Unknown: You good?
“Fuck,” I hiss into the empty room, hating myself for the rookie mistake. “I’m a dumbass.”
Me: Great.
Don’t ask him. Do not ask him. I repeat the words inside my head as I type out.
Me: You?
My mother always taught me it wasn’t polite not to reciprocate asking how someone was if they asked me the question. I hate my politeness and the manners my parents instilled in me.
Unknown: Eh, continually paying for my past and living the dream all at once.
Curling to my side, I stare at the screen, my fingers hovering over the keys, wondering if I should reply. There’s not much more to say after that statement.
His past sucked. That much, I’m sure of. I watched the Walsh family from a distance when I was little, hearing nothing but hateful profanity making its way through the trees of my backyard. High school was filled with gossip and the trial of Nevin Walsh after he killed his father.
I have no doubt Nevin did it in self-defense, but somehow, he was tried and found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to ten years in prison. If his family had had any money or pull in the county, he would’ve walked away scot-free. But he suffered the consequences of being poor and had his life ruined before it ever started.
The Walsh kids had shit luck being born to such a horrible father, while people like me lived a charmed life, surrounded by amazing and supportive parents along with an extended family who would help me with anything without asking any questions. The Walsh kids never had that and probably never would.
Me: Sorry.
Unknown: Don’t be sorry for me. Someone has to have a shit life. Better me than you.
I wouldn’t argue with him on that point. I never would’ve survived in his household. My sisters wouldn’t have either. We definitely wouldn’t have thrived and grown up to be the people we are today. My sister Gigi is a rock star mom, a caring wife, and a great big sister, even if she is in our business a little too much. And Luna…well, she’s Luna, but she’d jump in front of a moving bus if it meant saving my life.
Me: No one deserves a shit life. No one should have to live one. At least you got out.
Unknown: At the cost of a brother in prison and being disowned by the others.
Oh sweet Jesus. I’m engaging with him, and now I can’t stop myself. I feel bad for the guy, and while he is a cocky jagoff in person, he’s being sweet now. I’m a glutton for punishment.
Me: You’re home now, so one of them wanted you around.
Unknown: If you only knew how untrue your statement is, you’d laugh.
Me: I heard you’re staying with Ian.
Big mistake. I know it as soon as I hit send. That message lets him know too much. He now knows that someone other than Luna has been talking to me about him and that I know or maybe care about where he is, which I don’t care about…not one bit.
Unknown: Only out of necessity. If he didn’t need something from me, I wouldn’t be here. Wouldn’t be welcome here as long as I was breathing.
I don’t know what to say. What do you say to someone who says they’re not welcome in their own family’s house or lives? Sorry doesn’t seem to be enough, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.
Me: Well, maybe it’s a step in the right direction. I mean, what could someone need so badly they’d ask their brother to come home even if they hated him?
Unknown: If he weren’t sick, he never would’ve asked me to be here. I’d be on the road, leaving this shit-ass place in my past. So yeah, when someone is in need, they’re willing to accept help from someone they absolutely hate.
And there it is…another mistake. One, I had no idea any of the Walsh brothers was sick. And two, I engaged, speaking out of my ass and got schooled for opening my big trap.
Me: I’m sorry. I didn’t know any of them was sick.
Unknown: It’s not like you were part of the same crowd. Gallos and Walshes have never mixed.
Me: That’s no lie, but I’m still sorry about your brother.
I can’t imagine Gigi or Luna being sick and possibly dying. I’d probably accept help from anyone, even my mortal enemy, if it meant saving their lives.
Unknown: That’s life.
Me: So, you’re out of here afterward?
Unknown: I haven’t decided. I know I don’t want to go back to Cali. I wore out my welcome and need a change of scenery.
“Ro?” Luna says from the other side of my door before giving the wood a light knock. “Can I come in?”
My heart stops, and for a second, I stare at my phone as if it’s about to combust in my hands. I turn off the screen and flip it upside down on my comforter. “I guess so. I can’t keep you out forever.”
She strolls in with a big smile. “I knew you’d come to your senses quickly. You never could stay mad at me for long.” She plops down on the bed and rolls onto her side to face me. “What do you want to do tonight?”
“Sleep,” I sigh. “I’m exhausted.”
“It’s not even ten. Last time I checked, we’re the same age, and ten is not your bedtime or mine. Come out with me tonight. Please,” she begs.
“I don’t want to,” I tell her. “Can’t we stay in and watch a movie?”
She rolls her eyes. “You may as well move into the retirement village down the street and skip the best years of your life. They’re wasted on you and your old-lady ways.”
“I don’t act like an old lady. I just went on a date the other night. I go out all the time.”
“How did that date go, by the way?” she teases.
She knows exactly how it went, and now she’s being a total shit.
“Oh, that’s right. He shit and ditched.” She breaks out into a fit of giggles.
“Shit and ditched? You’re ridiculous.”
She reaches across the bed and nudges me, but my eyes dip to my phone, and hers quickly follow. “Are you waiting for a call?”
“No,” I snap, being overly defensive and setting off all the Luna bells.
She sits up quickly and extends her hand, ready to snatch my phone, but I move faster than her. “Oh. My. God,” she says with wide eyes. “You’re talking to him.”
“I am not,” I lie, clutching my phone so tightly my knuckles turn white.
“You are.”
“Am not.”
She extends her hand, palm out. “Let me see, then. Prove me wrong.”
Fuck. I lift my leg, placing the phone underneath, and sit on it. “I don’t need to prove anything to you.”
She smiles and hums to herself. “You’ve always been a horrible liar, Ro.”
“I don’t lie.”
“God, you’re so full of shit.”
“Am not.”
“Get your ass ready. We’re going out in thirty, or else I’m going to flip your phone when you’re asleep. And remember, unlocking it isn’t an issue since we share the same face.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“It’s why you love me.”
“I love you because I have to.”
She crawls off my bed as she laughs. “Keep lying to yourself. Thirty minutes and not a minute more.”
“But it’s late.”