His lips twitch. He falls onto the couch cushion and places his hands behind his head, propping his feet on the coffee table.

“Mom hates it when you do that,” I say.

“Always a momma’s boy.”

My jaw clenches. I take a seat on the loveseat on the other side of the coffee table. Dad enters the living room with Mom in tow.

“Jaxon, is everything okay?” He sits beside Josh, while Mom takes the spot next to me. A faceoff, how fitting.

My leg bounces as I draw in a breath. “I know the truth.”

Josh sits up ramrod straight.

Dad remains calm. “The truth about what?”

“I know Josh was the one who stole Nana’s ring from my apartment.”

Mom gasps. I didn’t expect her to be in on this, and I’m glad I have her on my side.

My brother is silent, a rare occurrence for him.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dad says.

“No? Do you know anything about cornering Raegan in the hallway the night of Grandpa’s wake?”

“Honey, what is he talking about?” Mom asks.

Dad shakes his head. “The girl is trying to mess with your head. She’s a liar. That’s what she does.”

“Raegan didn’t tell me anything.”

“Then how do you know?” Josh asks.

My eyebrows shoot up. “So you admit it then?”

“I … uh … I didn’t say that.”

“Josh, shut your damn mouth,” Dad hisses.

My jaw goes slack and I sit back against the couch. The image of Raegan’s face that night in the hallway pops into my head. Her eyes were wide as she stood beside my father. She’d said she wasn’t feeling well. She’d refused to see me for days after that, blaming it on a stomach virus. If Dad forced her to take the ring, that would explain everything.

Becca was telling the truth.

Mom’s voice rises. “Joshua Stephen Waters, I need you to start talking, and you’d better tell the truth. What did you do?”

Josh scrubs his hand over his face. “I took the ring, okay? I used Mom and Dad’s spare key and I let myself into your apartment while you were out celebrating your promotion.”

A volcano erupts in the pit of my stomach. My hands start to shake. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

“Because I wanted you to know what it feels like to screw up! For once in your life, I wanted you to be the one Dad was disappointed in.”

“The only reason Dad’s disappointed in you is because you do shit like this!” I rise off the couch and lunge toward Josh, gripping the collar of his shirt in my hands. “You are fucking pathetic.”

“Jaxon! Please, stop this,” Mom cries.

Dad separates us, shoving me backward. “Enough.”