his brother. Since Christmas, as far as Declan could tell, Ezra hadn’t been to see his brother at all. They needed to get past this. Declan couldn’t let Ezra cut his brother out of his life to ignore Declan’s existence. There had to be a middle ground. Declan would find it.
It was taking longer than Declan expected for Ezra to make his way back outside. Declan sat forward and eyed the building. A movement from the corner of his eye caught Declan’s attention. He turned his head. Ezra was walking down the road, as if intent on sneaking back home without Declan. With a growl, Declan fired his truck to life. Ezra must have slipped out the coffee shop’s back door.
Declan whipped to the side of the road ahead of Ezra and waited. He watched Ezra in the mirror, in case Ezra thought to make a run for it. Instead, Ezra climbed into the passenger seat, looking defeated.
“Were you really trying to sneak away from me?”
Ezra shrugged as he buckled his seat belt. He still didn’t look Declan’s way. “Does it matter? In the end, you’ll always have your way, no matter my feelings.”
“Is that truly how you feel?”
Ezra didn’t respond.
Declan wanted to punch the steering wheel until his knuckles bled. Ezra made him insane. He didn’t know how to make Ezra understand he felt like he was failing everyone, including himself. He loved Ezra. Ezra was who Declan wanted to spend his life with. He just didn’t know how to make that happen without taking a sledgehammer to the life he had built, so he did nothing. By doing nothing, he hurt Ezra. It was this horrid and vicious cycle that Declan felt paralyzed to change.
They didn’t have far to go since Ezra lived a few streets over from the coffeehouse. Declan was thankful since the silence was thick and bitter. He followed closely on Ezra’s heels as they headed inside so Ezra couldn’t shut the door in his face.
Icarus ran straight for Ezra. The gray and white pit bull puppy with big blue eyes jumped up and down, trying hard to get into Ezra’s arms. Ezra made cooing noises as he took off his shoes and grabbed his mail from the side table by the door.
“I see my mail was brought by at some point.” Ezra scooped Icarus from the floor and kissed his head. “You’ve gotten so big and aren’t you such a good boy. It doesn’t look like you did anything you shouldn’t have while we were gone. Such a good boy.” Ezra carried his envelopes, including a flat box, and Icarus to the couch. He sat and cuddled with Icarus while pulling papers from their envelopes.
Declan sat across from him. “You’re the only person I know who opens their bills first when they have a package.”
Ezra kept his gaze locked on his task, still refusing to look at Declan. “They’re not bills. These are letters from my fans that were passed along by my manager. I know what’s in the box. It’s an early edition of my latest magazine spread. Each letter is always a surprise. I’d rather see them first.”
A bitter smile tugged at Declan’s lips. “So you plan to read your fan mail until I get frustrated and leave.”
Ezra tossed the letters aside. His gaze finally locked onto Declan. The hatred in his eyes made Declan regret wishing for Ezra’s attention. “What do you want from me, Declan?”
Declan’s throat unexpectedly swelled, making his voice gruff. “I want you to stop being mad at me. Jessie thinks it’s his fault you don’t come around anymore. That’s guilt he doesn’t need right after getting out of rehab.”
“I still come around. Plus, how would you know? You’ve been traveling the country for the past month.”
“I still have ears and eyes on Jessie’s life. You don’t come around like you used to and you know it,” Declan shot back. Aggravation swelled in Declan’s chest. Ezra looked too skinny. His eyes had dark circles beneath them. He needed his only family, but he wasn’t reaching out to Jessie, and that was on Declan. Declan didn’t know how to make this stop. “I’ll quit, if that’s what it takes.” The offer burst from Declan without thought. That wasn’t what he wanted, but that was how far he would go. “You need Jessie and he needs you.” Jessie had finally gone to rehab after decades of hardcore drug use. He was clean and happy, but he needed his brother.
“Fuck you.”
Declan