Page 11 of If I See You Again

Malcolm

“ M y mother had an obsession with arts and crafts. Whatever was new and popular, she had to try it.” David’s hand swung around as he talked.

The bar was relatively empty for a Friday evening, so it made it easier to hear him.

“She did everything from knitting to painting ceramics. Then there was the great rubber stamp craze. I’ll never forget the year she was convinced that my sister and I had to sit and help her make all the Christmas cards by hand. ”

If anything, he was interesting to talk to.

We’d gotten small glimpses of each other’s lives over the last couple of months, but this was something different.

My chin rested on my hand as he kept telling the story of how his younger sister had gotten into the ink pads, ruining a lot of them, and how his mother had been so upset.

“Do you have any siblings?”

The question caught me off guard. I was so used to everyone knowing about Marcus that the idea of him not knowing at this point was strange.

Maybe if I had told David about him months ago, things would’ve been different.

David wouldn’t be trying to get to know me or insisting that I run his advertising campaign.

There was a very real chance that he would have run for the hills, just like everyone else.

“Had. I had a sibling. A brother.”

Silence settled around us, and David watched me, head tilted to the side with interest. I itched under his scrutiny. He’d just been telling me funny stories about his little sister, and I suddenly dampened the mood by telling him about losing my brother.

The awkwardness was finally broken when the bartender placed a fresh round of drinks in front of us. I lifted the chilly glass of beer to my lips, savoring the hoppy flavor that rolled over my tongue, and tried my best not to focus on the fact that David was still staring.

“What do you mean, ‘ had a brother ?’”

A small, humorless laugh passed between my lips as the glass of the bottle clinked against the bar top when I set it down, and I turned to face him.

“I mean, I had one. He’s not here anymore.

” My eyes burned as I swallowed thickly.

I rarely got emotional talking about Marcus these days.

Something about telling David was different.

I’d let him in differently than I’d let anyone else in.

Maybe that was what I’d been doing wrong all along.

For the first time since the conversation started, David turned away.

Losing his pale blue gaze on me made me feel bereft and empty.

He lifted his beer to his full pink lips.

I shouldn’t have been thinking about them when talking about my brother’s death, but I couldn’t help it.

It didn’t change the fact that the man was still stupidly attractive, and I was struggling not to cross professional lines again.

“What happened to him?”

I cleared my throat, looking at the wall of liquor behind the bar, blinking rapidly to fight back tears that burned behind my eyes. My fingers pulled at my shirt, lifting the bottom edge to reveal the thin scar that lined my abdomen.

“You asked about this. The night we met. I called it the deal breaker. My brother, Marcus, was my twin. He was my everything. He got so fucking sick, and I would have done anything to save his life, including giving him pieces of myself.”

I sucked in a sharp breath when cool fingers made contact with my skin. David had stood from his seat and was standing close, touching the scar, eyes searching my face as I spoke.

“I don’t like hiding him. He was important to me, and if anyone couldn’t understand that I’d given up a piece of myself in order to save him—even if I failed—then maybe they weren’t the right fit for me after all.

” I laughed as I lowered the hem of my shirt, forcing David to stop touching me.

“Turns out, when you tell people you gave your kidney up to save your brother’s life, and he died anyway, they don’t want anything to do with you. ”

More silence. My eyes slammed closed as I lifted the beer to my lips once more, trying to wash away the humiliation. Surely, he’d leave now. Everyone else did. No one stuck around after that. I had baggage. A sad past. Absolutely no one signed up for that.

Then it happened. Arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me into a warm chest, surrounding me with a whiskey and beer smell. Never. Not once had this happened. Every single time I’d told anyone about Marcus, I’d been met with blank stares and judgment.

David was attempting to comfort me.

My hands clutched at his arms as tears spilled over my cheeks. I looked like a mess sitting there at the bar crying after telling him, but a weight had been lifted off my chest. He knew, and he wasn’t afraid of me. Or at least he hadn’t given me that impression.

“Anyone who made you feel bad for your bravery wasn’t worth your time.

I’m sorry anyone ever made you feel that way.

” When David’s arms loosened around me, I instantly wanted them back.

This wasn’t keeping things professional if I was sitting here and crying on him, but I didn’t care.

He was being so damn sincere, and I’d do just about anything to keep that.

I looked around the bar before finally meeting David’s eyes. They danced with so much concern and respect. I wanted to toss out all my reservations with him. He was right that no one should have ever made me feel less than for what I’d done.

And maybe I’d been unsuccessful so many times because I’d been meant to find David this entire time.