I pivot back to Tek. “You’re the one fightingmybrother. Or have you forgotten that this affects me just as much as it affects you?”
“That’s it! I’ve had enough,” Jintae cries, stepping into the fray. “This isn’t about either one of you. It’s my life, and it’s Eden’s. And the pair of you are gonna need to calm the fuck down about it.”
“Get your shit, and get in the truck,” Tek orders Jintae like he didn’t hear a damn thing he just said.
“Hell no!" Jintae exclaimes. "I knew you’d be mad but you’ve said some of the most hurtful things to me and… I’m not sure if I wanna even be around you anymore.”
Tek screams, “I’ll kill you, you bastard,” to Eden as he writhes in his grip. “You brainwashed him. You turned him against us.” Then, as if forgetting he’s half a foot shorter, Tek lurches forward with a wild swing that Eden easily dodges.
Jintae throws up his hands. “You’vedone this, Tek. You only have yourself to blame. We wanted to talk. You could have yelledall you wanted, but this… This isn’t how the Tek I know wouldevertreat me.”
I know so little about Jintae, but I do know the anguish that he put Tek through these past months, worrying about whether he was alive or in a ditch. And then when he did make contact, he gave him so little. It killed him. It tore at his family. But this isn’t how you get shit done.
Still blind to all reason, Tek tries to swing again. But this time, when he misses, his feet instantly shift on the floor as his body twists. Like a flash of light, Jintae is at Eden’s side. With his arm up protecting his ribs, he tenses just in time for Tek’s foot to smash against his side.
Jintae drops to his knees.
Tek lets out a gut wrenching groan and something snaps in me.
I cut across the room in three strides and shove Eden sideways hard enough that he stumbles.
“Calm the fuck down!” I yell, and grab two fistfuls of Tek’s shirt to drive him into the cabin wall. His head cracks back against the wood, and for several long seconds we stare at each other. His blood-smeared top lip curled, and my knuckles white in the fabric of his collar until I finally grit out; “You’re the one who needs to get their ass in the truck.”
“Not without Jin.”
“You fucked up any chance of that happening when you barged in here.”
Tek slams his fists back against the wall. “What the hell did you expect me to do?”
“To use your damn brain.” I inch closer until my forearms are pressed against his chest. Staring deeply, I hold his eyes until I can see him starting to come back to me. “You’re allowed to be pissed. You probably do wanna kill Eden, but you need to think. Is that really what you want?”
Tek’s eyes dart over my shoulder to his brother, then quickly back to me. “But he’s nineteen.”
“Yes. Heisnineteen.” I nod, doing everything I can for him to understand exactly what the fuck I’m trying to tell him without actually saying it, because this shit show of an afternoon doesn’t need a second earth-shattering revelation. “Andyou’rethirty-four.”
Tek snarls, baring his teeth. And with that, I'm done.
“Fuck this shit.” My capacity is full. Tek’s not the only one who’s angry, but he’s left no room for anything else to be said. “If you’re gonna act like a child, you can get treated like one.”
I jerk Tek away from the wall and pull him towards the cabin door.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” he protests, the whole time trying to pry my hands off of him.
In the doorway, I tug him towards me and push my forehead against his. “Someone’s got to,” I growl at him, then push him out onto the porch. “Now get in the fucking truck!”
I watch him stumble to his feet as my chest rings with how loud I just yelled.
Tek takes a step towards me, and I slam the cabin door shut.
When I twist the lock, I know it’s loud enough for him to have heard it outside.
We stare at each other through the small window in the door until Tek finally secedes and stomps down the steps.
With both hands still firmly on the handle, I catch my breath before turning to Eden and Jintae with the sweetest smile I can muster. “It was nice to meet you, Jin.”
He shuffles closer to Eden. “Ah… Same. I guess.”
I look at my brother, doing my best to keep my own thoughts inside. “For your sake, I hope this is real.”
