Page 322 of Mad Girl

I leaned over my lap. “Isn’t this good, though?” I asked, stroking my thumb down his scar. “You wanted to claim some part of Casey as yours, and now you can. He’s your brother. He’s yours for life.”

Michael shrugged. “But I still can’t get over how he used me in the beginning. Everyone uses me, but he seemed different. He didn’t seem to care about my last name—just me.”

“He did care about you. He does. Surely you can see that.”

“Yeah, but we’re family, so he has to care. But not enough to be honest with me. Not enough to let me be there for him back in England. He’s done nothing but push me away since I saw how he was treated over there, but the rest of my family? He pulls closer every day.”

“But don’t you see? It’s because he cares—because he’s been hiding this massive secret from you—that he’s been pushing you away. And you don’t make it very easy on him when you act jealous and say such nasty things to him.”

Michael shot me a glare. “Are you kidding? He wormed his way into my life, lied to me, hit on me, neglected to tell me we’re brothers for over a year, made a complete fool out of me back in England, forced you and Nic to keep this gigantic secret for him, can’t keep his hands off the girl I love—and I’m the one who’s making it hard? Fuck that. He doesn’t get a free pass because he had a rough childhood and a shitty dad. He doesn’t get a free pass just because we share some DNA. He tricked me, Elliot. And on top of all the lying, he has Nic and my whole family thinking he hung the moon. You, too, I guess. You expect me to forget everything he’s done because we’re brothers. Because he’s a good guy. Because he’s sorry. Well, he should be sorry. He majorly fucked me over—me more than anyone.”

I reached for Michael’s face again, but he grabbed my wrist, his gaze stormy and dark.

“You always wanted a brother, remember? All those times you were stuck with us girls, and you said, ‘Why couldn’t I have had a brother?’ Well, you did. He was out there all along. You’re so lucky he found you.”

“Stop it,” Michael said, voice breaking on the words. “Stop trying to turn this into some sappy, feel-good movie shit.”

“You’re mad because you wanted him to trust you with the truth, and he didn’t. Because he’s the only guy you’ve ever really opened yourself up to, and he hurt you. Because you care about him, too.”

Michael squeezed my wrist and whispered, “Stop.”

“It’s okay. You can be mad at him and still accept him.”

Michael rested his forehead on my leg.

Then someone lightly knocked on my bedroom door, causing him to pull away. We both glanced up.

“What’s going on in here?” John asked, stepping into my room.

“We’re talking,” Michael said.

“Well, I’d prefer if you talked downstairs.”

Michael sat up. “Dad, we’re both adults here. You’re being ridiculous.”

“Adults.” John laughed. “When I was your age, I had a one-year-old who still didn’t sleep through the night and an eighteen-hour course load.”

Not to mention a second one-year-old living in England.

And Michael, who was newly aware of this fact, decided to be a dick about it. “Sounds like you were pretty irresponsible. I don’t have that problem.”

John laughed again, but the way someone does when they’re trying not to lose their temper. “You might want to change your attitude, son. Or I’ll change it for you.”

“I’ll change my attitude as soon as you tell me what the problem is,” Michael said. “You found us hooking up once, and now you freak out every time we’re alone together. Are we, like, half-siblings and you guys just…never told us?”

I’ll be honest here, Casey. In the brief pause before John answered, fear flashed hot in my chest.

“Now you’re the one being ridiculous,” John said.

“You and Nic share Mom. Maybe you shared Elliot’s mom, too. Maybe all four of you”—Michael pulled a face—“passed each other around back then. One big free-for-all.”

“Never happened,” John said, lifting his brows. “For one thing, Victoria and I didn’t have that kind of relationship.”

My dad appeared in the doorway. “What’s going on up here?”

“Michael’s asking if I’ve been with Elliot’s mom.”

Nic laughed. “Not possible. They hated each other.” He gestured at us. “Come on, you two. Back downstairs, please.”