“Me, on the other hand?” Statler went on. “I was already a known sports prodigy at fourteen. As an incoming freshmanin high school, I qualified right away for the varsity baseball, football, and basketball teams.” He blew out another breath. “By the time I was sixteen, I’d won several all-star awards, was captain for all my teams, and was already being looked at by a bunch of division one colleges. My parents were…over the moon, to say the least.”
He didn’t seem comfortable recalling his kudos.
“Looking back,” he told everyone, “as I did a lot following my parents’ deaths, I realized that while they were doting on me, they were kind of…indifferent to Petula, and completely ignoring Jefferson; a kid who excelled in academics way more than I ever could.”
“And how did Petula deal with that?” Dizzy asked.
Statler shook his head. “She wasn’t affected by any of it. She was still very young, a surprise baby that my parents fluffed off. Don’t get me wrong. They weren’t mean to her or anything, they just weren’t the nurturing type.”
“Were you aware that your brother wasn’t taking things well?” the large man Julian remembered as Tonka queried.
“I wish I could say I was,” Statler groaned, “but I was pretty self-absorbed at that point. You know the saying, ‘girls wanted me, and guys wanted tobeme’. Jefferson wasn’t really on my radar at all, except when he did dick stuff to me at home.”
“Dick stuff, meaning what?” Blue asked.
“You know, things I put down to kid pranks at the time. Peas in my baseball glove. Itching powder in my jock strap.”
“Did you ever beat him up for any of it?” Pipes asked.
“Hell no,” Statler defended. “That wasn’t who I was. I might have been puffed up with my own ego, but I wasn’t violent. My answer to what I thought were innocent antics, was to freeze him out. Truthfully? Before he…did what he did, I probably only spoke to him directly, two or three times a week.”
Julian could tell that made Statler feel guilty. He couldn’t imagine. Julian and his brothers were all so tight.
Julian butt in once more. “So, to pose my question again, if your brother was to come after one of you, would it be you or Petula?”
“You meanme, Petula?” a female voice asked from the door.
They all turned to see a flustered Petula.
“And what ishedoing here?” She pointed right at Julian.
Damn.This wasn’t how he had pictured this particular meet-and-greet playing out.
CHAPTER 13
When Petula had drivenup to her house, she was a little surprised to see all the trucks parked there, willy-nilly.Strange.Monday wasn’t normally a day when the crew all got together.
She’d just pulled up beside them when she spotted something else that had made her pause.
Histruck.Julian’s.
Seriously?
What the hell?
Part of Petula was pissed. Another, savvier piece of her said that she should have expected it. Since when did guys like Julian—and her brother for that matter—sit back and wait foranythingto unfold naturally?
Probably never.
Both Julian and her brother—and she shouldtotallyinsert Stat’s entire crew here, too—always wanted to force, manipulate, or hurry things along, depending on the situation.
Why she felt blindsided right now, she didn’t know. Maybe this appearance, in particular, hurt because she’d wanted to keep Julian to herself for a while. Atleastuntil things heated up.
If that’s where things were headed.
Now, Petula had a decision to make. Did she take a chance? See what might grow between her and Julian? Or was she going to call it quits because the man had run roughshod over her agenda, and would probably do so in the future if she gave him the opportunity.
Itreallydepended on what he had to say.
