Did that make me pathetic? I honestly wasn’t sure, but I also didn’t give a shit. I’d been a lot of things over the last few years—surly, stubborn, detached, and vicious—so, pathetic would be the least of them.
“Tristin.”
I snapped my head up to find Hayle watching me with a bewildered expression. “What the hell is going on with you? I said your name three times.”
“Sorry. I’m distracted.”
“Distracted? But we’re watching Baby fucking Yoda. And Star Wars has only been your favorite franchise since you were, what? Five years old?”
“I know.” I sat up and paused the show, because I really did want to watch it. Just not right this minute. “When do you think they’ll be home?”
“Since it’s not even midnight yet, I’m guessing not for a while.” He tossed a balled-up napkin at me. “Why? Is spending the evening with me so torturous?”
In the past, I would have assumed Hayle was being an ass by saying something like that. But I could hear the humor in his tone and knew he was merely teasing. I’d almost forgotten what that was like—teasing amongst brothers.
“No, it’s not you. It’s…”
I couldn’t finish that sentence. Not because I wasn’t willing to admit my pathetic state, but because there had to be something more to it. A concrete reason I was as fidgety as an addict without a fix.
“It’s what? Are you upset that Thea is out with Leo?” Hayle sat up straighter on his end of the couch. “Because, if that’s the case, we have a problem. We all decided that we would get along and share like good little boys who listened to our kindergarten teachers.”
“No, it’s not that. It doesn’t bother me when she spends time alone with you two.”
“Okay, then what is it? Do you need to confess your undying love for her before midnight or something?”
My stomach twisted and my palms grew damp as I gawked at my brother. Oh, god. He’d hit the nail on the head, and I hadn’t even realized it until the words left his mouth.
“Wait.” Hayle pushed up from the couch to tower over me. “Are you telling me you haven’t told Thea you love her?”
I swallowed past the grapefruit size lump in my throat. “How do you know that I love her?”
He scoffed. “Oh, please. We may not have spent much time together over the last few years, but I know you. And your love for that girl is as plain as my love of Teddy Grahams.”
“You still eat Teddy Grahams?”
He waved his hand, dismissing the question. “Bad example, and not the point. The point is, I’ve known you were in love with her since before you got your head out of your ass and started treating her right. And Leo’s known it for probably longer. So, what the fuck are you waiting for?”
What the fuck was I waiting for?
What the fuck was I waiting for?
I hopped off the couch, almost ramming my head into Hayle’s chin. “What time is it?”
He reached for his phone. “Eleven forty-eight.”
“Shit.” I wasn’t going to make it in time.
I grabbed my keys off the coffee table, but spying the empty beer cans, dropped them. There weren’t many absolutes in my life, but driving with even the slightest hint of intoxication was one of them. After what happened to Violet, I vowed to never even consider being that kind of stupid again.
Hayle swiped the keys. “Come on. I’ll drive.”
“But what about—”
“I’ve only had Dr. Pepper. Now, hurry.”
He was already out the door when I shook off my stupor and ran after him, not bothering with shoes or a coat. Once we were on the road, Hayle tossed me his cell phone. “Text Thea and tell her to meet you outside. That way, you won’t have to search the house for her, and you’ll have some privacy.”
“Good idea.”
“I’m full of them,” he replied dryly.
I quickly sent the text and then stared at the clock, watching the minutes tick closer and closer to midnight. Thea hadn’t responded, and I wondered if she would hear the notification, or if she even had her phone with her.
“This is kind of fun,” Hayle said, his voice as steady as my pulse was erratic. “It’s like we’re in the middle of a rom-com.”
“What do you know about rom-coms?”
“I know plenty.” He shot me a glance out of the corner of his eye. “I have eclectic tastes.”
That much was true. Hayle had always been the most adventurous of the