“Keep going,” Jake said when he lowered it.
He drank fast at first, then slowed as he neared the end. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Now talk.” Jake went back under the hood and back to work.
“I need to leave here now…today.”
“I got that part, just not the reasons why.”
He wasn’t big on spilling his guts, especially not about his family. “It’s messy, Jake.”
“And what I went through with Branna wasn’t? Jesus, Tex, just get it off your fucking chest, because I’m not letting you fly until you do.”
Jake wasn’t looking at him, which was probably a good thing, because it made it easier if he was going to open a vein. “Cooper was hurting Annabelle, so I told him he was basically a spoiled punk and that he needed to get his shit together and respect her. I told him I’d be his caregiver if he didn’t.”
Jake whistled softly.
“Then me and Annabelle went outside and got into it…and not in a good way,” Ethan added. But they had, and that was what made this so hard. He’d held her, loved her, and they’d been so close… and then they’d fought.
“I’m trying to erase that picture,” Jake muttered.
“So she started in on me about Brad.”
“Brad being the next to you in the Gelderman sibling line?”
He and Jake were tight, but until a few days ago, Jake hadn’t known anything about Ethan’s family.
“It’s a long, ugly story, Jake, but the short version is that when my father realized I couldn’t be molded he turned to Brad…and I let him,” Ethan said softly.
“Were you and Brad tight before that?”
“He was okay. We all hung out and stuff, the usual brother issues, but it all changed when I told Dad I was leaving. Things really heated up for Brad then is my guess, and while he’d started to become an asshole, he’s now a straight A in that field.”
Ethan was slowly starting to calm down while he talked to Jake. He was still angry, but at least now he could think clearly.
“And you blame yourself just like Annabelle with Cooper, because you walked away from him?”
“I guess I do, now it’s been pointed out to me by that smart-mouthed witch,” Ethan said. He’d always tried not to think about Brad, and he realized now that that was because he did carry guilt over the brother he’d turned his back on.
“The woman you love?” Jake added.
“We don’t all need to be loved up, McBride.” Ethan avoided answering.
“I thought you threw those little black books away, Tex.”
Ethan sucked in a deep breath, enjoying the feel of air filling his lungs. “All the women I’ve met, and I choose the most awkward, belligerent, mouthy one of the lot,” he sighed. “Life is a weird thing, Jake.”
“Suits me and Branna just fine, though.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Two people we care about hooking up, makes it all nice and tidy,” Jake added, still not looking up.
“I’m leaving before you start crying,” Ethan said. “Watch my girl,” he added over his shoulder.
“That’s a given,” Jake called.
Ethan stopped at the doorway and turned back. “Thanks, man.”
