Page 54 of Sexy Dirty Fun

“I don’t expect you to get it, big brother. You’re probably too busy working all the fucking time to even let a girl get close to you. Is that what this is about? Are you jealous I found someone while you live in New York all alone?” Pain flashed in his face and I was instantly sorry for what I said. Maybe I hit closer to home than I realized.

“Whatever,” he said and slammed his laptop shut. He stood up for the table and started to walk out of the kitchen before turning to me. “When he breaks your heart into a million tiny pieces, don’t come crying to me and remember I warned you.”

He left the room before I could respond and I shook my head. Some girl really fucked him over. I’m surprised he never told me. He usually called me after every date and we would analyze it together. Later when he calmed down I would have to go talk to him and see what was up. I didn’t want him to go back to New York with us still fighting. We needed each other more than ever now that Mom was gone.

I thought back to my conversation with Mom about Cane. She asked me if he was the one and I was sad that I couldn’t tell her that yes, he wasthe one. God, I was going to miss her.

Dad walked into the kitchen and I wiped the tears from my cheeks before he could see them. I had to be extra strong for him right now.

“Were you two fighting again?” He asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He wasn’t dressed yet, wearing the robe Mom got him for Christmas last year and his slippers. His hair was messed up and he had dark circles under his eyes from no sleep. I could count on one hand how many times I saw Dad in his robe. He was always an early rise, up and dressed well before the rest of us even thought about getting up, even Mom.

“It was nothing, Dad,” I said and attempted a smile. “Just silly brother/sister stuff.” He sat down next to me. “Listen Dad. I need to get back to LA next week. Do you think you will be okay here by yourself?”

He took a long sip of coffee and didn’t say anything. Finally, he whispered, “I’ll never be okay here by myself again.”

“Oh Dad,” I said and leaned over to hug him. Sobs wracked his body and for the first time since Mom’s death, I was really genuinely worried that he would never be okay again. I didn’t think too much about it in the beginning, assuming he was mourning in his own way like the rest of us. Now I wasn’t so sure he would ever get back to normal. I was going to have to talk to David about this.

“Don’t leave me, Linds,” he sobbed.

I nodded and rubbed his back, trying to comfort him. “I’m not going anywhere, Dad. Don’t worry.” Looks like I was going to have to stick around in Madison longer than planned. I could try to find him a counselor that could help. He had no other family nearby. This was such a mess. For a split second, I was angry with my mother for leaving me to clean this up. I felt instantly guilty. She didn’t mean to get cancer and die. I would do whatever I could to make sure Dad was taken care of.

He eventually regained his composure and I left him in the kitchen to make some calls. The first would be to my editor. It looked like I was going to have to work from home. They were going to wait until I got back to LA to give me any new assignments, but it seemed like I was unsure of when that would be right now.

I sent him an email and he responded almost immediately with a few story ideas for the next few weeks. He had lost his dad a couple of years ago, so he understood what I was going through. I thanked him and began my search for a grief counselor for Dad.

It was later in the afternoon when I received a text from Cane, letting me know he was back in LA. I was going to have to talk to him later too about my plans. He was going to be busy in the studio, so maybe he wouldn’t be so upset about my delay in getting back to town.

I was getting hungry and decided it was time to make up with my brother. I found him in the family room, sitting on the couch and channel surfing on Dad’s huge TV. I sat on the opposite of the couch from him, tucking my leg underneath me.

“There is shit on daytime TV,” he muttered and tossed the remote on the coffee table in front of him.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier about you being all alone in New York and jealous about Cane and me.” It was hard, but I had to be the better person here. If some girl fucked him over, there was no way he was going to be the first one to say sorry.

“Thanks.” He turned to face me. “And I’m sorry about what I said. I’m just worried about my little sister.”

“I figured.” I tucked my other leg up on the couch. “What’s going on with you David? I could see it in your face when I mentioned another girl.”

He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. For the first time, I noticed how tired he looked. I was so busy with Cane and worrying about Dad, I never took the time to see how this was affecting him.

“There was a girl,” he said quietly, keeping his eyes on the TV. “But I don’t want to talk about it. Maybe one day I will, but not today.” He glanced over at me. “I promise I’ll fill you in eventually, but right now it’s too hard. I appreciate your concern.”

I brought my knees to my chest and hugged them to me. “Okay, I’ll let you off the hook this time, but you better tell me soon.” I grinned at him. “Do I need to come to New York and beat someone up for you?”

He laughed. “Maybe. I’ll let you know.” He reached for the remote on the table and turned off the TV. “I’m only worried about you, Linds. You’ll always be my little sister. It’s my job to look out for you.”

“I know,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll have you know, I tried to stay away from Cane for a long time, but we were just drawn to each other. We can’t help it. Fate keeps throwing these curve balls at us, but we find our way back. I can’t ignore that.” I wasn’t going to tell him what Cane said to me that morning. “I know what I’m getting into better than anyone.”

David stood up and walked over to me. He helped me up off the couch and gave me a big hug. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He was squeezing me so tight against him, my words were muffled by his chest. Then my stomach rumbled loud enough for us to both hear it.

He pulled away and laughed. “Hungry?”

“Starving! I haven’t eaten all day,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Come on. I don’t think there’s much in the house for food other than the billions of lasagnas and casseroles people brought over. Let me take you to dinner.”

“What about Dad?” I asked.