“You never told me you broke up with Eli.”
“Huh?” I was curled up next to my mom in her bed. She wanted to watch a movie, but I hadn’t been paying attention. Thoughts of Brute, Luke, and the things Emerson had said were plaguing me. It had been a week since that night and there’d been no retaliation from Brute. I didn’t know what Elijah had done to deal with him, but I guessed that he had somehow. I focused on my mom again and saw she was waiting for me to answer her question. “Oh. Uh. That was a while ago.”
“I know.” She folded her hands underneath her head. Her blue eyes were trained solely on me. The movie, whatever she had picked, was completely forgotten. “I asked your brother why Luke was with you and not Elijah. He told me about the break up. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”
She stiffened, biting down on her lip. “Oh, Brielle.” Her tiny shoulders lifted up and down as she sucked in some air. “That baby…I didn’t know about it, and before you start, the guy was a one-time deal. I was lonely. I was stupid, and I won’t be making that mistake again.”
“You were lonely?”
“Bri.” She patted my arm. “I’m almost forty-five, single, and I work too much. Being lonely is a side effect of not knowing how to pick the right guy. You, I don’t know, sometimes I think you have the same problem as me, but Luke was with you. Are you two…”
“Oh! Um.” I picked at the blanket. “I…I don’t know. No. We became friends again because of the band.”
“With joining the band again?”
I nodded. “Yeah.” I flattened my hands over the blanket, forcing myself to stop picking at it. “You know that night dad left us? When he tore the whole house up and you locked us in the bathroom.”
“I do.” Her voice softened. “I didn’t know you remembered it.”
My throat swelled up. “How could I not?” A rueful laugh slipped from me, but it ended on a soft sigh. “I was so scared that night.”
“Oh, Bri.” Her hand rested over mine and she squeezed it. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry. You and your brother.” She chuckled to herself. “I had babies when I was a baby myself. You and your brother raised each other. I’ve always felt so bad about that. I wasn’t there for you two like I should’ve been.”
“Mom, no.” I covered her hand with my free one. “You were working. And dad—”
Her free hand covered mine now. Her eyes roamed over my face. “You’re so beautiful. Your father was a mistake, but I got you and your brother from him so I can’t complain too much. He wasn’t well.”
No, no he wasn’t, but there was more. I couldn’t tell her what he made me do. I wanted to, but she would’ve blamed herself about that, too. “He wasn’t a good man, was he?”
“No. No, he wasn’t.” She pulled her hand free to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. Lingering there, she patted my cheek. “You and Braden both got his stubbornness and his love of music. He used to manage a band, did you know that?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t.”
“He did. With Luke’s dad. They were best friends.”
The next question should’ve been what happened next. A normal child would’ve had more questions about the father who abandoned her, but not me. I knew what happened next. I was a part of it, and Emerson was right. I had to tell Luke. He had to know. It was time. With the decision made, I headed for Rowdy’s later that evening. I felt like puking the whole night, but it needed to be done.
After our gig, Braden cornered me when I was coming out of the bathroom and informed me that Luke wanted to talk after we played.
I couldn’t stall anymore, but when I went back to find him, Luke was talking to a woman. She was tall, over six feet with blonde hair styled to cascade down her back. Her hair must’ve cost a couple hundred to get that sultry and sophisticated look perfect. With a small pout on her lips, she tilted her head to the side and gestured outside. Her hand rested on Luke’s arm, and I expected him to brush her off.
He didn’t.
Instead, a man came through the crowd and joined them. He looked like the Ken to her Barbie. Seconds later, all three of them went outside together.
“Look at that,” Emerson murmured into my ear, coming from behind me.
I gritted my teeth, letting my war-mask slip into place. “What do you want, Emerson?”
He was looking at where they had gone. “Don’t take it personal. He was bound to move on from you. It was only a matter of time, and that woman,” he wolf whistled, “is an upgrade. I’d do her, too.”
“She had a date.”
“Bri. Come on.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Can we say swinger?”
“Get out of here. Luke’s not a swinger.”
He laughed, but there was a bite to it. “I’m kidding. I bet that guy was her brother. Didn’t you see how they looked alike? Don’t you have Twin Radar?”
“Now, you’re pissing me off.” I started to edge around him. Kelly was waving for help behind the bar. “I don’t have Twin Radar, but I do have Bullshit Radar. Whatever you’re doing, just stop. It makes you look like the bad guy.”
He followed right behind me. A soft, taunting laugh teased in my ear. “Now, you really need to wake up. I am the bad guy. I’m always the bad guy.”
A large group planted themselves in front of the bar. I went around them and looked back over my shoulder. Emerson was disappearing out the door. Maybe he was right, and that couple was twins.