“What about all the wedding planning you just naturally stepped up to do and following my sister around to prove she was cheating?”
I gritted my teeth and threw him a pointed look. “Wasn’t it the truth though? I caught her cheating! If I hadn’t done that, they’d still be together, about to walk down that aisle.”
The thought had every part of me shaking.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he said, his voice resigned. “It is the truth. And for your brother’s sake, it’s good you got to the bottom of that.” Then, he leaned in, so I could hear him clearly. “But it’s been years since they graduated, since they really needed you. Tell me, what have you done for yourself since then?”
“You know nothing about me,” I said. There was an edge to my tone.
“Just calling it how I see it.” He repeated the words I’d thrown in his face earlier about his tabloid-reported womanizing ways.
“Well, perception is deception,” I said, throwing his words right back at him.
And I shouldn’t be mad. He was right. Not about my life, but about my hypocrisy. Still, I was mad, and once I was mad, I couldn’t just sit still. So, I jumped up from his bed and stormed from the room.
“You leaving?” he asked, his voice a little panicked and sad as he followed me.
“Yeah. Thanks for the ice cream,” I said in a mopey tone.
I was being ridiculous, and I knew it, but I couldn’t help myself when I got like this.
I pushed my arms through my oversize down jacket and turned to face him, the scowl heavy on my face. “You know what? So what? So what if you’ve traveled the world? I don’t have to travel the world to feel accomplished. I do a ton of stuff for myself and, yes, for my family because I want to.”
I zipped up my jacket with a huff, fully aware that I was acting like a child throwing a tantrum.
But his eyes weren’t accusatory, argumentative, or lording anything over me. They were contrite. And regretful. “I know why you do so much for your family. I was talking aboutyou. You specifically.What do you do for yourself? What do you do outside of Loverly Ad Agency? What do you do on the weekends?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Because I had nothing to say. I’d been so busy planning this stupid wedding, quarterbacking between the wedding planner and Brandy and my family and getting the guest list in order that, for the past few months, I hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything else. Add to that the fact that I was the sole person in our family who kept tabs on our father didn’t help disprove Austin’s point.
“Before you say anything else”—I jabbed my finger in his direction—“Ilovemy family. And I choose to be with them. If, in your eyes, I’m not living my life because of that, then fine, I’m okay with that. Think what you want.” I hated the angry tears that were forming behind my eyes.Go away! No tears!
He swallowed hard and then nodded, but he didn’t say anything else. I was waiting for more arguing or him telling me his side of things, but he stepped back, making me feel alone and cold in his foyer.
I blinked a few times, reining in my emotions. “I’ll be back in the morning to bring you breakfast.” I turned toward the door.
“Sydney …”
I stopped but kept my back to him, my fingers around his doorknob.
“I’m sorry,” he said, sounding sincere, but his sincerity only made me want to cry more.
I needed to get out of here.
So I left his place, running out of there like my feet were on fire.
I felt angry and then deflated during my drive home. Which turned to numbness as I thought back through the last few years of my life.
Yeah, so I’d missed spring break and dorm life, and I wasn’t as close to my friends as I once had been. But throughout life, friendships changed, people changed. That was normal.
What never changed was our unyielding family bond, and I was not going to apologize for helping keep us all together and stable. I didn’t regret it, not a single second of it. My sisters were my best friends, and I knew what a gift that was. I would never take that for granted.
I just didn’t get what Austin was trying to prove. I slammed on the brakes as the light turned red, so off because I had been in my haze. What frustrated me the most was that his words were affecting me so much. Possibly because my sister had said basically the same thing.
When I parked in my garage and trudged up the stairs, the house was silent. Addison was probably home. Alec? Who knew where he was? None of us could keep tabs on him. My only hope was that he didn’t call Brandy and she didn’t beg him back.
I tried to call him anyway, and like I expected, he didn’t answer.
“Addison?” I called out, making it through the living room and walking toward the stairs. “Addison?”