Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“Who the fuck are you to question me, Dom? You don’t know who I am. You never cared to find out. Don’t think because you hang with Mattie that you have any idea who I am. You don’t know shit.”
“Whose fault is that? You got all butthurt when I told you I only wanted us to be family and nothing else. Ever since that day, you’ve avoided me like the plague. You never gave me the chance to get to know you.”
“Oh, yeah. You’re right. It’s all on me. It has nothing to do with the fact that your nose has been so far up Gabby’s ass that others ceased to exist for you.”
“That’s not true, Thea—”
“It’s not? When I graduated from high school, everyone was there in the crowd but you. Where were you, Dom?”
I see something flicker in his eyes that might look like guilt, but I doubt it. He’s probably just realizing he can’t win this argument.
“Thea…”
“When I had to have surgery two years ago because my leg had begun curving, where were you?”
“Damn it.”
“Where were you during my painful recovery? You can’t tell me you didn’t know about it because I know that’s a damn lie.”
“Fine, I knew about it. I checked on you every day. The truth is, I didn’t think you’d want me there.”
“That’s rich. You want to talk to me about how we’re family and yet, not once have you ever acted like you were part of my family, Dom.”
“I …”
“Not once.”
“Maybe I would have if you didn’t act like a bitch every single time that I got around you,” he huffs, and I immediately shake my head.
“Don’t hand me that. I tried in the beginning. You just made it impossible. You knew how much I hated Gabby, yet you made it a point to have her with you whenever you came around.”
“We’re never going to agree on the past, Thea,” he finally says, releasing a breath and scrubbing his face with his hand in agitation.
“Look at that,” I laugh bitterly. “You’re wrong, because on that we definitely agree.”
“Would it help if I say I’m sorry that I hurt you?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure. It’s not like you have much follow-through.”
“I don’t want us to be enemies, Thea. I have a lot right now I’m trying to make up for. I’m struggling. I’d like it if the two of us could somehow call a truce and find a way to be friends.”
“No, thank—”
“If you try for no other reason, do it because it would make Breaker and Thomas happier if we could stand to be in the same room with one another.”
“Are you going to have Gabby in my face every time I turn around?”
“She lied to me, Thea. She played me for a fool.”
“She’s done that a lot. You always go back—even when you know doing so will hurt your brother.”
“That’s just it. I didn’t know that Gabby strung Thomas around. I—”
“If you’re going to try to change, can you at least stop spreading your shit excuses in front of me? I’m not stupid and gullible, Dom.”
“I didn’t know,” he insists, but I just shake my head.
“You may not have known what she was telling Thomas, but you sure as hell knew that Thomas was hung up on her. You could have withdrawn yourself from the equation. Thomas should have come first. He’s your brother. He loves you. Hell, at one time, he idolized you.”
“You don’t get it, Thea. You obviously can’t love this guy you’re dating. If you did, you would understand. You have never been in love. It changes—”
“Spare me. I’m adult enough to know that if seeing me with the person I was dating was hurting Mattie or Skylar, I would make sure I didn’t bring that person around. I definitely wouldn’t fuck them in the garage while they were twenty feet away.” His eyes go wide as fucking saucers. If it didn’t hurt so much, I’d bust out laughing. “There are no secrets in this family, Dom. Maybe that’s something you should have thought about all these years.”
“Thea—”
“I have to go.”
“So, that’s it? You aren’t even going to try—”
“If she’s not around, I can agree to be civil when I’m around you. If you stop hurting Thomas, I will try to put the past behind us—only so our brothers can have us in the same room together at family gatherings. Although, why it matters after all this time, I have no idea.”
“It matters. Having us getting along would make our families happy, too.”
“Yeah, I guess it would.”
“Will you let me walk you out? It’s dark out there,” he asks, and I blink. I don’t know what I expected, but this wasn’t it.
“You’re leaving? I thought you’d be hanging around with your family and seeing the baby again.”
“There is a lot of shit swirling in my head, and I think I need time away from them for a bit,” he says.