I open the front door to find Alex pacing the floor of the living room.
His eyes snap to us when we enter. He tackles Evie in a bear hug before she can even slip off her shoes by the door. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she mumbles into his shoulder before pushing him away.
He gives her a disbelieving frown before turning his attention to me. “What happened?”
“She passed out in her bedroom earlier this afternoon.”
Evie glares at me like it’s my fault she was sick. “I woke up right away. The ER was not necessary.”
“You’ve gotta start taking better care of yourself.” Alex helps Evie out of her coat. “You promised me all that dieting and exercising crap was in the past.”
I cough to stifle my surprise. Since when does Alex give a shit?
“Yes, Daddy,” Evie snarks with a roll of her eyes.
“Don’t call me that.” Alex chuckles. “You know it turns me on.”
And we’re back to normal.
Evie glides past us and throws her purse on the coffee table without breaking stride. “I’m going to bed.”
The temperature in the room increases a few degrees with her departure, and I let out the proverbial breath I’ve been holding for the past few hours.
Alex plops down on the couch, smirking at me. “She’s pissed at you for calling Rob, isn’t she?”
“Pretty much.”
She hasn’t spoken a word to me since dragging me out of the ER waiting room. Rob was nowhere in sight, but I knew better than to grill her about his disappearance.
“He had a right to know,” I call to him from the kitchen. “He proved his worth when Papou died.”
“He was only there to make himself look good,” Alex volleys back. “Did he actually show tonight?”
I dig around in the fridge for something that looks appetizing. “Yeah. He came straight from the airport.”
And dropped a hell of a bombshell on me. Alex is going to shit bricks when he finds out they’re married, and have been for months with none of us knowing.
Hell. I don’t think anyone knows.
Rob wanting to “take care of his family” after Papou’s death makes a whole lot more sense. I just thought he was playing the hero. Knowing the truth only pisses me off more.
With a box of leftover cold pizza and two beers in my hand, I settle on the couch beside Alex for SportsCenter. I’m starving after sitting in that waiting room for hours. All I want is to relax and watch mindless recaps before hitting the sack, but I’m going to have to tell Alex what I know. Maybe he can help me work out what the hell to do about this mess, because fuck if I have any brilliant ideas. Rob was always the brains of our trio. How could he do something so stupid, so selfish? It’s not like him. Then again, people change. And I’ll be the first to admit it’s not always for the better.
I glare at the door when a knock sounds.
“You expecting someone?” Alex stares at the door like he hates it as much as I do right now.
“Nope.”
The knocking grows more insistent.
“You gonna get that?”
“Nope.”
“Let me in, assholes,” Rob calls from the other side of the door.
Alex spits beer all over his shirt. “What the fuck is he doing here? I didn’t think he’d actually give a damn.”
Oh, he gives a damn all right. More than either of us could have known.
Rob’s leaning against the frame when I swing the door open, a pharmacy bag in his hand. “You might not like me very much, but you can’t keep me from her.”
“Oh, I can sure as hell try,” I scoff.
He glances past me into the apartment. “Where is she?”
“She went to bed. She’s obviously not feeling well,” Alex answers over my shoulder.
Rob rolls his head around on his neck, sighing. “I’m glad she has you two. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but you’re the best friends I could ever have. Please let me in. She needs these iron supplements. The doctor said she’s anemic.”
Oh, so he did stick around long enough to talk to her doctor. “I’ll give them to her.”
“Mike,” Rob grits, clearly trying to control his temper. “I want to see her.”
“Not tonight. You didn’t even stick around long enough to bring her home.”
“Yeah,” Rob drags out. “A few too many people recognized me, so I figured it was best to let her sneak out before they could start snapping pictures of her and trashing her all over the internet, but I’m here now.”
I sense Alex step up behind me. “Well, isn’t that noble of you, Falls. What’s in it for her if we let you in? More of you throwing your conquests in her face? More random people from the internet telling her she’s not good enough?”
“Watch it, Fossoway,” Rob spits. “You know damn well I never threw anything in her face and always made sure to tell her she was good enough.” His shoulders slump, a surprising turn of events. “If anything, I’ve always known I’m not good enough.”
“You got that right.” I can’t help but agree, especially knowing what I do now.
Rob directs his attention at me. “If the tables were turned, and you knew the whole story, you would’ve done the same thing.” He furrows his brow and purses his lips, taking his time to think before he speaks. “Actually, you did. You walked away when you thought it was best.”
His insinuation of what went down with Chelsie doesn’t sit well with me. Totally different circumstances. She cheated on me, not the other way around. She wanted to end things between us. Who was I to stop her?
Alex speaks up before I get a chance. “She’s been through enough, man. Tonight only proves it. Don’t make it worse.”
They do that creepy silent conversation thing before Rob speaks. “I love her, Alex. Nothing will ever change that.”
“If you really love her, you’ll hand over that bag and walk away,” Alex counters. “She doesn’t want that life anymore. We all know it.”
Rob stares at us quietly. It’s obvious he’s trying to find a clear route between the two of us. Once a quarterback, always a quarterback. Too bad this ain’t a football field.
Rob breaks the silence with a carefully controlled tone of voice. “If you really love her, then you know she needs me. That she loves me, too.”
“She doesn’t need your kind of love.” Alex’s harsh response surprises all of us.
“Look.” Rob runs a hand through his messy hair after another pregnant pause. “I’m leaving in a week. You’re both leaving shortly after. I’d like to set things right before I go. That’s all I’m asking for here.”
Grudgingly, I motion for him to enter. Hopefully, setting things right means a quick, quiet divorce so Evie can move on with her life. “She’s back in her room.”
Rob nods, toeing off his shoes. “Thanks. I’m gonna fix this, I swear.”
I don’t know why, but that empty promise snaps the restraint I’ve been fighting for all day. “How do you fucking fix cheating on your wife?”
Oh, shit. I should not have said that.
Alex’s eyes grow wide as his gaze pinballs between mine and Rob’s. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Rob runs a hand over his face, but he squares his shoulders and faces the firing squad head on. “We got married in November. In secret. After my concussion. When I found out my dad wouldn’t let her anywhere near me in the hospital, I realized I had to do something to protect her from him. To make sure, if anything ever happens to me, she’ll be taken care of.”
“So, you got married?” Alex explodes. “What the fuck, Rob? You don’t just marry a woman on the down low because your dad’s an asshole! What are you telling me? Evie’s a divorcee at the ripe old age of twenty-two?”
“They’re not divorced,” I seethe. Maybe if they were, I could handle this. I respect Rob wanting to protect Evie. Always have. If they’d gotten divorced before he was caught fucking Julie in a public venue on campus, I would have respected that, too. Everyone makes mistakes. How we rectify them shows our true character. Rob clearly has become the type to want to have his cake and eat it, too.
Alex chokes on his own spit, his face growing redder by the second. “You…you were married to Evie while you were with Julie?”
Rob straightens his spine and grinds his jaw, the muscles in his face twitching like crazy. “Yeah. And I’m not proud of that. For once in my life, I shouldn’t have done exactly what Evie wanted. But, don’t treat me like I’m the only one who made mistakes. I slept with one other woman. I lost count of how many guys Evie ran through while we were separated. Still doesn’t change the fact I love my wife more than anything, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to work things out between us. I’ve already forgiven her. Now I need to beg for her forgiveness.”
That’s it. I see red. “How stupid can you possibly be? You act like you’re so fucking smart, but I swear to God, you are the biggest idiot of any of us. She wasn’t with a single guy! Not one! While you were fucking your blond bimbo where anyone could see you, Evie was in her goddamn closet alone every night after crying herself to sleep!”
It’s almost laughable the way Rob’s entire demeanor completely collapses. The asshole seriously didn’t know? How could he not see through her act if he loves her so damn much?
“No…” He stumbles back, the weight of my revelation crushing his confidence further. His gaze darts over my shoulder, his eyes growing wide as his face pales. “Tell me he’s lying, Evie. Please. You wouldn’t do that to me. To us. Tell me it’s a lie.”
Alex and I turn to see Evie standing in the hallway, her expression closed off.
She rubs her forehead and sighs. “Mike. What have you done?”
What have I done? How am I the villain in this disaster?
Out of the corner of my eye, quick movement catches my attention, but I’m not fast enough to register what’s happening in time to stop it.
A feral growl tears from Alex’s chest as he sails a punch straight at Rob’s face. The sound of bone crunching against flesh nauseates me more than the slow-motion spray of blood. It’s like watching a video game. The kind we all used to play together as kids in high school where gore and violence was reserved for a fictional world we weren’t caught up in.
Rob’s body lands on the living room carpet with a dull thud. He’s knocked out cold, blood streaming from either his nose or his mouth. There’s too much to tell where it’s all coming from.
Another blur races past my vision. Wild curls flying, a shriek falling from her lips, Evie throws herself on top of Rob like a human shield. She’s the only thing that keeps Alex from going back for more bloodshed.
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” she yells at Alex before turning her panicked gaze to me. “Get a towel and some ice. Rob! Rob, can you hear me? Wake up!”
Alex shakes his hand, then cradles it to his chest. Dumb bastard probably broke something as hard as he hit Rob. “Go back to your room, Evie. We’ll take care of this.”
“You’ll take care of it?” Her laughter sounds maniacal. “I was taking care of it before you two decided to stick your noses where they don’t belong. You should’ve kept your damn mouth shut, Mitchell.”
That hurts. All our lives I’ve done nothing but be here for her, and now she’s turning against me? After everything? It makes no sense, especially now that all the dirty laundry’s been aired.
She ran to me when she had nowhere else to go. Not to anyone else.
Rob deserves to know how badly he’s fucked up, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to feel guilty about giving him what he had coming.
“Rob?” Evie sobs, smearing blood across his cheeks as she swipes her hands over his face. “Oh my God, how could you do this to your own brother, Alex?”
“No brother of mine would ever treat you the way he has,” Alex answers, his voice cold and distant.
“I wanted this, don’t you get it?” she shouts. “It was the only way to make him see his life would be better without me in it!”
“Never,” Rob groans. “Never better.”
The glint of a simple gold wedding band I’ve never noticed before catches the light. Each time it twinkles on the large hand splayed across her back increases my rage.
“What? You only wear that when it’s convenient for you?” I spit. “Get up and face us. You couldn’t be faithful to your wife; you sure as fuck don’t deserve her protection now.”
Evie unfolds from Rob’s chest, turning on me with a look on her face I’ve never seen before. “Get out.”
The demand echoes around the room, the dead tone of her voice making it clear anything other than compliance won’t be tolerated.
“Why are you defending him?” Alex yells. “After everything he’s done to you, let us take care of it.”
Evie’s sharp eyes glisten with emotions I can’t begin to place. “If you take so much as one step toward him, I will rip your dick off and feed it to all the women you’ve left crying, you fucking hypocrite.”
Alex jerks back as Evie’s words slap him with a force she’s never used against us.
She stares us down, her muscles trembling with rage.
A long time ago, Rob cradled her bloody body in his arms, praying to a God I’m not sure exists to bring her back to us. How strange that when I tried to help back then, he snarled at me like an animal, not letting me anywhere near her. The tables have turned. Evie protects him now with all the ferocity of a mama bear.
Is this what she thinks she needs to do because of some title Rob couldn’t even respect? I can’t stomach the thought of it. I won’t let Evie be another woman who’s used, then tossed aside like garbage. This circus ride has gone on long enough. It’s well past time to pull into the station and climb out of the train before we all lose our sanity.
“Evie,” I start, tamping down my anger to reason with her. “Let me get him down to his car, then we’ll talk about it.”
She collapses on his chest, her little body shaking with sobs as she buries her face into the crook of his neck. “Why won’t everyone just leave us alone?”
“Ssh,” Rob soothes with a disconcerting gurgle to his voice. He wraps his arms around her like he’s trying to protect her, even though he’s the one flat on his back. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.”
“It’s never going to be okay,” she cries.
Alex and I exchange confused glances. I don’t know when everything spun so far out of control. If I could pinpoint the exact moment the tides turned against all of us, I would know what to do. Was it the day she was attacked by that psychopath? The moment we signed on to play football at State? Did Rob turn into a different person when he won the Heisman? Maybe it goes further back. I always said I wouldn’t help him get her. But, I didn’t stop it, either.
As Evie’s cries grow louder, I know I should have. I should’ve done everything in my power to keep him from getting to her.
Alex crouches on the floor beside them, reaching for Evie. “Come on, let him go. Mike and I’ll get him out of here, then you never have to see his cheating face again.”
“Get out!”
I’ve heard Evie cry before. Her piercing wails of grief have left an indelible mark on my heart. But never in my entire life have I heard her scream like this.
“Get out!” She slaps Alex hard across the cheek this time.
He falls back onto his ass, his eyes wide with surprise, his face red with her handprint.
Rob sits up and tries to wrap her in his arms, though she continues to flail and fight against all of us it seems. “Baby, no. They’re just trying to help. They didn’t know. They don’t understand.”
Her litany grows louder, a steady stream of obscenities and pleas for us to leave ringing in my brain.
Rob puts up a single hand to halt Alex’s third try of prying Evie away. “Go. You’re only making it worse.”
Alex’s brow scrunches, and he looks to me for back up. “And leave her with you? Not a fucking chance in hell.”
“She’s my wife,” Rob breathes. “I love her.”
“You sure have a fucking funny way of showing it!” Alex bellows.
Only now do I notice the tears in Alex’s eyes. They’re not the kind that spring up from a stinging blow to the face.
Shit.
He’s in love with her.
Alex is in love with Evie.
“I trusted you.” Evie lays her head on Rob’s shoulder, her gaze focused on Alex. “I trusted you to take care of him. To be there for him when I couldn’t. And when shit got rough, what did you do? You laid your brother out cold on the floor.”
The disappointment and tears in her voice hurt far more than her screams if Alex’s downcast eyes are anything to go by. “Evie, I…”
Don’t say it. For the love of God, Alex. Don’t. Say. It.
Like we need any more complications in our lives.
“Just go,” she whispers. “Rob and I need to talk.”
Alex nods once, not meeting anyone’s eyes as he lifts himself up from the floor. In silence, he collects his coat and slides on his shoes. “For what it’s worth…you deserve better. You deserve everything.”
He never specifies who he’s talking to before slipping out the door.
Evie disentangles herself from Rob’s arms and stands. She faces me, her washed-out complexion showing more exhaustion than a woman her age should feel. “And I trusted you to have my back. You sold me out tonight for revenge.” She points behind her to where Rob is still slumped on the floor, bleeding all over his shirt, looking completely dazed. “You wanted to hurt him more than you wanted to keep my secrets.”
Fuck. She’s right.
“I’ll give you two some time to talk things over.” It’s the least I can do after the shit storm I caused tonight.
The last thing I want to do is push them together out of a sense of defending themselves, when it’s so clear they cause each other nothing but pain.
Evie brushes past me into the kitchen to fetch the towel and ice I never brought.
I follow her, intent on letting her know that no matter what, I’ll always be in her corner.
She beats me to the punch. “In a matter of weeks, you’ll all be gone, starting your new lives in cities spread out across the country. You need to let me stand on my own two feet for once.” She faces me with an ice pack in one hand and dish towel in the other. “It’s my life. These are my choices to make, and none of you get to judge me for them. You and Alex are so convinced I crumbled under the limelight, but it was never the fame. It was the constant judgment. I’m tired, Mike. I just want to live my life in whatever capacity I can.”
I brush a kiss against her cheek, wordlessly apologizing.
I’m such a shitty brother. I’ve been judging her as harshly as anyone these past few years, confusing it with protection and devotion.
I guess I know exactly how Rob feels.
Like a failure.