I'm still on edge the next day. Even a morning of manual labor fails to take it out of me. Then Silas shows up out of the blue, the absolute last person in the world I want to see.
"The cabin's looking good." He stands in the dirt driveway with his hands half tucked into the pockets of his jeans.
"I'm building a deck."
Silas nods. "Looks good," he repeats awkwardly.
I exhale heavily. I'm ready for this bullshit with Elias and Silas to be over. "You want a beer?"
Silas sits in Jack's rocking chair and I hand him a cool bottle, sipping my beer and leaning up against the deck railing. Beads of condensation collect on the glass immediately in the sun, running down the sides. I take a drag from the bottle and look at Silas. "You drove a long way up here."
"Elias and I were talking after the dinner at his and River's place the other night, and I got to thinking."
"Yeah?"
"I know you wouldn't have left in the middle of all that shit unless it was something important."
I nod and let out a long breath. "I left a friend to come back here after mom died."
A look flits across Silas's face and I know exactly what he's thinking.
"Not a girl," I clarify.
"I didn't say anything."
"I could see it in your eyes. I wouldn't have taken off in the middle of all that for a piece of ass, alright?"
"You don't have to be so damn sensitive," Silas says.
"You're going to feel what 'sensitive' is like when I punch you in the balls."
Silas chuckles, sipping on his beer. He kicks back in the rocking chair. "It's a nice place you got up here."
"It's quiet."
"No brothers around to bug the shit out of you," he teases.
"Exactly," I agree. "Quiet."
"Luke's going to propose to Autumn."
"So I hear."
"There's this girl Tempest knows. . ." Silas starts.
I groan. "Is that why you came up here? To set me up with some chick?"
Silas shrugs. "Tempest insisted this girl was your type."
"What the fuck is my type?"
"That's what I said! Everyone knows you're too much of an asshole to be set up with some girl. Can you imagine? One growl from you and she'd go running."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," Silas says. "You're just. . . well, you're you."
"Did you come up here to make peace or start some new shit with me?" I growl. What is with people? I'm too much of an asshole to be set up with some girl?
"I told Tempest I'd mention it while I was here."
"Consider it mentioned."
Silas is silent for a minute, taking a drag from his beer while I mentally congratulate myself for not punching him. First Lily, and now Silas? I'm not that much of an asshole.
"Luke said you were working," Silas says.
"Nope."
"At that cupcake place." Silas gets a self-satisfied look on his face, almost like he's going to crack a smile.
"Shit, you really don't know when to stop, do you?" I ask. "No wonder your smart mouth gets you into so many fights."
Silas grins, obviously pleased with himself. "Tempest likes you, you know. She said that underneath that brooding exterior, she thinks you're sweet."
"Sweet."
"Her words, not mine." Silas looks smug.
"Why the hell are you guys talking about me?"
"Because of the friend. She said she thought you were sweet and I said I thought you were a misanthropic asshole."
I laugh, more of a cough. "Thanks for sticking up for me."
"What are brothers for?" Silas asks, still grinning.
We're both silent for a while, the only noise out here being the birds and the rustling of leaves in the woods. Finally I speak. "I left Texas to come back here when mom passed," I explain. "I left a good friend in the hospital."
Silas nods. "Is your friend alright?"
"He died. That's why I went back when I did. Thought I could make it back before he passed, but he was gone."
"Shit, man." Silas takes a drag on his beer. "I didn't know."
I sip mine again. "Well, now you do."
Silas nods, kicking back in his chair again. "You did all the work on this yourself, huh?"
"Yep. Been working on it the past couple months. Here, I'll show you." I give him the grand tour, pointing out the modifications I've made to the cabin and the shed out to the right that I converted into a workshop.
After Silas leaves, I feel slightly less on edge, since at least the negative bullshit between me and the twins is done with. But what he said about me being too much of an asshole to go out with Tempest's friend keeps bugging me. Not that I want to fucking go out with Tempest's friend. I don't. But I'm also not some ogre sitting in a cabin by myself, hating the world.
I'm not.
22
Lily
"I was polite yesterday when you were walking around here like someone took your birthday " Opal starts, but I interrupt her.
"I was certainly not walking around here like someone took my birthday," I protest, piping purple frosting onto a batch of lavender cupcakes, a new recipe I've been playing with.
"Sure you weren't. You forget that I've had to work with you the past few months, every single day."