“That doesn’t even make sense,” Trace growled. “Anyway, did you come here to insult me?”
“No. We came because you weren’t answering your phone,” his mom said, her tone worried. “We thought you were just busy, but we wanted to check on you.”
“Yeah.” Jenni’s hands moved to her hips. “I haven’t heard from you since you babysat for me last week.”
“Does this have to do with a certain video that I know you’ve both seen by now?”
His mother grimaced. “Honey, I think we better come in. It’s obvious that you’re not holding up well. I’ll make you breakfast while you shower and get changed.”
“We’ve come to pull you from the land of the dead,” Jenni chimed in. “By the way, I’ve watched the video, like fifty times. Amelia thought it was hilarious to see her uncle get decked by a pretty lady. I’ll admit that I laughed my ass off seeing her punch you.”
“Jenni!” Their mother warned. She shot Trace a dark glance. “After you’ve showered and eaten, you’re going to sit down and explain to me what you did to this girl to make her want to bloody you. She seems like a good girl. A strong girl. She stood up to all those people who were trying to belittle and bully her.”
“Oh god.” Trace fought the urge to facepalm himself. His lip and nose had pretty much healed. His pride didn’t factor into it. His heart though… he’d wanted more time with Ash. He wanted more for her. He wanted to make it a night she wouldn’t forget. He wanted her to shine. She’d shone alright, in a completely different and unexpected way. That video went viral for exactly the reasons his mother just pointed out. People liked when someone stood up to a bully. They liked the victory of the underdog. “She should thank me for helping her come out of her shell,” he ground out sarcastically. He rolled his eyes as Jenni pushed her way into the house and his mother followed.
“Gross. It smelled like something died in here.” Jenni glanced back at him after taking a few steps in. She didn’t bother to kick off her shoes. “Oh wait. Obviously, it did.”
He bit back a harsh retort. His sister didn’t deserve his anger, not really. She and his mom were there to try and help them. Honestly, he expected them to show up earlier, especially since his phone now told him his sister had breached the triple digit mark on the number of times she’d called. His mom’s number was lower, at around fifteen times.
“That poor girl,” his mother mumbled as she bustled down the hall on the way to the kitchen.
“You don’t have to make me breakfast, mom,” Trace called. He winced as the stabbing pain in his head turned up the volume. She made a non-committal reply dismissing him. He knew that his protests would have little effect.
“She does, because I’m starved. I called in sick to work to come here and scrape your sorry ass off the floor.”
“How did you know that I’d be here moping around?”
“Hmmm.” Jenni put her finger to her chin and pretended to think like an old-fashioned detective or something. “Let’s see.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Maybe because you’re my brother and I’ve known you, like, forever. Literally, since you’re older. Maybe because after every single breakup you go through this self-destruction ritual. This one is just about the worst. I’m surprised there isn’t a swarm of reporters gathered around the house waiting for the story.”
“There were. They gave up and left yesterday. You’re lucky you didn’t come earlier, or you would have been swarmed.”
“I might have driven by a couple times,” Jenni winked. “I might have done a drive by this morning too, earlier, to see if they’d gone yet.”
Trace winced. He was starting to feel worse by the second. A crash and a bang echoed from the kitchen where his mom was obviously clearing out the dirty dishes. Trace wanted to kick his own ass for being so pathetic that his mom had to clean up after him like he was a child again.
He scrubbed a hand over his face again. “God, I’m a mess.”
Jenni could have egged him on. She could have done the sisterly thing and told him that he was, without a doubt, the hottest hot mess she’d seen in a long time, but she took mercy on him. “I know why you didn’t tell her. I get it. You wanted to be you. I know you’ve been through the wringer. I’d like to strangle a few of those bitches who treated you the way they did. No one gets away with ruining my brother that way.”
“Jenni…” Trace rubbed at his temples. “Thanks for that, really, but I don’t need you to commit murder for me. Although, seeing a full out cat fight with hair flying all over complete with screams, maybe throw in a little mud… I wouldn’t mind seeing you kick ass that way.”