Page 29 of My Brother's Enemy
I stepped forward. “Rain. Hi. I work with the team.”
“You do? As what? Oh!” Her eyes got big. “Are you here for social media? Ty mentioned that you guys had asked about doing a post for Zoey, but it seems a bit early.”
I shook my head, horrified. “No. I’m the team…” I didn’t want to saypsychologistbecause that’d scare her away.
“She’s our team shrink.”
Really, Tyler?That was worse.
“Oh!” Skylar blinked, clearly not expecting that answer.
Tyler began silently laughing behind her as she approached me, all formal now. She held out a hand, the other smoothing her shirt and hair. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.” Her hand closed around mine. “Rain.” Her eyebrows pulled together and she stepped to the side, shooting her brother a look. “I’m kinda surprised Tyler brought you here. No offense, bro, but he’s not exactly one to feel his emotions, much less talk about them.” She fixed him with another piercing look. “Can you even feel more than the basic three?”
Tyler’s grin turned wicked. His eyes sparked. “Which three are you talking about?”
She laughed, swatting his shoulder. “Oh, you know—anger, hunger, and being horny.”
His grin turned sly. “There’s laughter too, but yes, I have the basic three. Fighting, food, and fucking. Not always in that order.”
His sister shook her head. “Look at you, evolving.” She indicated the empty bed behind her. “You can come in. We have a few extra seats. They took Zoey for some tests, but she’s going to go nuts when she smells the coffee and can’t have any.”
I held up the carrier, coming farther into the room, but I made no movement toward any of the chairs. They were both still standing, and this was such a family moment. I shouldn’t be here. I tried to catch Tyler’s gaze, to relay that message, but he was still smiling at his sister.
She took the coffee carrier from me. “Thanks for this.” Skylar placed the coffees on the long, narrow lap table. Then she motioned toward one of the empty chairs as she took a seat herself. Wrapping her arms around her knee, she hugged it to her chest. “Have a seat. Get comfortable. These tests can take forever, and when she comes back, she’ll be too exhausted to have visitors.”
Tyler yawned but caught my look and frowned at me. He didn’t say anything though. I looked away in case Skylar was studying us. But she was yawning as well, and she closed her eyes and rested her head against the chair. Both looked wrecked.
I thought one of them would say something, make small talk, but neither seemed bothered by the silence. And this did not seem like the time to get to know Tyler’s sister in any capacity.
“She’s doing good then?” Tyler finally asked.
Skylar gave him a sad smile. “She’s… The hospital’s psychologist was in to talk with me before they took her out. They…” Her gaze flitted my way, but there was no hesitation. Or caution. She shared that same sad smile with me. “They don’t know if she overdosed on purpose. It’s all been so quick, to be honest. Do you know anything about that stuff?”
I opened my mouth but thought for a moment first. I could go one route here, be all prim and proper, but Tyler hadn’t asked me here for that. No matter what he said to his sister, I knew he had no interest in my professional skills. I pinned him with a look. “I’m more a sports psychologist. I have a basic knowledge about drug and alcohol addiction, but it’s not my focus.”
“Oh.” She tilted her head to the side. “Then why did you…?” She trailed off when I glared at her brother, who was chuckling to himself. “You’re such an ass, Tyler! You brought your team’s psychologist with you because what? You’re trying to get into her pants?”
“You’re not wrong.” He started laughing again.
“So on brand for you.” She rolled her eyes but started laughing too.
Pain stabbed in my gut. I was just another girl he’d brought around, and I had no doubt I wouldn’t be the last. But I shoved that down and instead focused on them. They had the same laugh, and they only needed to look at each other to start cracking up all over again. It was nice to see this sort of sibling love. There was no hatred. No annoyance. No one was being mean. No one was being pushed out or used as a scapegoat. Just love. And Tyler looked the most relaxed I’d ever seen him. He was determined, alert, and fierce at the arena, so it was nice to see this side of him as well.
But no matter how I tried, I couldn’t get her words out of my head. “So on brand for you.” He did this a lot. There wasn’t anything special about me, which I knew. God, I knew that. But it still hurt.
I shouldn’t have forgotten. Why had I?
Because Tyler looked at me and asked me to come with him, and I’d melted at his feet. I was able to do my job because I could put everything in its nice, neat drawer. Everything was compartmentalized. Except Tyler wasn’t. He wouldn’t let me puthim in any one drawer. He was in one already because of our past, even if he didn’t know it, and now he was trying to be in two other drawers. He kept jumping out of them, making everything blurred in my mind. I’d wanted to believe he wanted me here for him. But I remembered what he’d said earlier in his texts. He wanted to escape. That’s why I was here. To help him forget the shitty situation going on with his family by what? Taking him to a janitor’s closet? An empty patient room?
“You really are a dumb fuck, aren’t you?”I flinched, hearing one of my brother’s taunts. He’d laughed when he said that, and it became one of his favorite insults for the next few years.
Yes, Daniel. I’m still just a big dumb fuck.
Tyler gave me a curious look, so I pushed the old hurt aside, along with the new stuff, and put it all in the back of my head. Fixing a smile on my face, I tried to let him know I hadn’t taken offense to anything his sister said. I wasn’t sure it worked, but now Skylar was laughing about something else, and he was quickly distracted.
I needed to leave, but I didn’t know how to excuse myself without making it uncomfortable.
Skylar had just begun talking about a neighborhood cat Zoey tried to adopt when a nurse came into the room. Seeing my chance, I stepped out into the hallway and waited to see if Tyler would come out with me.
