Page 171 of Trust Me

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll just go home.”

Shaking my head, I let go of Oli but kept a close eye on him. “We’ll go tomorrow.”

“Go where?” Remi asked.

“Your place, obviously. This Cole guy will leave, then we’ll pack your shit.”

“But . . . Where am I supposed to go?”

“For now, you’ll take the couch. Then you’ll find a new place.”

“And you won’t tell him where that is,” Oli added, more firmly than I thought he was capable of. After Remi nodded, Oli’s demeanor shifted back to his usual softness. “Good. Now get out of my bed.”

Remi got up and hobbled sleepily over to Oli. He threw his arms around him in an embrace that reminded me of how I hugged my brother. Even though I was annoyed with him, I knew he’d be a permanent part of our lives. He was struggling, and I didn’t loathe the guy anymore, so I’d have to get on board with dealing with whatever the hell he got himself into.

“I need to know you’ll be okay if I’m not here to save you,” Oli said quietly.

A crooked smile slid onto Remi’s face. “You’ll always be here, Oli.”

“I wasn’t this time.”

“But I knew you would be. That’s why I came here.”

As Remi headed into the living room, Oli’s eyes met mine. Our plans had seemed simple before, even if they were still a bit far-fetched. Maybe we were being fanciful from the start. The fact remained that it wasn’t only us that we needed to consider. If this was going to happen, we had to find a way to make sure all of our ducks were in a row.

It was a good thing I was a planner.

Families weren’t neat. They weren’t easy. But maybe this was ours now. And I’d fight like hell to keep it together.