Page 58 of Pocketful of Shame

"Okay. Here's what I know." Clearing his throat, Presley quickly continued, blowing my fucking mind with his theories. "Chris was gay and I'm not talking bi, or curious. He was gay, okay?" He looked at me when he said, "For Chris, getting with Romi would feel the same as you getting with me. Think about that for a second."

My brows furrowed. "Then why?"

"That's the wholepoint," Presley growled in frustration. "Your brother was a freaking genius and that's not an exaggeration. Every decision Chris ever made was thoroughly thought through with detailed care and precise planning. He wasn’t rash and he didn’t rush into anything. He was a natural problem solver who looked at a situation from all angles before deciding the right path to take. Hell, when I first told him how I felt about him, he took three whole weeks to think over his damn feelings, which is why I know he wouldn’t rush into a relationship with anyone, much less someone he wasn't remotely attracted to – no offense, baby girl."

"None taken," Romi replied, looking a little sick.

"Did you sleep with him?" he asked then, turning his gaze on Romi. "Did he go that far with you?"

"Ah, hell no," I growled, rising to my feet again, feeling my blood turn to lava in my veins. "Let me the hell out of this booth. I’m not fucking around here –"

"Sketch,stop," Romi snapped, pulling on my arm. "Just sit down. You're making a scene."

"I don’t give a damn," I bit out, chest heaving. "I'm not listening to this. Now let me out of this damn booth, Romi."

"Oh my god, juststop!"

"So I can listen to the gory details of what you and my brother got up to behind closed doors?" I glared at her. "No fucking thank you."

"There are no gory details," she snapped, looking flushed. "He never laid a finger on me." Grabbing my shoulders, she pushed me back down. "Because I didn’t want him to," she continued, red-faced. "I wasn't ready and he didn’t push. So yeah, we kissed and snuggled, but that was it. Nothing else happened."

"Youkissed," I said, folding my arms across my chest, tone laced with disbelief. Telling Romi I still had feelings for her this morning had wounded my pride and made me look like a sucker, and this fine display of emotion wasn’t doing me any favors, but I had to protect myself. My heart couldn’t take another hit. Listening to tales of her time with my brother was my cut-off point. "A whole year of dating and all ya'll did was kiss andsnuggle?" I shook my head. "Don’t bother lying to me. If ya'll need to discuss this, then do it when I'm not around."

"I'm telling the truth," she declared passionately, daring me with her eyes to call her a liar. "And you can believe it or not, but it won't change the fact that the only penis I've ever touched is tucked in your pants."

"Ah, hell," Presley muttered. "This couldn’t get any more awkward."

"I'm a virgin," she twisted the knife by saying, keeping her whiskey-colored eyes glued to mine.

"I was wrong," Pres groaned, dropping his head in his hands. "Shit just got more awkward."

Stunned, I could do nothing but stare at her. I didn’t have a response to that. I could barely suck enough air into my lungs to breathe, let alonespeak. My chest was heaving. My legs felt like jelly. The fuck was I supposed to say to that?

"He wasn't cruel, Sketch," Pres offered, brown eyes glued to my face. "Chris wasn't reckless and he wasn't blind. He knew how much she meant to you. He also knew the real reason you broke up with her, therefore, you can be damn sure he had a good reason for doing what he did. Whatever was going down, whatever Chris was involved in, getting with Romi was hisonlychoice. And maybe I'm clutching at straws when I say this, but don’t you think it's strange that all of your and Chris's problems revolved around Romi? The minute you guys broke up – something that was orchestrated byherfather – everything went downhill. I'm dumped, you're devastated, she's in denial, and Chris is acting like an entirely different person. He starts digging around inherstepmother's business and suddenly there are men in black cars following him around. He's keeping secrets. Acting all jumpy and constantly on edge. Plus, he's not even getting his dick sucked – something I can assure you Chris enjoyed immensely and on frequent intervals. And after all that sacrifice, hedieswhile on a date withher? Why is it that Romi is at the center of every problem you guys have ever had –"

"Hey, watch it," I warned, narrowing my eyes, acutely aware of the girl shaking beside me. "She's not the problem here."

"Ididn’tdo anything," Romi choked out, eyes filling up with tears. "I didn’t hurt Chris." She sank back down on the seat and folded her arms around herself protectively. "I told you the truth." Head bent, she stared down at her lap. "It wasn't myfault."

"He knows that," I told her, glaring across the table at him. "Don’t you, Pres?"

"I'm not saying you did anything wrong, baby girl, and I'm not blaming you," Pres hurried to say, sounding guilty. "But there's something very wrong about this whole situation and I'm trying to figure it out." He pushed his hands through his curls, his frustration evident. "Why is it that Cal Dillon terrorized you into staying away from Romi, but had absolutely no problem with Chris dating her? Ya'll were twins. You shared the same damn womb for nine months," he argued, pushing his glasses up his nose. "So, what's it all about, Sketch? What's the problem here? Help me piece this puzzle together because I can't do it on my own. What am I missing?"

Chapter Twenty

Romi

There was a long stretch of silence after Presley's questioning where both boys were locked in a stare down. Finally, Sketch broke the silence with a heavy sigh.

"I don’t know," he said quietly, resting his elbows on the table. A vein ticked in his temple as he stared down at his hands in defeat. "I guess I'm hard to love."

That quietly spoken confession cut me deep and I bled out for him, feeling every ounce of his confusion and pain. "You're not hard to love, Sketch," I croaked out, placing a hand on his bouncing knee. I knew I should feel mortified over my declaration, but I didn’t. It was the truth and I could deal with it later. Right now, he needed comfort and reassurance. "You're not."

"Come on, Sketch," Presley groaned. "You've gotta give me more than that, dude. If Chris was right, and we're in trouble, I need to know everything. Even if you don’t think it's important, I need all of the information you guys can give me. It's the only way I have a chance of figuring this out."

Sketch's nostrils flared, a telltale sign of his obvious discomfort, and he continued to stare at his hands before blowing out a harsh breath and leaning back in his seat. "I did something when I was little." His brows were furrowed, his expression pained. "It's probably why Cal didn’t want me near Romi."

"What did you do?"

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