Bittersweet (Redemption #3) - Jessica Prince Page 0,88
fists, so how about you see if you got it in you to take me down?”
Before either of them could say another word, I was in between them, placing my palms on my brother’s chest and shoving him back with all my might, knowing it would only rock him back a step or two. “That’s enough!” I shouted. “You are unbelievable, Stone! What the fuck did you think was going to happen, huh? You think you’d come in here, insult me, try to pick a fight with my boyfriend, and I’d just let you?”
“This prick’s got no right bein’ here!”
“He has every right!” I yelled, throwing my arms wide. “I’m in love with him, you stupid jerk! He’s the love of my life. He’s the father of my child, your nephew. Not only does he have a right to be here, I actually want him here. Which is more than I can say for you at the moment.”
“Have you forgotten what this fucker did, what he put you through? Christ, Shane, he broke your heart.”
“Well, he’s in good company, because you broke it first!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. I hadn’t meant to say it out loud. I just snapped. My brother pushed me too far, and I didn’t have it in me to take those words back.
The air in the room grew heavy with static. “Shaney, I—”
“No.” I lifted my hand to stop my brother from saying anything else. “Eight years, Stone. For eight years you were the only one I had. The only person I felt like I could count on. I loved you more than anything, and you just left me.” My voice broke on those last few words, but I forced myself to continue. “It was your right to start a life wherever you wanted, I got that then and I get it now. But you left, and you hardly ever came back. It was like you just forgot about me. That’s what killed me. My brother, the person I loved more than anything in the whole world left me behind and didn’t come back. I got to see you once, maybe twice a year when you’d come for the holidays, but you’d only stay for a day or two, always running back to your new life that I wasn’t a part of. You made me feel like I didn’t matter.”
My brother’s expression was ravaged as he whispered, “Shaney, that’s not true. You always mattered to me.”
“That might be the case, but you haven’t made me feel that way since I was eight years old. So don’t you come in here and tell me how I should be living my life or who I should allow in it, because you lost that right a long time ago.”
“Shane.” He gave his head a shake, looking at me like I’d just ripped the world out from beneath his feet. I knew the feeling all too well. “I-I didn’t know. Sweetheart, I didn’t know you felt like that.”
“Because I never felt like I could tell you,” I snapped, looking up at my big brother through watery eyes. “I lost my mom and dad before I was old enough to have any real memories of them. But you . . . I had you, then I didn’t. Sure, you’d call sometimes, but those conversations never lasted long. And when I called you, you were always too busy. You made it feel like talking to me was an inconvenience you didn’t have time for.
“I accepted that that was how our relationship was going to be a long time ago, and I let you live your life. As long as you were happy, I was happy. But this is my life, Stone, and Jensen’s going to be a part of it whether you like it or not. You can either accept that, or—” I had to stop and regroup because the words I needed to say next were going to hurt something fierce. “Or you can go back to San Francisco. I don’t want you to. Having you here these past months has meant everything to me,” I confessed quietly, placing my hands over my heart. “I lost you once, and having you back has made me happier than you can imagine. I don’t want to lose you again.”
On that statement, I lost the battle against my tears and just let them fall. “But Jensen and Brantley are my family, and if you can’t accept that, it’s time for