Page 62 of Promise To Marry You
“I —”
“Becky-boo, where are youuuuu?”
My twin’s booming voice has Cam jumping back from me in horror, banging her elbow on the wall of the shower.
“Ow. What the fuck is your brother doing here?”
Before I can reply that I have no goddamn clue, but I’m ready to confiscate his key, she darts out of the shower, grabbing a towel and her clothes, and disappears.
By the time I’ve dried off and pulled on a pair of athletic shorts, I find my asshole of a brother in my kitchen with his head in the fridge. And Cam is nowhere to be seen.
“What are you doing here?” I ask bluntly, folding my arms across my still damp chest.
Sawyer’s head pops up and takes in the sight of me glowering at him, and he at least has the decency to wince.
“Hey, twinski. Um, I had the day off and figured we should talk.”
Cam chooses that moment to breeze in, fully dressed, with her hair braided down her back. But it’s obviously wet, and I see the second everything clicks for Sawyer.
“Ah, shit. I interrupted…something.” The fact that he sounds remorseful mollifies me slightly.
“Yeah, you did,” I respond, not budging from my position against the wall, even though I really want to go to Cam and pull her into my arms. She won’t meet my eyes, which, considering what I said to her right before my brother’s untimely interruption, is a little unnerving.
“It’s fine, Sawyer. I’m going to head to the grocery store anyway. We need some stuff.” Cam darts around me, grabbing the reusable bags we take to the store, and then hurries out of the kitchen, all without even looking at me.
Shit.
Any question I had that maybe she didn’t hear me over the water in the shower, or maybe she was shocked but about to say it back, dissipates. I freaked her out.
At the sound of my front door closing, I drop my chin to my chest with a sigh. “What do you want, Sawyer?” I ask tiredly.
“Dude. Was it tense in here, or was it just me?”
“Understatement of the century,” I reply drily. “Hand me a beer.”
He takes out two and follows me onto my patio.
“I really did come to apologize. I know I was an asshole the other night. I don’t know how to not worry about you, Beck.”
The uncharacteristically somber tone to his voice has me surprised, but I school my expression. “Well, figure it out. I’m not your responsibility, and I never have been. What I choose to do, and who I choose to do it with, is none of your goddamn business.”
“Yeah, I get that. I really do. It’s just, I don’t want you getting hurt when she walks away.”
“Who’s to say she’s going to do that?”
He shrugs, picking at the label of his beer bottle. I barrel on.
“I love her, Sawyer. She’s it for me. You need to get on board with that and stop trying to destroy everyone’s relationships just because you’re scared of being left alone.”
His head shoots up, his eyes that are so eerily like mine narrowing in anger. But that anger never fully forms before his entire face crumples. I watch as my twin, who’s always been the most confident and cocky of all of us, breaks down, dropping his head into his hands.
“I know. Okay, I know. I’m fucked-up, Beck. You’re all happy and in relationships, and I’m the loser out here with no one.”
“Why do you think that is?” I ask gently.
His shoulders lift and fall. “I don’t know.”
I don’t believe his answer for a second, but I’m also not about to push. I don’t have the energetic bandwidth to deal with his shit right now. Not while I’m trying to figure out if all of Sawyer’s ominous warnings are actually coming true and Cam isn’t as fully in this as I am.
