Page 53 of Only for Me

“You don’t know shit about me. Not a gotdamn thing.”

“I know enough and what I know is this isn’t going to work. You’re still doing dumb shit and I’m not about to put my daughter in the middle of your bad decisions…”

He tensed beneath me. “You’re not taking my daughter from me. I wish the fuck you would try.”

“Watch me, now get the hell off me.” I struggled against him but he didn’t budge.

“Nah, not happening, but if you chill out, I’ll explain.”

“I don’t want your explanation. I want you to get off me and leave.”

“My brother died.”

This time I was the one who tense. It took him a minute before he spoke again. “Two years ago.” His arms dropped, releasing me, but the fight left me the minute he said his brother died. I turned my head and studied his face. His eyes were empty and his jaw was locked tight.

“Your brother?”

He stared at me but didn’t move or say a word for a long time. The silence was heavy until he spoke. “Two years ago today.”

I waited, giving him time.

“We won the Super Bowl and I partied for a month straight. I was so damn gone I barely even remembered any of it butthatnight. Every fucking detail.”

“What happened?”

“I was at the club, drunk off my ass, so I called him to come get me, because that’s how we got down. Rion was always goingto look out. He was a block away and hit my line to let me know he was pulling up. Shit got crazy. He was at the light and somebody pulled up on him trying to take his ride. I don’t know why he didn’t just let them get it. I kept yelling at him to let them have the damn car but he argued with them anyway.”

I frowned, trying to process what he was saying. “You heard it, you were still on the phone when it happened.”

“Yeah, heard the shots, heard when they pulled off then the line went dead. When I got there Rion was bleeding out in the middle of the street but he was already gone.”

“Wait, you were there?”

He nodded. “He was around the corner from the club, and when I heard the shit going down, I took off running trying to find him. It was too fucking late. I know you think I was being selfish and doing some dumb shit, and maybe I was, but I don’t know how to handle this. It’s been two years and I still don’t have a gotdamn clue and today was just a bad fucking day.” His voice was tight and I thought about his words.

I fucked up. It should have been me.

He was blaming himself for what happened to his brother.

“Shit, I’m sorry. You know that wasn’t your fault, right?”

He laughed dryly. “My decision to be at that club. My decision to be too drunk to drive myself home. My decision to call my brother to come get me. My car, my fame made him a target.” His eyes locked on mine. “All my decisions, and without them, he’d still be here.”

“You can’t carry that.”

“Why the hell not? Everyone else does.”

“Everyone like who?”

I hadn’t heard anything about his brother. I didn’t even know he had one which was confusing considering who he was. How had there not been headlines, and because there weren’t any, who the hell could he possibly think was blaming him?

“My mother for damn sure. She never said it directly but I see it in her eyes every time she looks at me. That shit is my fault. The wrong son died. It should have been me.”

“If she truly feels that way then she’s wrong.” I had never in my life met this woman, didn’t know a damn thing about her, but I wanted to defend him against her because how could a mother choose between her children?

Easy, your mother chose her reputation over her own child…

He stared at me for a long moment, lifted his hand, and the warmth of his palm was at the back of my neck before his long fingers rested at the side. “I’m sorry I brought up bad memories for you.”