Page 75 of Twisted Needs

“Tonton,” Manuela squeals in excitement, popping into frame.

“Happy birthday, big girl,” I grin. “I can’t believe you’re five.”

“Thank you,” she says dramatically, flipping her hair to show off her freshly-pierced ears.

Her two older sisters both have dark blonde hair like Luca and I, but Manu popped out having the most gorgeous golden blonde hair just like Emelie. Hair is probably the only striking resemblance she has to Emelie, though. Luca swears all the time that Manu looks exactly like I did when I was her age.

It’s a bittersweet thing. I love my nieces so much, but watching them grow up has always felt like watching a life that should’ve been mine. They have two parents and a loving, stable home. I was raised by a twenty year old professional hockey player who brought me home from the courthouse without realizing I had never been potty trained.

“Titi,” Luca corrects her. He explains to her in Portuguese that I don’t speak French—an absolute lie, but Luca and Emelie do the whole speaking to the kids in different languages thing because they saw a video about it on Facebook when Laura was a baby. Manuela probably speaks Portuguese more fluently than I can.

Half-Argentinian and half-Brazilian, but I don’t speak a lick of Spanish and I can barely grasp Portuguese.

“Your earrings are so beautiful,” I murmur, tugging on my earlobe. “Maybe I need some pink ones too.”

She shrugs. “Yeah. They’re my favorite.”

My conversation with my niece lasts about ten more seconds before she runs off and finds something more interesting to occupy her time.

Luca sighs, giving me a funny look. “You know, I’m not the only one who’s concerned.”

“Concerned?” I laugh.

“About you.” He readjusts his phone a little so he can slink back against his chair. “Parker called me. Said you’re barely speaking to him.”

Oh I bet he did…

“I haven’t,” I mutter. “But it’s because he’s been giving me the silent treatment.” My stomach twists when the thought hits me that maybe Luca knows more than he’s letting on. I mean—Parker is his best friend. Why the hell is Parker just now telling him about giving me the cold shoulder?

Luca doesn’t seem to notice the shift in my tone. “Yeah.”

“He’s been giving me the silent treatment for over a month now,” I add. “You wouldn’t…happen to have a doing in that, would you?”

I hear Luca pause, letting out a deep, conceited sigh. That’s enough of an admission of guilt for me. My pulse stutters hard enough to make me nauseous, because for one horrible second, it gives me the validation I needed. If Luca noticed something, then that means this isn’t only in my head. “What the hell did you say to him?” I ask with conviction.

“You’re too young for him, mano,” Luca tells me like it’s obvious. “And he knows that. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you two to be that close.”

I scoff. “Oh, so you think we’re fucking?”

“No,” he blurts. “No, Anders. I don’t think you and Parker are sleeping with each other.”

“Okay, then why are you telling him to ignore me? Are you jealous or something?”

“I just reminded him how important you are.”

I roll my eyes and my jaw tightens instantly. Frustration slowly creeps inside me, clouding my head. “I’m not a child.”

“You’re my child,” my brother retorts, leaning forward in the frame. “So I will do whatever it takes to make sure you’re being taken care of, and if you have a problem with that, then I guess you’re gonna have to get over it.”

Luca plays the you’re my child card like it’s a Hail Mary. It’s not often he says it, but when he does, it always seems to shut me up. But this isn’t just a normal argument. This is my brother getting in the way of something that isn’t any of his business, and he’s acting like he doesn’t have any faith in me. An annoyed scoff leaves my mouth. “Stop.”

“I need you to understand⁠—”

“Oh my God, Luca. You’re pissing me off.” My hands curl into fists before I notice, while something mean and ugly twists in my chest. “You know what? I’ll talk to you later,” I say sharply before abruptly ending the call.

This is what he does. He has this incessant fucking need to control every little aspect of my life and it drives me fucking crazy. More than anything, this just confirms what I’ve been sitting on for the last couple of weeks. Parker didn’t push me away because he was worried about boundaries. He pushed me away because he cares too much about what my brother thinks. Even if that means dragging me through the mud like a fucking idiot.

“So he told Parker to stay away from you and now your life is over?” Lee mutters.