The Ideal - L.P. Maxa Page 0,4

the banister. I swear he got better looking every time I saw him. He was turning into a man, filling out, gaining confidence. Plus it seemed that every time he came home, he’d acquired a new tattoo. All through high school, Jeremy was all prep. After being in college, he changed. It seemed he cared less about being the perfect kid.

I could understand that. I could see where being away from his brother would change him. He didn’t have to run interference for Nate at home and school. Jeremy no longer needed to be the perfect son to make up for all the aggravation Nate caused their parents. As much as I tried to fight it, as potentially dangerous I knew it was, my crush on Jeremy grew with every new encounter.

I smiled, blinking at the handsome guy standing before me. “Hey, thanks for coming to help. You didn’t have to, but thank you nonetheless.”

He shrugged like it was no big deal. “I didn’t have any plans tonight, and we both know, if I hadn’t agreed to help you Nathan would have called in sick to work.” He stepped into my bedroom and plopped down on my bed.

Oh my gosh. Jeremy Deacon was on my bed.

My fifteen-year-old self was losing her mind right now.

“How long has Nathan been working at that gym over on Main?”

I sat next to him, trying to seem unaffected and cool, but probably coming off as nervous and fidgety. “A few months.”

“That’s just what the world needs, Nathan getting stronger.” Jeremy lifted his arm to make a muscle. “Guess I’ll have to bulk up now too.” He sighed. “Or I’ll never be able to take him.”

Jeremy was ripped and was strong in his own right, but he wasn’t bulky like Nate. Unfortunately, I understood what Jeremy meant. It was already hard enough to control Nate when his temper flared. The stronger he got, the less likely it was someone would be able to physically pull him back from the brink.

“He’s been good. Keeping to himself, keeping calm. He’s been going to see Dr. Briggs twice a week.”

Jeremy snorted and got to his feet. “He hasn’t been keeping to himself. Mom told me what happened at graduation practice. You don’t have to make excuses for him to me. I know my brother.”

I winced at the memory of what happened. I’d been the voice in Nate’s head for ten years, and trying to downplay his actions was second nature. “That was one time, other than that he’s been doing really well.” I could hear the defensiveness in my tone, and I didn’t even know why I bothered.

Someone had cracked a joke about Nate making it to graduation without having to be committed. Nate overheard. I had been all the way across the bleachers, and before I could get to him Nate had the guy pinned against a wall. Luckily, Nate hadn’t hit him, so he didn’t get expelled.

It was a miracle Nate was never kicked out of school for good. He’d been suspended a few times, and he’d been in detention so often they should’ve named the room after him. For the most part, he made sure to keep most of his violence off of school grounds. It helped that we lived in a small town. Everyone felt sorry for the Deacon boys for losing their father so young. It was as if the whole damn world gave Nate an excuse to misbehave while giving him a wide berth, and used me as foam batting on his rough edges.

“Come on.” Jeremy held his hand out to me. Surprised, I took it and let him help me to my feet. He’d never touched me on purpose before. My heart went into hyper drive. “Savannah Nightingale, you are a saint and Nathan’s lucky to have you.”

I dropped his hand like it was on fire and walked past him toward the entrance to the attic. His comment irritated me. I didn’t need any pity hand holds from my best friend’s older brother, no matter how long I’d been dreaming of the day he would do it.

“Nate doesn’t have me. It’s everyone else who’s lucky, right? As long as I’m around no one has to worry about him.”

I didn’t know what made me say that. Maybe because for the first time, in a really long time, I was alone with another human being. My parents and Nate’s mom never saw anything wrong with us being joined at the hip. Somewhere along the