“Fuck, training after drinking is a bitch. Emily says I should eat steamed broccoli for breakfast the morning after.”
“Broccoli?” I asked. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said. She says it’s something about it being a superfood and that it works wonders. I’m not doing it.”
I laughed. “I don’t know if I would either. A greasy burger and fries hits the spot way better than broccoli. Hell, I don’t like broccoli even when I’m sober.”
“Right,” Ryan agreed. “But she has weird ideas about shit. And I blame our mom for screwing us up, just so you know.”
I laughed. “You blame everything on her.”
“Well, if the shoe fits ...”
“That’s not how you use the saying,” I said, laughing. “What did she do this time?”
Ryan lowered the weights but paused, trying to catch his breath. His face reddened and the veins on his neck started to bulge.
“Nothing, this time. At least, not yet. But you know how she gets.”
I nodded. I’d only met her twice, but Ryan and Emily’s mom was a nutcase. No one knew where she stood—she blew hot and cold about everything. Ryan made light of the topic, joking about the influence she had had in their lives now and then, but I had a feeling it was more serious than that.
“I worry about how it affects Emily,” Ryan added. “I’m done with Mom after what she did to my dad. But Em wants Mom’s approval. And she’s too soft. She’ll look after our mom no matter what. Even if she doesn’t deserve it. It’s a lot of pressure on Emily that she doesn’t need.”
“That’s tough,” I agreed.
I was lucky. I had a loving mother who let her three boys figure out life for themselves. We made our mistakes and learned from them, but it was because my mom gave us room to do it. And my dad had been a great guy. A role model all three of us could look up to. He’d gone too soon—there wasn’t a day I wished I had had a little more time with him. I would have asked him the important stuff.
When he’d been ripped away from us so suddenly, we’d all nearly buckled. Bas the most, but he’d been the youngest, still looking for his place in life. Chaz and I had managed to pull through a little better.
But we still needed our dad once in a while.
I understood why Emily would want to be there for her mother. It wasn’t that easy to just walk away sometimes. Not the way Ryan had.
I didn’t point out to Ryan that he was lucky he still had both his parents, even if they were divorced. Shit happened sometimes, but losing them altogether ... I didn’t think Ryan had handled it right, but it wasn’t my place to say.
“Em is just too nice,” Ryan finally said. “If anyone hurts her, I’ll lose my shit.”
God, I pitied the guy who got involved with her. Ryan was full of it and protective over his sister. I understood—I felt the same about my brothers. But Ryan was next-level protective.
Maybe the twin thing made a difference. The Jenkins twins were closer than I’d ever seen siblings together.
My phone rang, and Brooke’s name flashed on the caller ID. I grimaced and didn’t bother answering.
“Don’t you want to get that?” Ryan asked.
I shook my head. “It’s the ex-wife.”
With help, Ryan balanced the bar on the stands, sat up, and frowned. “She’s still calling you?”
“Yeah,” I said. “But only when she needs something. She’ll want money. I don’t have to answer to know that.”
“I told you before you need to handle that. It’s been seven years,” Ryan pointed out.
I sighed. “Yeah, it has. And I was young and stupid and in love when I got married, and I didn’t think shit through. I didn’t get an ironclad prenup, and she knew just how to play me. So, now I’m stuck with a woman who gets alimony every month, despite taking me for almost everything I had, and she still bugs me for more.”
Ryan raised his eyebrows. I’d met him shortly after the divorce when I’d tried to find new places to do shit so that I didn’t have to run into her around every corner. He’d never met her, and I didn’t talk about her all that much. But he’d been there when I’d had to pick myself up and bring my business back around.
I’d started my company in real estate by getting a loan for an apartment I wanted to lease. When my dad had passed away, the money he’d left me had been enough to buy the whole building.