“Don’t bullshit me.” He didn’t stop at his bedroom door, following me to mine instead. “There’s no way you would give up make out time with Thea to come up here and go to bed.”
I pushed the door open and walked to my closet, grabbing a jacket and pair of sneakers. “She needed to study, and who said I was going to bed?”
“Then, where are you going?”
“To talk to Tristin.”
I started to push past him, but his next words made me halt in my tracks. “I’ll come with you.”
“No.” Hurt and then anger splashed across his face, and I knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth. So, I cut him off. “This isn’t about not trusting you to be able to help or any shit like that. I need to go on my own. Finally try to make things right between us.”
He frowned. “Do you think that’s possible?”
“Fuck if I know.”
In all honesty, I doubted it. Most days, my relationship with my youngest brother felt too far gone to have any hope of repairing it. But there was too much at stake not to make the effort.
Not because of my trust fund. Despite what anyone may think, I didn’t care about the money. I had plenty of it sitting in the bank from the inheritance my grandfather had left me. Without the trust, I wouldn’t be an instant multi-millionaire, but I’d be perfectly fine.
Being rich made life easier, but everyone knew it didn’t make it any happier.
Though it sounded as cheesy as shit, what mattered was getting my brother back. He’d been my best friend for so long, these last couple of years without him had left me feeling lost. I had the team and more acquaintances than any person could ever need. And I had Hayle, though he’d always managed to remain aloof, even when I’d tried every way to include him in my life.
What I didn’t have was anyone who really got me. Who saw through all of the football star nonsense. At least, I hadn’t until Thea. From the moment she’d walked back into my life, I’d known she was different. Maybe it was because of our past, or maybe it was something uniquely her. Either way, spending time with her had reminded me of how it used to be with Tristin.
I couldn’t give up on him. Not ever.
Shrugging on my jacket, I looked at Hayle, waiting for him to scram.
He knocked the toe of his Converse against the carpet. “You don’t think Dad would really kick Thea out if Tristin doesn’t agree, do you?”
“I don’t know, but no matter what happens, I’m not letting her go.”
I hadn’t wasted a second of the two weeks since Thea revealed my father’s ridiculous threat. I’d already moved money around to cover Thea’s tuition and put down a deposit on a townhouse near campus. A townhouse for us.
At this point, I didn’t even care if Dad followed through on his threat. She shouldn’t be forced to live in the same house with him, constantly trying to dodge him.
Maybe I should have let Thea in on my plan, but I hadn’t wanted to spook her. We’d barely started seeing each other and hadn’t even slept together yet. I had no idea how she would react to my suggestion to move in together. I could never predict with her.
Hayle nodded in resigned understanding and stepped aside. I knew he had a thing for Thea, and it was something we’d have to discuss at some point. But now wasn’t the time.
It didn’t take long to park at the marina and find the slip for the yacht Tristin was living on. Though it could barely be called a yacht. More like a yacht-lite.
Boarding the boat, I walked to the tinted sliding glass doors and knocked loudly. Not surprisingly, he didn’t immediately appear, so I knocked again. And again.
After the fifth time I pounded on the door, he finally emerged, wearing only a pair of sweats. Was it wrong that I half-hoped it took him so long because he was entertaining a guest of the female persuasion? Probably. But it would make my life a hell of a lot simpler if he’d clearly moved on from Thea.
He stood on the other side for several long moments, likely debating whether he was going to let me in, before finally sliding the door open. “What are you doing here?”