The town is small, but I swear, most of the people in it are in the bar tonight. I’ve lived in this place for six weeks and barely see anyone except for at the stores, and I guess I know why now. They’re spending all their time here.
And they’re all spending their hard-earned money on drinks and tips, and if I’m not being blissfully unaware, I’d guess a little something extra. But I have to turn my head on that because I don’t want to get involved in any dirty business.
But when Kaiden emerges from the back office, his face red as he makes his way over to me, I feel a bit scared. My brother is towering, to say the least, and he looks pissed.
His hand wraps around my upper arm as he stares down on me, and I can tell he’s already drawing the eyes of the crowd. There’s a tense energy in the air, like everyone’s waiting for something like this to happen.
He bends down, leaning in towards my ear and practically growling at me.
“You gotta come home with me. Now,” he says, his strong hand tightening around my bicep. His hand is huge, just like the rest of him, and it encircles my thin arm easily.
Still, I try to yank it away.
“Buzz off, Kaiden,” I hiss back. “I’m doing this for you, remember?” I spit though it’s only half true. Sure, I need money to pay him for rent, but I also need money for my own stuff, like moving out and getting a real place to stay in a real city.
He won’t let me go, though, and starts dragging me to the door. I’m helpless against his strength, and even as I try to yank my arm back, nearly stumbling to my ass, he just keeps dragging me like I’m a dog on his leash.
I am humiliated beyond compare, even though most of the crowd is probably too drunk and high to remember much of tonight.
Still, it’s the principle of the thing.
When the cold air of the outside hits my lungs, and the flashing light above the door spins eerie shadows around us, he finally lets me go as if I wouldn’t just run back inside.
I guess he’s right on that count because I don’t. I don’t want my older brother dragging me out of the bar again.
“What the hell, Kaiden?” I spit out as he takes a few steps away from me, putting distance between us. I don’t know if it’s because he’s afraid of me or, more likely, afraid of what he’s going to do if I’m too close. The thought sends a shiver down my spine.
“You can’t work here,” he says.
And I roll my eyes with exasperation.
“You aren’t the boss of me,” I say, and anger starts welling up within my chest. Is that what this is all about? “And I got this dumb job to pay your rent since apparently letting your sister live with you when she’s homeless is such an inconvenience to you!”
“It is a fucking inconvenience.” He spins about and glares at me, his green eyes flashing with anger. “And you have no idea what you’re talking about. What it’s like in there,” he says, pointing his finger at the closed door as his other hand runs through his hair.
I wonder if he’s been drinking. He’d disappeared a long time, after all.
“I know what it’s like, Kaiden. I’m not a baby, and I’m just doing it for the money, not because I want to be like you.”
I feel bad throwing that in his face, but it’s true. I don’t want the lifestyle he has. I don’t want to come to a bar just to hang out, to waste my life away and chill out with my friends.
Not that I have any friends.
He sneers at me, and it gives him such a perfect “bad boy” look it’s uncanny. Like out of a movie.
That makes me hate him more because I know exactly why all the girls want him. Despite his assholish arrogance, he has the body and the face that lets him get away with murder.
Well, not quite, considering his bail. But close enough.
“If this is just about rent, you walk in there right now and tell Ryder you’re through. You can’t cut it,” he orders. And if I were anyone else, I likely would’ve backed down.
But I am his sister, and he owes me. More than owes me.
I reach into my purse, taking out the wads of dollar bills, flashing them to his face.
“Look! Rent! Aren’t you happy now, Kaiden? I’m not a liability anymore,” I sneer right back, and by now I’m pissed.
He is the reason I couldn’t go to college; he is the reason I had to take this job, and now he’s trying to force me to quit?
He can’t control every aspect of my life, damn it!
He’s breathing heavily, and he takes a few steps closer to me. He has over a foot on me usually, but in my heels, I come up almost to his shoulders though he’s over one hundred pounds of muscle more than me too.