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I can’t help the laugh that rumbles out of me, and he hates it, pressing in closer to me from across the room.
“I can’t change the fact she picked the wrong brother first. You’re right there. But I can definitely do my best to help her pick which one she wants last. Brother.”
He moves to tackle me a moment later, and I dodge it. I always was faster than him, and I smirk at the fact that time hasn’t changed it.
“I’m not fucking fighting you in this house. Lizzy’s sleeping.”
“Then let’s take it outside.” He shoves my chest, and I stumble backward.
“Fuck that. Act your fucking age for once in your life, Rob!”
His big beefy arm is around my neck a moment later, and despite a hard punch to his ribs and another to his kidney, he manages to drag me to the doorway before I can shove him off again. He slides the glass, and we end up pushing and shoving our way out through it. I’m just thankful there’s no one to see us acting like children.
“I am acting my age. Why don’t you fucking act like a brother instead of going after my ex?”
“I didn’t go after her. She came to my city. Showed up at my stadium. Needed my help.”
“And she just fell on your dick in the process?”
“No. She just realized I could give her all the things she’d been missing with you.”
His face twists, and I think I’ve somehow managed to actually wound him. It seems to be confirmed when he charges toward me and slams us both into the dirt. We tumble for a moment, limbs tangled as we each try to best each other before we shove away again.
“It’s fucked you would ever try. Fucked that you’d bring her here and rub it in my face.” He pulls himself up to his feet again.
“Lizzy fucking wanted her here. I wanted her here. Fuck… our parents want her here. Had nothing to fucking do with you, and if you want blunt fucking honesty, it’s you and your replacement girl who don’t fucking belong.” I try to brush the dirt off my knees as I glare at him.
“She’s not a replacement girl.”
“Which is why you ran to knock her up and put a ring on her finger.”
“It was an accident that we’re making the best of. You should be familiar with that. Yours is what… fourteen now?”
My fist collides with his mouth a second later, and he stumbles backward and trips to the ground. He wipes the blood where his lip is bleeding.
“You ever talk about Lizzy like that again, I’ll make the damage permanent.”
We stay like that for long minutes. Him staring at me silently, and then at last, he shakes his head and stands.
“You’re right. That was fucked. But you’re a piece of fucking shit for this. And for what? Just because you needed to get your dick wet, and she was there? She’ll never pick you in the end. You might be able to give her the kid she wants, but you’ll never be able to give her the life she wants. She wants the real thing. The ring. The marriage. The big house filled with family at the holidays. Someone her family respects. The only thing anyone knows you for off the field is how many women you’ve fucked. You’re a rebound she’ll just be embarrassed of someday.”
My heart pounds in my ears. I want to hit him again. But not for what he said wrong this time. For what he said that hits too close to home. For what he might be right about, and I don’t want to face.
“What is going on out here?” Trix whispers harshly, her voice just loud enough that the wind doesn’t carry off the words.
I turn around, and she’s closing the sliding door behind her, wrapping a cardigan tightly around her shoulders to help keep out the wind coming off the lake. Her silk sleep set shimmers in the dim light, and her eyes bounce between the two of us. Then she notices the blood smear across Rob’s face, and her eyes widen.
“Oh my god!” She moves toward him out of instinct, and I don’t miss the way he relaxes when she touches him. “Seriously. What is going on?”
She looks to me for answers, and I shake my head, pissed that she’s touching him and annoyed he’s created a scenario where he looks like the victim.
“Ask him what he said about Lizzy,” I spit out, giving him a derisive look.
“Lizzy?” Her accusation turns to him, and she steps back.
“I shouldn’t have said it. But he’s out here bragging about fucking you.”
Her lips flatline, and her eyes hit the ground like she’s ashamed, and he smirks at me so subtly you’d almost miss it—if you weren’t his sibling, you definitely would. But I recognize it. The one I got a million times growing up when he made me look like the fool in front of our parents.
