And just like I did back then, I try my best to help to do what’s right for him. And right now, the best thing for him is to get away from this house before he does something he’ll regret. “Because you’ve been okay for almost two years now,” I whisper. My hands are still pressed to his chest, so I can feel his heart beating hard and fast beneath my palms. “Please don’t get wrapped up in all of this mess again. Look what it did to you before, Tyler. Just stay away from him.”
“Eden,” Tyler says slowly through gritted teeth. Reaching up, he takes both of my hands in his, still holding them against his chest. His heart seems to beat even faster as his eyes soften up for the briefest of moments. “I want him to see me now. I just wanna stand in front of him for the first time in seven years. I need him to know that he messed up, because he doesn’t get to be a part of our lives anymore. Not mine, not Jamie’s, not Chase’s, not Mom’s. We’re all doing perfectly fucking fine without him now. I want him to know that.” Tilting his head down, he sighs and squeezes my hands. After a moment, he glances back up. “And maybe swing a fist or two.”
“I get it,” I say, keeping my voice low. I fear that if we raise our voices any louder, his dad might hear us from inside. That’s if he’s even here in the first place. “I get that you wanna face up to him. I can’t blame you. But Tyler, think about it. What happens if you snap the second you see him again? You’re already mad, so just drop it. At least for tonight. You can deal with your dad another time. You need to let all of this sink in first, okay?”
Tyler glances over my shoulder toward the house. He studies it for a while, a range of emotions flickering in his eyes. I can’t work out exactly what he’s feeling. They change too fast.
Relaxing his jaw, he swallows and looks back to me. “Okay,” he whispers. Letting go of my hands, he moves his to my face, gently cupping my cheeks as he tilts my chin up so I can look at him more directly. “Okay.” Closing his eyes, he leans in, pressing his lips softly and slowly against mine. It takes me aback for a split second: It’s so out of place amidst his rage. I’m not sure what the reason behind it is, whether it’s for comfort or for reassurance or both, but I do know that it’s clear Tyler has forgotten we’re not alone.
As panic sweeps through me, I quickly recoil. Pulling my lips away from Tyler’s, I push him away from me and then fire my eyes over to the Range Rover still parked out on the road. Through the windshield, our brother is blinking back at us.
30
Jamie drives in silence. He’s back behind the wheel, his lips pressed into a firm line. His eyes don’t leave the road, because he doesn’t even so much as glance at Tyler or me. I can’t figure out if he’s stunned or furious or both. Either way, his expression makes it clear that he hasn’t taken the news well. Perhaps Tyler could have been less blunt when he told our brother the truth and perhaps I could have made a better attempt at offering an explanation, because now Jamie just looks disgusted. However, the new situation at hand was enough to distract Tyler and get him back into the car and off Wesley Meyer’s front lawn.
I’m in the backseat once more, anxiously gnawing on my lower lip and fumbling with my seatbelt while feeling, yet again, rather ashamed. Seeing Jamie appear sickened at the idea of Tyler and me together is giving me absolutely no hope whatsoever for our parents. If our sixteen-year-old brother can’t handle it, then I highly doubt Dad and Ella will. Thankfully, we’re not heading there right now. We’re going to my mom’s place. We’re breaking the news to her first. Tyler’s idea. We were going to wait until tomorrow, but now that Jamie knows, it’s best to just tell the rest of our family tonight. Each second, I grow more and more nauseous at the thought of it. The time really is here.
The drive to my mom’s place only takes a few minutes. Jamie pulls up behind my car on the sidewalk, leaving the engine running while he remains silent. He doesn’t say a single word, nor does he take his hands off the wheel. He just stares out of the windshield with narrowed eyes. Tyler does look at his brother for a long while, trying to catch his eye, but it’s useless. Eventually, he just glances over his shoulder to me and shrugs, letting me know that it’s time to go.
I release my seatbelt and numbly slip out of the car. There’s a frown upon my lips, mostly because I’m feeling incredibly guilty. I can’t help it. Tyler and Jamie have always been close, much closer than either of them is with Chase, and they rarely ever argue. But now Jamie just seems pissed off, and I feel like it’s all because of me. This tense atmosphere would not be suffocating us right now if I hadn’t fallen for Tyler. All I can do now is hope that soon Jamie will come around, the same way I’m hoping Rachael will. But there’s absolutely no point in hoping that Dean will ever accept Tyler and me. I’d be deluded if I ever believed that could happen.