He wanted to meet up after she was done with her drinks.
She wanted to see him.
But then, somewhere in between her first drink and that last text, Devin had appeared by her side and started hitting on her.
The nerve of him! He was dating Laney and hitting on her? Jerk.
She tried to shrug him off. She tried to ignore him. Neither tactic worked as he rambled on and on about being one of the finest catches in Prairie Town.
“I’ve seen you around town.” He slurred, obviously drunk. “You’re cute. The name’s Devin.”
I know who you are. She’d thought, willing her lips to remain in a smile. You son of a bitch.
Tula had done her best to distract him, but to no avail. He was persistent.
“I’d like to take you out sometime.” He said. His breath reeked of whiskey and it made her stomach churn, but she smiled politely and said ‘no, thank you’, which he didn’t seem to understand.
Had a woman ever said no to Devin Rose?
“Come on, pretty. Let me take you out tomorrow night, huh? We’ll have a good time. You’ll like me.”
“She said she’s not interested.” Tula said in a stern voice. “Take a hike.”
“I don’t think I was talking to you.” His smile faded and whatever drunken charm he had before was gone. The wickedness in his eyes—the wickedness Lydia remembered—was back in full force. “You don’t want to pass up an opportunity with me.”
His hand fell to rest against her thigh and Lydia pushed it away, squirming around uncomfortably.
“No, thank you. Really. I have a boyfriend. Sorry.”
“He doesn’t have to know.” He chuckled, sliding his arm around her shoulders. “I’ll keep a dirty little secret for you, beautiful.”
You bastard! Her mind screamed. How could he do this to Laney? She was a good girl. She didn’t deserve to have scum like him cheating on her.
“No, really. I’m—”
“Hey, douchenozzle!” Jeb shouted from across the room. “Get your fucking hands off her.”
And just like that, everything had gone to hell in a pretty little hand basket.
“Okay, that’s enough!” The bartender shouted as he jumped over the counter like some modern day Zorro and grabbed Jeb by the collar of his shirt. “Come on, Jeb. You’re done, buddy.”
“No, I’m not!” Jeb slurred, shoving Kevin away and stumbling backwards. He lost his footing and fell, groaning as his head connected with the floor.
“Oh my god. Jeb!” Lydia was at his side in an instant, examining the damage. The only blood on him was on his fists.
Devin’s blood.
“You stupid asshole!” Devin wailed, cupping his nose. Blood gushed between his fingers as he sat up and glared at them with watery eyes. “You are so fucking fired. Do you hear me? Fired!”
“Good.” Jeb spat from his spot on the floor. “I was sick of working with you anyway.”
“Get him out of here.” Kevin ordered to the crowd of onlookers. “Go home, Rose.”
“Me?” Devin echoed. “Why me? I didn’t start this shit.”
“Maybe not, but I’m finishing it.” Kevin cocked his head in the direction of the door. “Out.”
Two men helped Devin to his feet and led him towards the door. He kicked and screamed the whole way.
“You can’t do this to me! Do you know who I am? I’ll own this shithole. You hear me?”
“What were you thinking, Jeb?” Lydia asked in spite of the tears that desperately wanted to fall. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Jeb sighed. Slowly sitting up, he peered at her with teary eyes of his own. “Are you okay?”
“Why are you even asking that? I’m not the one who just got in a fight.”
“That was amazing!” Tula exclaimed as she appeared—Lydia hadn’t noticed her absence—with a bag of ice in hand. “Here. I got this for your fists. They’ll probably hurt like hell tomorrow.”
“I don’t care.” Jeb replied hoarsely. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time. That piece of shit was never good enough for Laney, and to see him trying to touch you again...”
Again.
That was the key word. How surprised Devin Rose would be if he knew the truth about her. Lydia would have been thrilled at any other time knowing the boy who caused her so much misery as a child now found her to be attractive, but at the same time it was also disturbing and unpleasant.
That’s how people like me end up dead.
She quickly shook the thought from her head and helped Jeb to his feet, wrapping her arms around his torso as tightly as she could.
“Whoa. What’s this for?” He asked quietly, his strong arms circling around her. “Are you crying?”
“I don’t mean to.” She sobbed, her face hidden against his chest. “I just love you so much.”
“Hey. Hey,”—he pulled back a little and gazed at her—“I love you, too, Lydia. You’re my sister. You’re my blood. I’d kill for you...you know that, right?”
“I do.” She sniffed, quickly wiping at her eyes. “You’ve just always been so good to me and I went away. I left you.” Her voice cracked with emotion as she began to cry again. The tears fell hard and relentlessly, smearing her makeup as she tried desperately to wipe them away.
Why on earth was she having a breakdown right now? Jeb was the one who had gotten into a fight. There was a possibility Devin would press charges and he’d go to jail. Laney was going to be upset when she learned the truth behind his bruised knuckles. She would be devastated.
What right did she have to be so upset?
But then it dawned on her, faster than a strike of lightning and harder than any punch she’d taken as a kid.
She really had abandoned her family, the people who loved her unconditionally, to accomplish her dreams of becoming female.
She’d let them down.
She’d abandoned them, just as she always felt her mother had abandoned her.
What made her any better than her mother?
“Please don’t cry, Lydia. Please.” Jeb pleaded, knuckling away one of her tears. “I’m sorry if I upset you by hitting him, but I couldn’t...”—his voice began to break—“I just remembered the way he used to hurt you when we were little and how I was too small to do anything about it. That’s changed now. I’ll never let him hurt you ever again. Nobody will ever hurt you again.”
All she could do was cry as she hugged him again and held on tight.
The only person who was capable of hurting her now was herself and she’d been doing a damn fine job of it for the last sixteen years.
——————————-
Callum
Apparently, in the McIntosh family, there was never a dull moment.
He’d driven over to Lydia’s apartment with the intent to surprise her with breakfast and a bouquet of flowers, but when he knocked on the door and his beautiful girl answered, it felt like he had walked straight onto the set of some sort of insanely dramatic reality show—maybe even a twisted comedy.
“I can’t believe you did that, Jeb! What were you thinking?” Laney wailed as she threw her hands up in the air. “Do you know what Devin could do to you?”
“I was just doing what I felt was the right thing to do, Laney. Thanks for your gratitude, sister. Seriously. Jesus Fuck.”
“Do not talk about the Lord like that, you dummy!”
“Well, don’t talk to me like I’m stupid! I know damn well what he could do to me and I don’t care. I was protecting my sisters.”
“Bad time?” He asked as Lydia hugged him.
“Eh, depends on the moment.” She replied, kissing his cheek. “Come with me.”
He followed her to her bedroom and was relieved when the chaos of Laney and Jeb’s argument became muffled by the closed door.
Lydia sat down on her bed and patted the mattress. She gave him an exhausted smile and he returned it with one of sympathy.
“What happened l
ast night? You cancelled on me.” He eased down beside her.
“I know and I’m so sorry.” She grasped his hand tightly and ran her thumb over his knuckles, pursing her lips together. “Jeb got in a fight with Devin Rose.”
“Uh huh.”
“Over me.” She frowned.
A wave of electric heat slowly rolled over him as he narrowed his eyes. “What did Devin do to you?”
“Typical Devin behavior, I’m sure.” She shrugged. “He thinks he’s God’s gift to women. But I think it was really crappy of him to flirt with me when he’s dating my sister.”
“Crappy,” he muttered. “He got what he deserved.”
“I feel that way, too.” Lydia replied quietly, dropping her gaze to the floor. “But there’s this stupid part of my brain that thinks maybe Jeb went too far.”
“Did he?”
“Devin was drunk. People do stupid things when they’re drunk.”
“Like trying to kiss a girl they barely know?” He teased, hoping to get a smile out of her.
“Yeah. Exactly.” She laughed, squeezing his hand. “But I’m afraid that Jeb’s going to get hurt. The Rose family plays dirty. They always have.”
“Jeb’s a big boy, sweetheart. He can take care of himself.”
“Can he?” She asked, her voice becoming a whisper. “You have no idea what that family is capable of, what they’ll do to him.”
“Hey.” He grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him, his gaze turning stern. “They aren’t going to do anything to him, ya hear me? I’ve got his back. Nobody’s going to hurt that boy.”
Her eyes widened, maybe with realization, as her lips parted in a soft gasp. The tears glistening in her eyes made him wonder if anyone had ever defended Jeb before.
I wish I’d known them when I was younger. He thought, leaning in to press a kiss to the tip of her nose. Everybody deserved to have someone who would stand up for them no matter what. What if Lydia and Jeb had never had such a person before?
“I can really see why Jeb likes you so much.” She said, hugging him close. “You’re wonderful.”
“You’re just now noticing that?” He teased, rubbing her back in a comforting manner. “I promise, Lydia, I’m here for you always. For all of you.”
“Even my mother?”
“That’s debatable.”
“She didn’t always hate me.”
“I know, baby.”
“I wish she didn’t hate me now.”
“She has no idea what she’s missing out on.”
“Do you think she might love me again one day?”
They pulled apart and he smiled softly, struggling to keep himself from getting lost in her gaze. It was easy to do—getting lost in her eyes. She seemed so hopeful at the possibility of reconciling with Mrs. McIntosh—who was he to take that from her?
“I think one day she’ll wake up and realize what a humongous ass she’s been over this.” He said, nodding. “And she’s going to spend the rest of her life trying to make it up to you.”
“Oh, Callum. You’re the best—”
“Lydia!” A red-faced Jeb flung the door open and stomped inside. The vein in his forehead stuck out as he threw his hands up in the air. “She’s not even dating him!”
“What?” Lydia blinked, confused.
Hell, he was confused, too.
“Devin. She’s not even dating him! They’ve been broken up for weeks.”
“They have?” Lydia looked around nervously, as if she didn’t know what to say to that.
Callum didn’t know what to say either. He knew one of the main reasons Jeb had gotten into that fight was because he thought Devin was messing around on Laney, but the other reason was a damn good reason, too: Lydia.
“You are so nosey!” Laney screeched, following him into the bedroom. “My love life is none of your business, Jebson Ray! You were stupid for ever throwing a punch in his direction.”
“That asshole deserved it.” He scowled, turning to glare at her. “But it’d be nice if you’d keep people updated on who you’re seeing, ya know. You would have saved me a hell of a lot of trouble.”
Callum quickly glanced at Lydia and he noted the way her jaw dropped open. He didn’t need her to speak to know what she was thinking at that exact moment.
Jeb made it seem that the only reason he fought Devin was because of Laney, not her.
That was the last thing she needed to be thinking.
Jeb and Laney continued arguing, loud and angry like a couple of hyenas fighting over dinner. They weren’t even paying attention to what was happening around them.
“Hey,” he whispered, reaching for her hand. “He’s just mad. Let’s get out of here, huh?”
Lydia snatched her hand away from him as if she’d been burned. Fresh tears shimmered in her eyes as she quickly shook her head.
“N-no.” She replied quietly, swallowing hard. “I think I’m going to go for a walk. By myself.”
“Lydia...”
He watched helplessly as she got up from the bed and walked past her siblings who were still clueless to their surroundings. As the front door slammed shut, he groaned as loud as he could.
“You two are impossible!” He snapped.
Laney and Jeb immediately hushed.
Turning to stare at him questioningly, Jeb folded his arms over his chest and lifted a brow. “What are you going on about? I’m trying to have a discussion with my sister.”
“And you hurt your other one in the process.” Callum replied, standing from the bed and mirroring his friend, crossing his arms until the muscles bulged beneath his shirt. “You ought to think before you speak sometimes, Jeb.”
“What’d I say?” He asked, genuinely clueless. “All I said was Laney needs to keep people updated on her love life.”
“And the fact it would have saved you a hell of a lot of trouble.” Callum shot back.
Laney gasped, placing both hands over her mouth as she stared at them with her big eyes. She definitely understood what the issue was.
“Oh no,” she wailed. “Oh no! She’s going to think she’s not important. Oh, Jeb. You idiot!” She smacked her brother’s arm. “You keep talking about how you want her to stay here and then you say something like that? Ugh!”
“Hey, now. Wait a minute. I didn’t mean it—don’t you walk away from me!” He shouted when Laney stomped from the room. “God dang it.” Slowly lifting his eyes to Callum, he frowned. “She’s going to hate me for this. I didn’t mean it, Cal. You know that, right? She’s very important to me.”
“I know that.” He nodded. “I think it’s just been a rough night for everybody.” Gesturing to the bruises on his friend’s knuckles, he offered an understanding smile. “Maybe we should just let her cool off. She’s got a lot on her mind.”
“Like what?”
“Your mom, mostly. I think that’s what it is.”
“Our mom?” His face skewed in dismay. “Why the hell is she letting that bother her? Our mom is being a big bitch these days.”
“But she misses her. She misses her a lot.”
“Well, she shouldn’t. Mama never spent much time missing her. She doesn’t even deserve to be missed by Lydia.”
“Be that as it may, I still think Lydia hopes to mend whatever is broken between them. Can I ask you something, Jeb?”
“Yeah, man. Shoot.”
“Do you think there’s a possibility they will ever work things out?”
He was confident that he could always make Lydia happy. Whatever she wanted, he would provide, come hell or high water. There wasn’t an issue with giving her happiness, but her mother was an entirely different story.
If there was a way to get Mrs. McIntosh to see things from his point of view, then maybe he could patch things up between them, or at least get the ball rolling.
“I don’t know.” Jeb scratched at the scruff on his chin and shrugged. “Sometimes I think it could happen, but I wouldn’t bet money on it. Mama took i
t really hard when Lydia left, but I never saw her cry about it. Dad cried. I saw him cry, but her? She’s got a heart of ice when it comes to the whole sex change thing. I honestly can’t tell you if she’ll ever accept it.”
“Maybe she can’t accept it, but can’t she at least be warmer towards Lydia?”
“She ain’t even warm towards me.” Jeb sneered, rolling his eyes. “Ever since Lydia came back and I started hanging out here instead of there, Mama hasn’t been all that nice.”
God, their mom really was a stone-hearted bitch. What if she never gave Lydia what she wanted? What if it caused Lydia to leave all of them?
“There’s got to be something we can do.” Callum said thoughtfully.
“Yeah,” Jeb chortled. “Give her the heart transplant instead of Dad.”
—————
Lydia
She knew that Jeb hadn’t meant what he said, but it didn’t mean her heart would be rational about the situation. The tears started falling before she could stop them, damn hormones, and all she could do was wait for her heart to slow down and her skin to cool off.
“He’s a good brother.” She said beneath her breath, walking hastily down the sidewalk that led to town. “He’s just mad. We all say things we don’t mean when we’re mad.”
Or maybe he did mean it and he hadn’t really fought Devin for her.
Oh, don’t be stupid! Her mind screamed. Jeb loves you. He wants to protect you.
She did know that part was true. When they were younger—much younger—in the nightmare known as childhood, he’d tried so many times to defend her, but he was simply too little. The older boys easily shoved him off so they could keep hitting her.
It was meant to be a fun day at the park for Jonathan and Jeb. They’d packed up a whole set of Hot Wheels and their brand new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kite to play with. It was such a pretty day and their mama had ushered them outside to get some fresh air while she did some house cleaning.
Playing cars wasn’t Jonathan McIntosh’s favorite thing to do, but he knew it made his brother happy, and anything that made Jeb happy ultimately made him happy, too.
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