“Wow.” She reached for a black pillow decorated with a big sparkly skull and hugged it. “So romantic.”
I made a face, because who the hell wanted to be a romantic? Then I couldn’t look past the skull pillow. “Tell me something, sis. Why do we have to make skulls cute? Some things shouldn’t be messed with. Guns, for example. Toilets … toilet paper … guns … They should just stay functional. Sparkle-free.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please. If I had a bedazzled toilet, I’d love it and so would you. Don’t even try to deny it. You’d love a fancy can.”
I did deny it, which led to a healthy debate. Trivial discussions were the bread-and-butter of our relationship and it felt good to just be with my sister—until someone knocked on the door. Anna stopped mid-sentence and vaulted off the bed. Douche bag had just arrived.
“Hey, Pooh Bear,” I heard him drawl in the living room. All pet names were inherently ridiculous but that one took first place. “How are you?”
“Honestly, I’ve been better,” Anna replied.
“I know,” Wyatt murmured. “Me too. But I’m better now that I’m with you. I’ve missed you, Pooh.”
I grabbed the sparkly skull pillow and dug my fingers into it. Ignore, Blake. Ignore. “I don’t know if I can do this again, Wy. How am I supposed to believe you really want to be with me? Or that you’ll stay with me this time?”
You’re not, Anna. Move on.
“We’ll just take it one day at a time. You know I never stopped caring about you.” He lowered his voice. “Anna, the others girls were nothing to me. They didn’t mean anything. Not like you do.”
No.… Did he really just say that?
I flew off the bed.
“Stop right there,” Anna said, the instant I crossed the door.
I did what she said and leaned against the doorjamb. Seeing Anna upset had sidelined my own problems for a little bit, but now that sharp, tangible buzz of anger was back, seething from under my skin. I couldn’t even fight it. This was about my sister. My self-control was under siege.
Wyatt gaped at me, taking a half step back. “Your brother is here, Anna? I thought he was hurt.”
“Sorry to disappoint, jackass.” Well, that came out. But I didn’t care. Wyatt might have been good to Anna in the past but he was taking advantage of that.
“I told you to stay out of this, Gideon,” Anna said.
“Yes! Stay out of this please.” Wyatt pushed a hand through his preppy hair. As a general rule, I didn’t like guys who styled their hair like they just woke up. Messiness should never be a goal. It should be a consequence. “God, Anna. I don’t think this is going to work. How are we supposed to talk with him around?”
“I didn’t know he was coming down here, Wyatt. I’m sorry.”
Was she actually apologizing to him?
You’re not sorry, Anna. You are pissed off.
Anna shook her head like she was shuffling her thoughts. “Wait a minute. You’ve been messing around with other girls for the past month and you’re mad that my brother is here?”
Now, that was more like it.
Wyatt frowned, clearly surprised by the pushback. “I thought we were trying to fix things, Pooh Bear. He’s going to interfere with that.”
“I’m not interfering. I’m just standing here.” I smiled.
“See? He’s already doing it. Anna, I thought you wanted to be with me. Maybe I was wrong.”
What a load of guilt-tripping crap. Don’t stand for it, Anna.
“This was a mistake, Wyatt.” She opened the apartment door. “I think you should go.”
Wyatt stepped toward her, turning his back to me. “I came here because I want you back in my life,” he said in a hushed voice. “But we’re never going to figure this out if you’re going to be irrational.”
Irrational? That sounded good to me. Let it rip, sis.
Anna slapped him across the cheek. Wyatt’s head whipped to the side. For a few seconds, no one breathed. We all just stood there, hearing that fleshy echo, until Anna said, “Leave, Wyatt. Now.”
He shot me an accusatory glare, like he suspected I was behind Anna’s actions. I was less suspicious. In fact, I was pretty sure I’d influenced Anna’s behavior. Somehow, I’d focused my anger on her and propelled her through the entire thing. But how was that even possible?
After Wyatt left, Anna fell back against the door. “What did I just do?”
“You took care of business. You don’t need that moron in your life, sis. You did the right thing.”
“I hit him.” She looked at her hand like it wasn’t part of her. “I slapped him.”
“You were nicer than I would’ve been.”
Anna shook her head, her eyes welling up. “That doesn’t help, Gideon.” Then she darted past me into her room and slammed the door.
I reached for the handle just as the lock clicked. “Open the door. Come on, Anna. It’s his loss, sis.” I could hear her crying inside—one of the worst sounds in the world for me. “Anna … let me in,” I tried again, but it was clear that wasn’t going to happen for a long while.