She always tries to get me to fly down there, and I’m surprised it took her this long to bring it up. “Sure thing, Mags. Say hi to Keith for me. And to the cousins.”
“Will do. Bye, Jakey.”
We hang up, and I throw my phone to the side again. When I look around, the dark loft seems desperately empty. I’m feeling slightly better, but not enough to join all the ruckus up there. My head falls back onto the couch’s backrest as I slouch on it, and I stare at the beams on the ceiling. My aunt’s words run through my head, over and over again.
Be there for her. Support her. Protect her.
That’s what I need to do, isn’t it? Be there for Gen, no matter how much I hate her relationship with her parents. She needs me, because if I’m not there to love her unconditionally, who will?
I’m slowly coming to terms with what it means—that I’ll have to bite my tongue every time we meet with her parents or bear seeing her be put down by her mother—when the door opens. The music from the staircase fills the room, and a masculine silhouette comes in.
From where I sit, I don’t have to move to recognize Eli. He navigates the darkness with ease and follows the same path I did when I arrived, all the way to the liquor cabinet. He opens both doors and crouches down to take out some random bottles. For some, he takes a vague look at the label, either putting it with the others or returning it to the cabinet.
When he gets up and starts stacking the bottles between his arm and chest, I decide that’s enough.
“Are you fuckers already out of booze?” I ask from my armchair.
He jumps with surprise but doesn’t drop the bottles. “Jake, you asshole… You scared me half to death,” he says, turning around to find me in the dark. “What are you doing here? Where’s Gen?”
“I left her at her brother’s.”
“Is everything alright?” he wonders, stepping closer.
“Yeah,” I lie.
“Then why are you sitting in the dark like some James Bond villain? Is Gen joining us later?”
“I don’t know. What are you doing with my liquor?”
“Well, there might be a couple hundred people up there instead of twenty.”
“What?”
“Yeah, someone posted a story on Instagram, and things got out of hand.”
“Was that someone you?” I caustically ask, raising a brow at him.
“Might have been, yeah. Anyhow, I already used all my booze, and I thought I’d come get yours.”
“You do know we have a bar filled with liquor two blocks away, right?”
“That is way too far for me, my brother.”
“Lazy twat. Put my shit back, and I’ll go get a couple of crates at the Court.”
He smiles, looking way too victorious for my liking. “Great. Can you buy snacks as well? Chips, pretzels, Doritos, crackers, pizza rolls… Anything, really. I’m fucking starving.”
“I literally prepared everything for tonight, and you two wankers still managed to botch it?” I ask, a little more irritated than I should be.
“Like I said, it blew out of proportion. Plus, someone came with edibles, and Kill and I are completely out of it.”
“You’re high?”
“Like fucking kites. We hid a few gummy bears in his pocket for you. Which I guess was inspired, because you look like you need to relax.”
That actually doesn’t sound like a bad idea. With a grunt, I push myself out of the armchair and take a few bottles from Eli to help him put them back in the cabinet. Then, I send him back to the party and go change into something more comfortable than this fucking suit.
Even though I don’t like it, I know what I need to do about Gen. I’ll stick around, like Maggie did with Mum. I’ll be there for her for as long as I can. It might drive me to an early grave, but she’s worth it. Given her growth since we met, I’m confident she will soon open her eyes and do something about the situation. My sexy redhead isn’t the type to take shit from anyone.
