body and bouncing off. Tate and I had never been awkward around one another and I was diffusing the situation before it got to that place andstayed there.
“I’m pissed at you for getting yourself into that situation, Ayda.” He didn’t bother looking at me and he wasn’t pulling his punches, which was fine with me. I understood he was upset, but the longer he let it gather inside of himself, the more it would be blown out of proportion.
“Okay, but you have to know I didn’t willingly walk into that situation.” He opened his mouth to speak and I put a hand up in his direction, knowing exactly where he was going with it. “And neither did Drew. You think for a second that he wanted me there?”
“No, but—”
“There are no buts, Tate. Put yourself in his shoes for just one minute. I already know you’ve figured that out, but you need a few people to aim your pain at, right? I’m here. Aim it at me, kid, but know that shit happens and understand that Drew is the one of the only reasons I’m still alive.”
“Then it all comes down to me,” he said, stopping outside of the room I shared with Drew. “I broke in here, I tried to steal their shit, and I’m the reason you met him at all.”
