That one took me back. “What?”
Noah pointed at me. “He’s not like this. And he’s not going to bounce back like nothing happened once you move on to someone else.” He shook his head, then looked up at the sky. “I have to spend the day with Mom and Dad tomorrow, to try to ease things over,” he said, changing the subject.
His birthday, right. I’d figured out a gift I was happy about, tickets to some baseball games, a real brotherly outing. The plan tomorrow had been to meet up with some friends, but I guess he was saying that was off.
My brain reeled. What he’d just insisted about me hurting Peyton, it dug into my deeply buried fears, a part of me that I didn’t like to shine light on. It hurt to hear him say that I would disappoint Peyton because I worried it was true, and as I stood there, storming emotions made it impossible to think.
“Okay,” I finally managed weakly.
Fuck, this sucked.
Noah shook his head. “I’ll call you after Mom and Dad leave town, okay?”
I felt like total shit as my brother walked away. He’d basically flipped a switch and taken our connection away again. He was going to side with our parents because why wouldn’t he? They had been there for him, and I hadn’t.
He was right to think I wasn’t good enough for Peyton.
A stone in my gut, I headed back to the apartment. It was night already, and I was exhausted, so instead of sitting there and staring at my phone, tempting myself to text Peyton, I turned it on silent, poured myself a cup of chamomile, and put on some mindless TV, praying for sleep.
Alone, like I was used to.
* * *
PEYTON
“Peyton!” Russell said, surprised when he opened the door. “What’s up?”
I scratched the back of my head. “Are you busy? Can I come in?”
“Sure!” My brother was in a pair of loose gray sweatpants, big enough that I imagined they belonged to one of his boyfriends, and I could hear old ‘90s rock in the background. “Peyton’s here!” he called cheerily over his shoulder, then pursed his lips when he turned back to me. “Is everything okay? Why are you so dressed up?”
I winced as I kicked my shoes off. “Because these pants fall down without the suspenders,” I answered wryly, then shook my head. “It’s a long story.”
Blake and Casey both emerged from the kitchen, dressed down like my brother, and Casey with flour handprints and clouds on his black shirt. The three of us had grown up together, an inseparable trio, and seeing them and my brother, the full weight of the chaotic afternoon finally hit me.
Shit, I was in way over my head.
“Jet and Noah’s parents are in town,” I blurted out.
Casey pushed his sleeves up, exposing more of his tattoos. “Oh yeah?”
“And they walked in on me and Jet having sex.”
“Oh,” Blake said, his deep voice rumbling.
“Yeah…” I adjusted my glasses. “Do you all have time to talk?”
A few minutes later, the four of us were positioned around the coffee table. Blake and Casey sat at the ends of the couch, feet on the ground, and Russell sat cross-legged between them. Casey was taking the first steps toward opening his own restaurant, so like every time I was over to the house, there was a fresh plate of something amazing between us.
This time, a tray of cheesy pastry puffs, which Blake eagerly chowed down like they were popcorn while I filled them in on the story. I told them how good things had been going with Jet, our decision to try for something real, then about the humiliating disaster that followed with his parents and the way Jet had pushed me away after, when I really just wanted to stay and take care of him.
“I was so excited about the plan,” I groaned, then buried my face in my hands. “I can’t believe I forgot to tell Jet to lock the door.”
“What does Noah say about it?” Russell asked.
I took another pastry. “He’s not happy. He doesn’t really want to talk, which is his default reaction to difficult things.”
Blake rubbed his jaw. “I suppose it’s irresponsible to have sex in the office with the door open, so I can understand that he’d be frustrated with you,” he said evenly.
