the only one I wanted to be with. I missed her when she was right in front of me. I just couldn’t get enough of her.”
“That’s how I’ve felt for the past thirteen years. Those feelings never faded for me. Every fucking day, I’ve been missing her, wanting her in my arms.”
“Then why the hell did you wait so long?”
I dropped my eyes. “I was ashamed. You have no idea what walking away from her did to me. And when she came home, I wanted to go to her and tell her I had fucked up, but I didn’t know how to do that. I didn’t think she’d listen to me. Even back then, I knew that walking away from her was wrong.”
“So why’d you do it? You know that Ma would have listened to you if you’d told her you wanted to stay with Anna.”
“Because Corduroy was right. I was a coward. I didn’t want to give up my scholarship and I knew that if I did, I would ruin my life.” I huffed out a laugh. “Turns out I ruined her life in the process. I just had this idea that I had screwed up her life enough and she would be better off without me. I thought leaving was best for both of us.”
He nodded and sat there with me, just drinking beer for a few minutes. “It’s funny, everyone in town always loved the Cortell brothers. How the mighty have fallen.”
“Well, there’s still hope for Will, Joe, and Andrew.”
Eric snorted. “Will, maybe, but Joe and Andrew? Joe’s run off to join a biker gang and Andrew is a hacker.”
“Joe joined a biker gang?” I asked in confusion.
“Oh yeah,” he laughed. “You missed that one. He got caught up with Decker and now he’s convinced that joining an MC is the way to go.”
I pressed my lips together, trying not to laugh. “Is he gonna start wearing all leather?”
Eric grinned slightly, then leaned forward. “He walked downstairs yesterday in jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather cut. Most fucking hilarious thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Tell me you have pictures.”
He waved me over, pulling out his phone. I scooted closer and looked. My brother had transformed into a biker overnight. “He doesn’t even have a bike. How did he join a biker gang?”
“Hell if I know. But look at all the tattoos he has now.”
“How the hell did he go from a Millennial talking artist to a biker?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. He claims they don’t do anything illegal.”
“Really? I’m not buying that.”
“He says that they’re all upstanding members of the community.”
I shook my head, not really believing it. “And what about Andrew? He’s a hacker? When did this happen?”
“I guess it’s been happening for years. We just didn’t know it.”
“What does he hack?” Then I held up my hand and shook my head. “You know what? I don’t want to know. I’m going to pretend like I don’t know any of this.”
A loud rumble sounded outside and I got up to look outside. A motorcycle pulled up in front of the house and Joe got off, heading toward the house with an entirely new swagger than he usually had.
“Are you seeing this?” I asked Eric.
“When did he learn to ride a bike?”
“Shit, he’s coming up the steps. Sit down.”
We hurried back to our seats, pretending that we hadn’t been staring out the window at him. I snatched Eric’s papers from across the table and pretended to dissect the information in front of me. The back door swung open and heavy boots pounded across the floor. I pulled my lips between my teeth to keep from laughing.
“Yo,” Joe said, slapping me on the shoulder.
I tried to hold back, but the laughter snorted out through my nose and my shoulders shook uncontrollably. Eric was sitting across the table, hand covering his face as he laughed.
“What?” Joe asked. “What did I miss?”
I glanced up at him, doing a double take when I saw he had a new tattoo running up the length of his neck. “Bikers ‘R Us called, they want their clothes back.”
He glared at me. “You have a problem with the way I dress now?”
“Nope,” I said, shaking my head, still trying not to laugh. “Are you auditioning for Sons of Anarchy?”
“You know, fuck you, man. I’m trying to find myself.”
I burst out laughing, not able to control it any longer. “In biker boots?”
“They’re motorcycle boots, asshole.”
I nodded. “Right, of course. And a brand new cut.” I fingered the patch