Rex tackled me, shoving me onto my side and onto my back. "Cool it, Storm," he grumbled. "Why didn’t you just go for a house in Verona? Why didn’t you get her the picket fence? I mean, it’s more metaphorical, but you could have made that happen. So why didn’t you?"
"I need eighty grand more before I can put down a deposit on a house."
"Can’t you just rent?"
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"Her dad. Got all those fucking do-gooders at his church turning me away. Hypocrites."
"So you gotta buy?"
"Yep."
"And it’s cheaper to buy a condo?"
I hummed. "It is. Until I can get the next eighty grand. Saw a nice place in the hills, but I don’t think she’d wanna be on her own. It gets dark out there."
"Gets dark out everywhere," he pointed out.
"Nah. I mean real dark. No streetlights or anything. She’d get freaked out."
"Did you tell her about any of this?"
"’Course not. It’s my job to protect her."
"You sure she wants protecting?"
"Dead sure."
He grunted. "If you say so. What do you guys talk about?"
"You don’t want to know."
"Sure I do," he said wryly. "I’m curious what this angel and this Sinner have in common."
"Politics." I sighed. "Philosophy. Ethics. You name it."
Rex snorted. "That’s what you talk about?"
"Yeah. We argue. A lot. It’s hot."
"I’ll bet," he drawled. "So, what happened this time? Specifically with the picket fence."
"She said we’ll never work out when we’re too different." I squinted at him. "Which makes no sense."
"What makes no sense is you and her period."
I scoffed. "We make magic together."
"If you’re gonna talk with your dick, then I’m outta here."
"Do you wanna know why we started dating?"
"Because your dick did the talking?"
"Nope. Well, a little."
"She’s fucking jailbait, bro. It’s kinda creepy."
"She’s nineteen. Anyway, Keira is an old soul."
"She’d have to be. Shame on her driver’s license it says she’s under twenty-one."
"You’re making it creepy. What’s seven years?"
"A lot?" Rex drawled.
"Fuck off. It ain’t like that."
"No?" He snorted. "Okay. What’s it like?"
"These fuckers at the high school had this bet on her."
"Huh. Christ, I’m so glad I’m out of high school."
"Yeah, me too. Anyway, they were gonna try to bone her. Whoever got there first, whoever took her virginity, was gonna win big."
"You beat the shit out of them?"
I snorted. "Bet your ass I did."
"So you swooped in and took her virginity instead?"
"Fuck off, I didn’t do shit. I got the main fucker away from her then beat the hell outta him."
"You being serious right now?"
"Dead serious." I peered at him. "Look at me. Don’t I look like I’m being serious?"
"You look stoned. Thought you’d stopped with the drugs for real, man."
"Did."
"Okay, looks like it," he said on a sigh. "What happened then?"
"Nothing. I walked away."
"You’re a regular Prince Charming."
"She thanked me for saving her. Told you. She’s a fucking angel."
"So you fucked your angel?"
I scowled at him. "You trying to make me look bad?"
"Nah. You’re doing that on your own."
"We’re soul mates."
"Can you have a nineteen-year-old soul mate though?"
"I can. I’m immature for my age."
He barked out a laugh at that. "Storm, if anything, you’re ancient for your age, not young."
"Well, maybe she’s the same?"
"She’s the daughter of a church minister. He’s not exactly Rockefeller, either, so it’s not like she can be all that apathetic."
"Apa-what?"
"How much did you snort this time?"
"Too much."
"You’re pretty lucid. You know Dad will kick the shit out of you if he finds out."
"He’s busy with your mom. They were arguing earlier."
"Mom’s pissed about Scarlet getting arrested."
"I’m a shitty brother."
"Why? Because you want her ass locked up for a while?"
"Yeah."
"Me too." He grimaced. "I used to… well, you know I loved her. But since she left, she’s turned into such a cunt."
"She’s a fucking viper. Just like Mom."
"You said it."
"I did." I rocked my head to the side. "How do I make her love me like I love her?"
"You been drinking as well?" Rex groused. "Since when do you come to me for dating advice?"
"Since I fucked up and since you know what she wants with this whole picket shit fence crap thing."
"Never let it be said you don’t have the vocabulary of a poet laureate."
"Just consider me Arthur Miller."
Rex snickered. "You know I hated him."
"Yeah, because he gets in your head. That’s why you didn’t like Animal Farm."
"That was Orwell."
"Dude, I know. I ain’t that high."
"Just give her what she fucking wants. Isn’t that what any woman needs in a guy? We both know you listen to her like she’s the fallen Madonna. So put that into action." He paused. "Her mom really kicked her out?"
"She did. I wanted to kill her."
"Best not to kill the mother-in-law. Doesn’t bode well for a happy future."
I grunted. "I didn’t. She’s still intact. But how Keira looked? Fuck. I wanted to scoop her up and take her home."
"Things were always going to be hard between you two. You’re from different worlds. Romeo and Juliet, except Juliet isn’t rich."
"We’re not that different. Not where it counts."
"She wants traditional. Nothing about you is traditional."
"She thinks she wants it."
"No, that was how she was raised and she wants to emulate it now that she’s pregnant. Give her what she needs. She’ll be happier."
I frowned. "You really think so?"
"I know so."
"I didn’t want us to be that way. She’s my—"
"She’s your what?"
"Equal. Not my subordinate. I watched her family interact. Her mom literally stands a couple steps behind her husband at all times. She takes direction from him, she obeys him."
"Didn’t you tell me she was gonna lie to him about Keira being pregnant?"
"She wasn’t going to, she did. She had it all set up. She pissed on a stick as well, showed him that test."