“I’m fabulous, but I don’t date my friends’ brothers. Too complicated. But that doesn’t mean I can’t look.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
She reached for my hand. “I’m doing my best, but you need your twin.” And this was why I loved her. She was a good soul.
We beat Cam to the club, but when he arrived I launched myself at him.
He held me close. “Good to see you too, sis.”
When Cam stepped back, he offered his hand to Anton. “Anton. How are you?”
“Good. How’s Northeastern?”
“It’s a lot more quiet and things move at a slower pace, but I like it.”
Kimber’s hand shot out to Cam. “Hi. I’m Kimber, her roommate.”
I knew that smile of Cam’s. Appreciation. His hand closed around hers. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
Kimber batted her lashes at him. She was flirting, it was in her nature to flirt with every specimen of the opposite sex, but seeing her doing so with my brother was just plain weird.
Kimber linked her arm with Anton. I once thought sparks would have flown between these two, but it was affection and nothing more. “Buy me a drink, handsome?”
“Absolutely.”
Cam dropped his arm over my shoulders as we followed the others. “Your roommate is hot.”
“Hands off.”
He pressed a kiss on my head. “Fine. Hands off. How are you doing?”
“Okay.”
“Have you heard from Damian?”
“No. He asked me not to contact him.”
Cam’s jaw clenched. “He is so fucking pigheaded.”
Damian was pigheaded and stubborn.
“Next time he’s home let’s set Mom on him. He won’t stand a chance.”
I hadn’t thought of that. Rosalie Ahern was a force of nature. She could bend you to her will and have you smiling the whole time.
“Good idea. So how’s school really?”
“A little lonely. I miss you, Mom and Dad, but I love my classes.”
“So you’re really going to do it, follow in Dad’s footsteps.”
“Big shoes to fill, but yeah.”
“That makes me nervous, having two cops in the family, but you’re so much like Dad. You’re going to rock at being a cop.”
He pulled me closer. “Thanks, sis. I think so too.”
It was hard work, every second of every day was consumed with rigorous training and I thrived on it—the discipline, the purpose, the feeling of being connected to something so much bigger than me. I had not yet been deployed, was in the middle of Ranger training. My hope was to eventually try for the Green Berets once I met the requirements. Joining the army was the right decision, absolutely, but I missed Thea, every second. I wanted her in my life, couldn’t imagine a lifetime feeling the emptiness I felt inside. When she finished school, she and I needed to have a long talk. She had said wherever I led she’d follow. I was calling in that promise.
“Damian, there’s a call at the communications barracks for you.”
It was either Cam or Anton. They were the only ones who called. It hurt that Thea didn’t, but she was just respecting my wishes. Besides, she tried to stay in touch; I was the one who made the conscious decision to not write her back. My logic was simple. I wanted her; she was the only one who could pull me off track. But if I didn’t make something of myself, what did I have to offer her? That didn’t mean I didn’t ask about her, but I kept even that in check…longing was a fucking unpleasant feeling.
The private working the room stepped out to give me some privacy.
“Damian.”
“Hey, man. It’s Anton.”
“Hey.”
“Congrats on making it into the Ranger program.”
“Thanks.”
He sounded off, worried or upset, and thinking it was related to Thea, I was abrupt when I said, “What’s wrong? Is it Thea?”
“No. She’s good.”
The tightness in my chest eased.
“I’m calling because your mother is dead.”
My first reaction to that was…finally. Followed quickly with fucking finally. I felt absolutely nothing for her. All those poets had it wrong. Love could fade…it could die. I had loved my mom when I was a little boy, but as a man I felt absolutely nothing.
“She’s at the morgue and Mr. Ahern wanted to know what you wanted us to do with her remains?”
“Where did she die?”
“The house. The neighbors complained of a smell. The cops found her. She’d been dead a while.”
Fitting. That place was like her tomb. She died the day my dad walked out. “You should have left her in the house and burned it down around her.”