I shake my head, and he sighs.
“Are you at least done drinking like you want to drown yourself?”
“That’s yet to be determined.”
He rubs his jaw, looks at the TV and then back at me.
“Is it a woman?” he asks.
I don’t deny or confirm, and he just nods, like he fucking gets it. And I suppose he does, now anyway.
“What’s the issue?”
“It’s too much to go into. It’s complicated.”
“You love her?” he asks.
It’s an even more complicated answer. So I don’t even respond, and Aiden sighs.
“Whatever the hang-up is, figure it out. I’ve never seen you like this. Not even when you broke up with Vanessa, which you also bottled up and kept to yourself. This isn’t healthy, Linc. I just want to see you happy, man.”
I swallow the emotion I feel at his words. Does Penny feel like she doesn’t have this unconditional love like I do?
No matter how disgusted or pissed Aiden might be if he found out, when I look at him, I know that he would eventually get over it. Me being his brother is more important than anything.
“What if it was someone you didn’t think was a good fit for me?” I ask him.
“I mean, I didn’t like Vanessa,” he says with a shrug.
“You never said anything.”
“You never asked for my opinion, and you seemed happy enough.”
“Why didn’t you like her?”
“She always seemed to have one foot out the door, always looking at her phone during family events. I don’t know. She seemed like she was convenient for you, not that you were totally into her.”
I rest my head on the back of the couch and look at the ceiling.
“She had a husband and two kids,” I admit.
“You knew?” he asks, shocked.
“No, I didn’t fucking know. When I found out, I broke up with her.”
“How do I feel like I know you so well but don’t know you at all?” he asks.
He couldn’t be closer to the truth if he tried.
“I’m gonna head home,” I tell him standing up, he gets up too, clearly eager to get back to his girlfriend.
“Whatever it is, you’ll figure it out. You’re like the most stubborn asshole I know,” he says.
“Thanks,” I reply with a few slow blinks before leaving and heading home, with only one destination in mind.
I standin front of Penny’s door, debating on knocking or going back to my own lonely bedroom.
Knowing I need to at least see her, I knock.
