Even if I missed my mom, my old friends, and my old room, having a brother—that was something I could get used to.
“What’s that?” Nathan asked when I pulled my basketball out of my backpack as I was unpacking in my new gigantic bedroom.
“Are you serious?” I asked. He blinked back at me innocently. I held it out toward him. “It’s a basketball. Haven’t you ever played?”
“No. I don’t really have time for sports,” he replied, tossing the ball up and down a couple of times.
“You don’t have time? What do you do besides school?” I asked.
Nathan’s eyes guided up toward the ceiling as he thought. “Well, before school, I have to work on my Spanish and my French. Then after school, is Italian and German. I get a little break for dinner, and then before bed, I study business.”
My jaw dropped. “You do all of that? When do you play with your friends?”
Nathan’s gaze dropped to the floor. “I…don’t really have any friends.” That made me sad—a kid with no friends. I wouldn’t like that very much. He rolled the ball in his hands a few times before finally saying, “It’s kind of heavy.”
I wrinkled up my nose. “No it’s not.” I sputtered out a laugh. “You’re weak.”
Nathan’s smile turned into a scowl instantly. “No I’m not! I’m strong!”
“It’s okay! I’m just roasting you,” I said.
Nathan tilted his head to the left. “Roasting?” He looked at the distance between us. “You’re not even touching me.”
Was this kid serious? What world had he lived in? “No, roasting, like making fun of you. It’s what friends do.”
“We’re not friends. We are brothers,” Nathan said.
“Aren’t we friends too?” I asked. “Shouldn’t brothers be friends?”
Nathan absently blinked a couple of times, and then a smile slowly crept on his face. “Yeah. We should be friends too!”
I nodded. “Good. Bring that basketball, then. I’m gonna teach you how to play.”
“Okay!”
I had been so happy to have a brother. Look where having a brother got me.
Watching Cherri walk away from me, looking so disappointed, killed me. I wanted to run after her, but with Nathan still standing in front of me and with Connor to my left, I knew I wouldn’t get very far without getting into more of a scrap than I wanted to with Connor there. He didn’t scare me, but I never knew what he was going to do next. It made it difficult to act recklessly when it came to him. I would finish hurting Nathan for how badly he hurt Cherri, but if it needed to wait until a less compromising time, then I could wait for that moment.
Connor crossed his arms and looked at us like we were no more than a couple of children who had misbehaved. “What’s going on here?”
“Ask him!” Nathan growled. “I showed up, and he fucking jumped on me like a wild dog!”
“Looks like he got the better of you too,” Connor said. “You don’t know how to fight without a gun?”
Nathan looked at Connor and seemed truly shocked by that statement. “I…”
He looked at me, and for a second, his eyes briefly flashed that same offended look he gave me back when I called him weak when we first met. He’d always been committed to proving he was strong. I was beginning to figure out why.
Connor turned to look at me. “You. Why are you starting something with your brother?”
Suddenly, I didn’t know if I should make a mention of what he’d done to Cherri. Would that help or hurt his standing with Connor? Which was better? Would it come back on Cherri if I did say it?
“Thanks to this asshole, Miss Abrams jumped out that window, and everyone thinks I fucking pushed her!” I growled instead.
Nathan stomped his feet like a spoiled brat. “I did not have anything to do with her jumping! I have no idea why she did that!”
The sincerity in Nathan’s gaze was shocking. “You—” I started, but before I could get any additional words out, Connor cleared his throat and shook his head at me. Was Nathan not involved? Miss Abrams quite clearly brought him up. “Guess I heard a bad rumor,” I said.
Connor’s harsh gaze relaxed a little. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear. Moreover.” He walked forward, took Nathan and me each by the shoulder, and shoved us a little closer to one another. “Whether you’re on good terms or not, you’re brothers. You should have each other’s backs.”
I shoved myself out of Connor’s grip, but I could see the way Nathan was dwarfed under his touch. He was petrified.
“Deon,” Connor continued. “Do I need to reach out to your parole officer and make a mention of your fighting?”
If I could set a man on fire with a look, Connor would be up in flames. Connor was all about power and control. He didn’t scare me, but no matter how much it bothered me, he had more chips than I did at the moment, and I had to be smart about how I played mine.
“No,” I forced out through gritted teeth. “It won’t happen again.”
“Good.” With his hand still gripped tightly on Nathan’s shoulder, he guided him back toward the parking lot. “We’re going.”
As they were walking away, Nathan looked back over his shoulder at me. All at once, I was thrust back through time to that moment that we met, to that little boy who was just happy to have a brother.
Fuck.
I stayed where I was until Connor and Nathan were in his car and out of sight. Then I finally climbed in my car and started back to my house. I was even more confused than I was when the day
