Bad Boy: A Stepbrother Romance(51)

This was the hard part. The part that always tore out my heart and shredded it to pieces.

My gaze firmly on the floor, I kept telling Rory the sad fucking tale that was my life.

“My little sister, Kristin. She...she was a few years younger than me. We were pretty close. She, err…got diagnosed with cancer when we were younger. And from then on, it was just doctors, appointments, and fucking chemo. A lot of fucking tests, and not a lot of damn answers. She was so brave, though. The bravest person I’ve ever seen. She never complained, not once, even when she was in horrible pain. She’d just smile and say she was looking forward to seeing Santa in December, and that maybe he’d make her better for Christmas. She never got better, though. She passed away when I was seventeen. She would’ve been fifteen now, if she was still around.”

I could hear Rory shuffling behind me, but I needed to stay strong, so I kept looking down and kept talking, the only way to hold back the dam.

“She died after fighting for a long time. Everyone told me it was for the best, though I don’t see how fucking dying can be for the best.”

My hands formed fists, and Rory’s hand gently trailed up my back before coming to rest on my shoulder. I felt a weight on the mattress I was sitting on, but I was too fucking numb to react; like always when it came to Kristin.

“My Dad really helped me out. He was by my side and made sure we remembered Kristin every day. But my Mom...she didn’t take it that well. She got depressed, and then she got hooked on some kind of sleeping pills, and one day, she overdosed. And then she was gone too, just like that.”#p#分页标题#e#

By now, I was barely holding it back. I could feel the tears burning the back of my eyes, a sob begging to escape my lips as my throat ached. But I held it the fuck back, because that’s what I’d trained myself to do. Don’t be a fucking pussy.

Rory’s hand massaging the back of my neck was a pleasant distraction, and I finally went quiet. There was nothing left to say. Nothing left of the fucked up sob story that was my earlier life.

“Finn,” Rory said softly, her lips so close to my ear that I could almost feel their silken touch against my skin. “I’m so sorry, Finn. I’m sorry about Kristin. And I’m so sorry about your mother, too.”

It felt damn good to hear my sister’s name on someone else’s lips again. After she and my Mom had died, my Dad and I had basically sealed off that part of our lives. It was easier to never speak about it, and after a while, it was like neither of them had ever existed. My volunteer work at the hospital—especially in the children’s wing—was my one real tie to my sister.

“Yeah,” I said, too tired to come up with something clever to make myself look like less of a pussy bitch. “I’m sorry, too.”

Rory pulled me into a hug. If our lives were actually a movie, I’d probably break down in tears, show her I wasn’t as manly as I looked on the outside. But I was Finn fucking Grayson, and I didn’t cry.

Not now, not ever.

I did let her hold me, though. It felt nice to be the one being comforted for once. We stayed like that for a while, until my breathing grew less labored and I felt like I could pull away from her without collapsing onto the goddamned floor.

“Thanks, Rory,” I said softly, finally risking a look at her.

She smiled, and seeing that was like looking at a ray of fucking sunshine after a storm. “It’s okay, Finn,” she said. “It’s all going to be okay.”

I believed her.

With her around, everything would always be okay.





Chapter Sixteen

Rory

My nerves had been running wild all afternoon, though I had no idea why. I’d made myself some toast as a snack to try and force myself to eat, but it had gone cold on the plate, so I finally tossed it and strolled over to my bed before lying down with a sigh.

Work was finished for the year, my friends were all with their families for the festive season, and I had nothing better to do other than occupy myself with my thoughts—thoughts that were mostly of Finn, if I was being honest.

I guess that wasn’t exactly a huge surprise, huh?

The story he’d told me earlier today had been so tragic and horrible, and I’d only had a few minutes to comfort him before he’d had to leave to get to his volunteer job on time. I’d wanted to spend more time with him, but at the same time, I hadn’t wanted to make him late, because the work he did at the hospital was important.

From everything he’d told me, Finn had clearly been devastated by the tragedy of his sister and mother’s deaths, but it was comforting to know that he’d channeled his grief into helping others. Other people might’ve taken a much darker path than he had in life, but instead, he’d thrown himself into helping sick kids, and his work with them was truly inspiring.