Page 26 of My Fiancé's Brother

He shrugged. I expected him to blow off my question. It threw me when he was honest. “Things have been pretty shit between Jackson and me since my dad passed away.”

“I'm still really confused as to how Jackson became part of your life.”

His eyes slid up to my face before shifting away. “One day, I woke up and Jackson was sleeping in my top bunk. He was my dad’s charity case. There’s more to the story, but that’s the gist of it.”

“You’re kidding. How old were you?”

“About seven.”

“And your mom was okay with this?”

“She knew it was important to my dad.”

I blinked at the bitter tone in Matt’s voice.

“I’ve never heard this story,” I said. “Were you friends?”

“Yeah. We used to be good friends.”

Matt was holding back. “How old were you when he stopped staying at your place?”

“He lived on and off with us until he left to join the navy.”

“So he was part of your family for most of your life.”

Matt looked down at his hands. “It was complicated. My dad invited him to be part of the family.”

“Were you okay with it?”

“Sometimes it was fun. Lots of the time, he felt like a brother. He was completely wild.”

“Was he a bad kid?”

“No, he wasn’t a bad kid, but trouble always seemed to find him. I remember one lunch hour, these older kids came over and started to pick on us. There was six or seven of them and the two of us. I was ready to bolt, but Jackson just stood his ground. I took one hit to the face, and I ran screaming to the lunch lady, but he didn’t run. He tookthem all on. They messed him up so bad he was in the hospital overnight with a bruised kidney, but when the teachers got there to break up the fight, it took two teachers just to subdue him. He was tougher than anyone I knew.”

“Oh, my gosh.”

“A bunch of kids got suspended over that fight, but that’s just who Jackson was. He had no fear. He would take anyone on. He was wild that way.”

“So, what happened?”

“What?” He avoided my gaze.

“Did you guys have a falling out?”

His shoulders twitched. “We’re just really different.”

There was way more to this than Matt was letting on. “Does your mom still keep in touch with him?”

Matt looked at me sharply. “Wow, someone is interested.”

My eyes widened. “This guy grew up with you, and I have never even heard about him. Of course, I'm curious.”

“It isn’t a big deal.”

“Okay.”

He cleared his throat. “Can you keep your eye on him for me?”

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