Page 6 of The Devastation You Reap

He barks out a laugh. "I'm surprised there isn't a support group who's already warned them about you. Ow," he complains when I slap him upside the head.

"I don't like you being this happy."

"Well, you're gonna have to get used to it, you miserable fuck, because this is it now. Got my girl back. Brett is gone. Things are good, man."

I glance up at him and although his eyes are lighter, and his shoulders are more relaxed now than they’ve been in a long time, I can still see his concern, his anger lingering in the depths of his green orbs that look so much like my own.

"Yeah, I agree. Things are good."

His brows pull together. He knows I'm hiding shit. I never expected him to believe the crap I fed him the night I got back from dealing with our father after he attacked Luc's girl, but it was all he was going to get.

Luca got his punches in and he no longer has to deal with our father's overbearing presence in his life.

What happens next to Brett, it's mine to decide.

The pain, the suffering, all of it is mine.

"You know you can—"

"Don't say it, Luc," I cut him off before he tries to offer me a sympathetic ear and a shoulder to cry on once again.

"Fine," he says, holding his hands up in defeat as he walks to the coffee maker. "I only want to help, you know. Peyton does too."

"I know, and I appreciate it. But I'm good. For real."

"You're a shit liar, Lee," he says, turning his back on me.

"Whatever. Believe whatever you want." I grab an energy drink from the refrigerator and swing the door closed. "I'm out."

"Where you going? You don't have class this morning."

"Careful, Luc. I'll start to think you've turned your stalker tendencies on me.

Look, I'm going out. Meeting some friends."

I'm at the doorway ready to get the fuck away from my inquisitive brother when he calls my name and my body stops without instruction from my brain.

"I will find out, you know that, right?"

I shrug.

"And whatever it is, it'll be better coming from you."

"Nothing to tell, man."

I take off before he gets a chance to call me out on my blatant lie.

Jumping into my car, I start the engine and take a deep breath.

I hate lying to Luc, but it's how everything has been for a long time now. It almost comes naturally.

With every day that passes, the time when we were tight, when we knew literally everything about each other, becomes a little more distant.

I remember those two fun-loving, happy little boys. Kids who were too young to understand what a cunt our father was, how much pressure we were already under compared to other kids our age, and most importantly, we were totally unaware of the pain that comes with life and growing up as Brett Dunn's kids.

I've never figured out which one of us had it worse. From as early as I can remember, I knew that Luca was his favorite. The second Luc picked up a football, it was obvious that his future was going to be following in our father's footsteps. Being a quarterback comes as naturally to him as breathing. I remember Dad's eyes lighting up as he realized what was happening and he pulled Luc into his arms and called him his boy.

His boy.