East and I skip the post-game party and head home to kill an hour before the fight. I’ll regain some control and perspective when I’m smashing some dude’s face in with my fists down at the docks.
“Need to call Claire,” East mutters when we walk inside. “Wanna see if she’ll come over later.”
“Claire?” I wrinkle my forehead. “I didn’t know you were tapping that again.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know you were screwing Brooke. Guess we’re even.”
He lifts his phone to his ear, dismissing me.
His actions sting. East has been icing me out ever since Ella took off.
When I get upstairs, my bedroom door is ajar, and a sick sense of déjà vu washes over me. Suddenly I’m transported back to Monday night, when I found Brooke in my bed.
I swear to God, if that bitch is playing games with me again, I’m gonna lose my shit.
But it’s Gideon I find in my room. He’s sprawled on my bed, tapping on his phone. When I enter, he greets me with cloudy eyes.
“Didn’t think you were coming home this weekend,” I say carefully. I texted him on Tuesday to let him know Ella was gone, but every time he tried calling me this week, I pressed the ignore button. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with Gid’s guilt trips.
“You would’ve liked that, huh?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Avoiding his gaze, I strip out of my T-shirt and replace it with a wife beater.
“Bullshit. You’ve been avoiding this conversation since Ella skipped town.” Gideon pushes off the bed and advances on me. “Can’t avoid it anymore, little brother.”
“Look, it’s not a big deal, okay? Ella and I are,”—Were?—“together. So what?”
“If it’s not a big deal, then why’d you hide it from me? Why’d I have to find out from East? And what the hell were you thinking, hooking up with her? We don’t need to drag anyone else into our mess—”
“Your mess,” I interrupt, then regret it instantly, because he flinches as if I hit him.
“Right,” he mutters. “My mess. I guess it was stupid of me to think that my brother might have my back.”
“I do have your back. You know I do. But Ella has nothing to do with this.” Helplessness jams in my throat. “Our relationship is—”
He cuts me off with a harsh laugh. “Your relationship? Well, lucky you. Must be nice. I used to have one of those.”
I bite back an angry retort. I get that he’s miserable, but I’m not the one who put him in the position he’s in. He did that all by himself.
“You know what I have now? Absolutely nothing.” Gideon looks ready to rip his own hair out as he paces my room.
“I’m sorry.” Completely inadequate, but it’s all I can say.
“You should be. You need to stay away from Ella. She’s a good girl and you’re messing her up.”
The truth of his words burns hotter than his judgmental stare. Guilt is thick in my throat. “Maybe,” I say hoarsely, “but I can’t let her go.”
“Can’t? You mean you won’t.” Gideon’s face turns red. “Forget Ella.”
Impossible.
“You’re a selfish asshole,” my brother hisses when he sees the refusal in my eyes.
“Gid—”
“I had an Ella once, too. I had a girl I saw a future with and I broke her heart. Now she’s so mad at the world she can’t see straight. Is that what you want for Ella? You wanna be our dad? Drive someone to kill herself because she’s so fucking miserable?”
“Ahem.”
We both spin around to find Easton in the doorway. His wary blue eyes shift from me to Gid. “Won’t even ask if I’m interrupting,” he says. “’Cause I see that I am. Won’t apologize either.”
Gideon’s jaw tenses. “Give us a minute, East. This doesn’t concern you.”
Our younger brother’s cheeks flush. He stalks forward and closes the door. “No way. You two aren’t shutting me out. Not anymore.” East jams his finger in the center of Gideon’s chest. “I’m sick to death of your secrets and your whispered conversations. Let me guess, Gid. You knew that Reed was doing Brooke.”
Gid shrugs.
East’s bitter gaze flies to me. “What, I wasn’t important enough to be in the loop?”
I clench my teeth in frustration. “There’s no loop. It was a stupid mistake, okay? And since when do you need to know about every chick I hook up with? You trying to live vicariously through my dick or something?”
That gets me a fist to the solar plexus.
I stumble backward, slamming my shoulder against the edge of the dresser. But I don’t strike back. East is practically foaming at the mouth. I’ve never seen him this pissed off before. The last time he threw a punch at me, we were kids. Arguing over a video game, I think.
“Maybe I should give Brooke a call,” East fumes. “Right? Because obviously banging Dad’s girlfriend is some kind of sick requirement for getting a VIP pass to the inner circle. If I drop trou for her, you’ll have no choice but to let me into the loop, right?”