“Stop trying so fucking hard.” I even winced at the edge in my tone.
I knew I shouldn’t have been pissed off about someone cooking for me, but it washim.
And I hatedhim.
Right?
“Thrilled to see you too, sunshine.”
My coffee was finished, so I added creamer and took a sip, closing my eyes to savor the taste of the morning.
“How do you like your eggs?”
When my eyes popped open, Rowen was staring at me, apron on, spatula in hand. He wore a t-shirt under the apron, so his inked arms were on display. I had seen all his tattoos multiple times, but I neverstudiedthem. There were lots of blacked-out areas, skulls, smoke, all sorts of things that screamed Rowen.
He cleared his throat, and I realized I’d been staring a little too long. Rowen looked smug, smirking like he’d just caught me doing something naughty.
“What’s the goal here? Play house and hope to get on my good side? Bond while the parents are away?” I said bitterly.
He put his hands up. “It’s just eggs.”
“It’s a pathetic attempt to lure me into your…” I waved my hand around at him. “Your stupid gravitational pull everyone else falls victim to. Your cooking isn’t going to convince me.”
He shrugged. “That’s fine. Don’t eat it then. More for me.”
I remained quiet, trying to ignore him as I sipped on my coffee. When he walked away with a plate of food, I noticed he’d left behind a second plate for me.
Why was he being so goddamn nice? Was it part of his plan? Pretend to be kind to me then swoop in and attack when I start dropping my walls?
“Do you get off on patronizing me?” He paused and turned slowly to look at me. “Is it funny to be an ass and then all of a sudden be the good big brother who cooks meals and wants to watch movies?”
“What are you talking about? When have I ever actually been mean to you?”
“Are you for real right now? Let’s start with how you made my tenth birthday all about you? How you stole all my friends? My mom? Suddenly, everything wasours? You pushed your way in and sucked the fun out of my life. You never stopped for a fucking second to realize you were sabotaging everything. You ruined my life!”
His face was void of emotion—unreadable.
“You couldn’t be more wrong,” he clipped.
“Yeah, right. Let me guess: it’s all a big misunderstanding?”
“Avery, all my fucking life, I wanted a sibling. At first, I wanted a brother, but after a while, it didn’t matter—I just wanted someone,anyone. It was so fucking lonely, and my parents were too busy hating each other to notice me, too busy to throw partiesor spend a few minutes with me.” He put his plate down and wiped a hand over his face. “I was so fucking excited to meet you, to finally get the ‘built-in friend’ everyone else had.”
My chest tightened as he looked to the floor. He looked sad, broken even. Suddenly, it all felt misplaced. My anger, my hatred for him. Had I been wrong this whole time?
My eyes stung with tears as guilt settled heavy on my chest, making me question everything.
“I could tell you weren’t thrilled that day. To be totally honest, I didn’t even know it was your birthday party until my dad said something on the way over. I even asked him to take me on another day, but he didn’t listen.” He signed. “I thought you’d eventually let it go, understand it wasn’t my fault, that I wasn’t there to ruin your life.”
His eyes met mine, and my heart dropped. I’d never seen Rowen so vulnerable, so… human.
“I didn’t want your life, Avery; I wanted a sister.”
“And now?”
His brows furrowed. “Now what?”
“Do you still want a sister?” I gestured to myself, feeling a massive wave of fear looming over me at the prospect of being told no.
