Page 19 of Falling With You

“Dorm? Are you sure you want him to do that? I mean, is that the best place for a kid trying to find his feet?”

“I don’t really know, but that whole band phase was just because he liked to hang out with his friends. Yeah, he fucked up, but he’s better now. And he has us. Maybe he needs to hang out with kids his own age rather than almost-thirty-somethings that are old and haggard and broken.” Cameron gestured to my hand, and then I used my free one once I set down my soda to flip him off again.

“That’s going to be expensive. You okay with that?”

“It’s fine. I don’t really want him to get student loans since our economy’s in the tank and you can never pay those things off these days.”

“Dear God. When did we get old?”

“I have no idea, and I don’t know if I like it. But Violet likes me, so I’m going to call it a win.”

“Hell, you’re whipped.”

“Very much so, and I like it. Maybe you should get whipped.”

“I’m not into that kinky shit. I thought that was more Brendon’s style.”

“I’m really not going to touch that subject,” Cameron said, holding up his hands in surrender. “Like really do not want to talk about that subject.”

“Fine with me.”

“Anyway, you need to get yourself a woman. Maybe that would stop this attitude of yours.”

“Shut the fuck up. Back to Dillon, though, you really want him to stay in a dorm?”

“Maybe not a dorm. Maybe he needs to find some friends and live with them. He’s welcome to stay with me for his entire college experience, but I feel like he’s hiding within the walls of that bar. You know? Something that we all do very well.”

“I’m not hiding.”

“I saidwe. Not just you. But good to know you’re on the right track of thinking about the fact that you are indeed hiding. As for Dillon? I don’t know. I just want him to know that he has options. That he actually needs to socialize with human beings while he’s in school. But not socialize too much that he fucks up his grades. There has to be a happy medium.”

“He’ll find it. He’s a smart kid.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. I was really afraid when I came back here with him that you wouldn’t want to talk to him at all. Or we’d fuck up our family even more.”

I shook my head and took another sip of my drink. “I have to admit, I was really surprised when I first saw him. He looks so much like us, even though he’s not our twin and only our half-brother. And I was angry at everything then. Angry at Mom. Angry at you. Angry at myself. And I sort of took it out on him by just ignoring him at first. But I think we’re better now.”

“You’re a thousand percent better.”

“You can’t be more than a hundred percent.”

“Whatever.”

“Why are you here?” I asked, frowning. “I’m fine.”

“Well…” Cameron began and then trailed off.

“Violet sent you here, didn’t she?”

“You know it. Sienna ran out of the place so quickly last night, she was worried about her sister. Since you were in the hall last we saw, we figured maybe it had something to do with you. So, have anything to enlighten us with?”

“Not really. I don’t know why she left.” The anger rose again, and I gritted my teeth, trying to tamp it down. No use breaking shit when it came to Sienna. Because there was no way I could try and figure out exactly what was going on between us. Because there wasn’t anything going on between the two of us. “Violet’s just worried about her.”

My head shot up, and my eyes widened. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

Cameron gave me a look, his brows raised. “You seemed a little overly curious.”

“Shut up. Is she okay?”