an'

ir like poison gas. Aren't

No sound came out at first, just a stran

d out of my throat, raw and broken. "For

d shirt, mascara smudged at the corners of her eyes, loo

e to it, the one she used with annoying customers at her retail

king so badly the metal jingled. "You gav

a pleasant nap, not like he'd been caught destroying my entire world. He grabbed his shirt from the

buttoning it slowly

d out of me. "That's what y

ne he'd worn when he got accepted to Yale while I'd scraped into community college. When he bought

or something. Guilt. Shame. Regret. Anything that s

. "Every day. Sometimes sixteen hours. My hands." I held them up, palms out, showing the bli

lance

n washing the same three shirts in your sink because I couldn't afford the laundromat." The words kept coming, faster now, a d

ay you back,"

floor, a beautiful, expensive reminder of my stupidity. "

arms. "Is that what this is abou

"It's not about the money. It's about wh

sharp, cold. "I never asked you to starve yourself or

e, like he was watching a comedy show.

him. "You don't get to

cted, examining his fingerna

years we'd spent under the same roof, sharing the same parents, the sam

s at my sides. "We're not really brothers, so it

e from his pocket, checking the screen casually. "I m

d but didn't

her. "How long has

lip. "Does

ters. It mat

rents five grand in orthodontia. My teeth were crooked. We couldn't afford braces for both of us. "Started

ecause she was "short." Right when she'd started working late

Michael. "Remember? You asked me to help move furnitu

" he said. "Buffalo Wild

ught me twenty dollars worth of wings whi

Defensive. Attacking. "Love doesn't mean you own someone. You can't just barge

't help it. "I'm not trying to control you. I lov

e me everything. I never asked for it. You just kept doing it, kept sacri

e word, testing it. "Taking

u showed up tired, every time you wore those same ratty clothes, every time y

ou to know

roved it. You bought me something expensive I mentioned on

ing it up. He turned it over in his hand

Maybe twenty-five hundred with tax?" He looked a

it

up. "Seems like a waste. Maybe I'll giv

It.

n weak. The stray the family picked up out of pity. Mom felt sorry for you, sitting in t

ena said, but there w

ete with me, Ethan. Not in school, not in life, and definitely not with women. I drive a BMW. You ride the bus. I w

man than you

thic? Nobody cares about that, man. Women don't care about that. Th

s that true? Is that

. Might remember the nights we'd stayed up talking until dawn. The walks

h or poor, what's the difference? At least Michael can actua

d. Same family. Like our bond, my love, my sacrific

purse," I s

chael held it away. "Too late.

e. I paid

all those free lunches I

broke. Snapped. Like a cable pull

rd him. "Giv

wh

abbing my wrist. We stood there, frozen, his fingers

"Just let him have it, Micha

s worth fighting f

w it coming but couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn'