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Simon took out two beers from the refrigerator and handed me one.
“How are you?” he asked.
“If you’re referring to Nick, I’m fine.” I twisted off the cap and tipped the bottle to my lips.
“So, you just up and left your apartment? What about your lease?”
“It’s a month-to-month lease. I already emailed the landlord and told him I wasn’t renewing. After what happened, I couldn’t stay there anymore.”
The sliding door opened, and Sam walked in.
“Hey, Claire.” He smiled. “Bro, I texted you a while ago.”
“You did?” Simon pulled his phone from his pocket. “Oh yeah. I guess you did.” A smirk crossed his lips.
“We’re meeting down at the beach for a while. Come on, Claire.” A smile crossed his lips.
“Go on,” Simon said. “I’ll be down there in a minute. I just have to let Grace know.”
I took my beer and walked down to the bonfire with Sam, where my other siblings and cousins sat.
CHAPTER 23
Claire
“What was he like?” I asked.
“Our father?” Sebastian asked.
“Yeah. Besides his constant cheating, what kind of man was he?”
“I’ll tell you what kind of man—” Simon began to speak.
“Bro, stop,” Sam said. “He was a generous man when he wanted to be. He did have his flaws, many of them.”
“He fucked us up,” Simon chimed in. “Well, our mother played a role in that as well. When we were teenagers, the four of us made a pact never to fall in love or get involved in relationships.”
“Yeah.” Stefan laughed. “And Sammy was the first to break that pact with Julia.”
“Why did you make that pact?” My brows furrowed.
“Because watching our parents and their relationships growing up was enough to make us realize it wasn’t worth it,” Sebastian spoke. “We had a lot of issues back then.”
“Then, our beautiful wives came into our lives and made us see things differently,” Sam said.
“We were afraid we would be like our father,” Stefan said, tipping the beer bottle to his lips.
“Yeah, we were young and dumb back then.” Sebastian smiled.
“But he must have changed when he met Celeste,” I said.
“We thought he did,” Sam spoke. “We really did.”
“I never thought that,” Simon said. “He was still a cheating bastard until the day he died. The man couldn’t keep his dick in his pants for nothing. That’s why you’re sitting here with us.” He smiled, holding up his beer bottle.
After we sat, drank, and talked for a while, Simon and I headed back to his house.
I went upstairs, slowly opened the door to Nora’s room, and stared at her from the doorway. A smile crossed my lips as she lay there, sound asleep.
