I still couldn’t believe they had shown up at Seth’s practice to defend my honor. Seth had come up with a good solution, and hopefully after tonight, things would be different for Seth and my sister.
I just wanted her to see him the way I saw him. He could be sweet and kind and really romantic when he cared about someone. If he had wanted to screw me and leave, he would have been gone by now.
As I got ready, there was a knock on the door. I was dressed, and my hair was fixed, but I only had my makeup half done, thanks to Abi, who had helped me find the best products for my complexion and needs.
I didn’t expect Seth so soon, and he gave me a strange look before kissing me. “Look at me,” he said. I glanced up, and he smiled. “Oh, only one eye has eyeliner. I thought you looked a bit different. I wondered if Clara dotted your eye for a minute.”
“You’re the one whose eye she wants to dot, not mine.” I laughed at the thought of my frail sister smacking him. It would be like a gnat on a rhino. “You can come sit on my bed and talk to me while I finish the other side if you want. I’m kind of new at this, so you tell me if I look like a clown.” I was still a bit self-conscious that I was doing it wrong. I wanted to look good for him.
“You aren’t going to look like a clown. But honestly, Avery, you can wear that if you want, but you don’t need it. I think you’re a knockout with or without it.”
“So, off or on?” I didn’t want to go through all that trouble if he didn’t care either way. I led him down the hall.
“How does it make you feel? That’s what matters.” He followed me to the bedroom and plopped down on the foot of the bed while I walked over to the dresser and stood in front of the mirror.
I shrugged. “I like it. I think I’ll just do the other eye. Clara will be surprised. When we were younger, she loved makeup. She stopped for a while with swimming, but she’s back to it now that she lives with Dillon. I think it gives her something to do mostly. I know it’s taking me forever. They should call it a hobby.” I would get used to it. It wasn’t going to be an everyday thing, but I liked it for going out.
Seth laughed. “You do a lot to make her happy, don’t you?”
“Yeah. Is that so bad?”
“No, but make sure you’re making yourself happy too. You can’t live for her.”
“I know. It’s not that I need her approval, but I just want her to like you and be happy for me. You know, I want to make her proud, I guess, in some way. And it would be less for her to worry about once she gets to know you.”
“I get it.” His voice sounded a bit down, and when I glanced in the mirror, I could tell his smile had faded a bit.
“Good. I know this sibling stuff might not make sense to everyone. But when my dad left Mom, she was a basket case for a while, and Clara was all I had. We took care of Mom and each other. We did everything from paying the bills to buying groceries. It wasn’t easy. Mom barely got up to go to work.”
“I have a brother,” he blurted. “Well, I had one.” He said it as if he was admitting he had a drinking problem.
The information came as a surprise. I had always thought he was an only child from the stories he’d told me. “What do you mean you had? Like a stepbrother?” Maybe his mom or dad had remarried at some point and divorced?
“No, he was my brother, but he passed away. I was going to tell you, but things are always so happy with you that I just didn’t want to bring the mood down. Besides, I’m working on moving on from what happened, and I guess I’m at a point where sometimes still just talking about it stirs up old feelings.”
“I’m sorry.” I closed my eyes a moment and tried to compose myself. “You don’t have to say anything.”
“It’s okay. I’m in the right mood to talk about him. His name was Bryan, and he was only eleven months older than me and one grade ahead, but you’d have thought he was twenty by the way he protected me.”
“I can relate to that,” I said, seeing him in a whole new light. “That sounds like Clara. It must be an older sibling thing.”
“Yeah, she was pretty scary at practice.” He laughed.
“We’re both the babies? Or do you have others?”
“No, just him.” He took a deep breath, and I could tell that it was hard to talk about. “Look, I didn’t keep him from you on purpose. I don’t want secrets between us.”
“I understand. And while I almost lost Clara, I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. How did he die? Or do you not want to tell me? I’ll understand if it’s too hard. I can be patient for you.”
“I know, and you’re sweet to say so, but I’m okay. I don’t mind telling you. I feel like I could tell you anything actually.”
I walked over and sat next to him. “I want you to be able to tell me anything. And I hope you feel the same.”
“I do,” he said. He took my hand. “It was a car accident. We were at a party, and he had been drinking a little. So had I. I was tired. I had a rough night with Layla. We were fighting, and shit was bad at home. I told him
