“Ohhh, because you were gone. Right. Gone. Over there.” I was an idiot, echoing everything he said. But it took me a second to catch on, regardless of how many times we had repeated the word gone.“Wow. Yeah, adjusting to being back must be so weird.”

Every time he reminded me that his life was drastically different from mine, I felt shaken. I noticed his glassy eyes again . . . his beautiful brown eyes. Maybe he was as buzzed as I was. I leaned toward Kael to ask if he was drunk, to ask him if he was okay. That’s when Austin barreled into the kitchen with Mendoza right behind him. Way to kill the moment.

“Hey, guys! It’s awfully quiet in here,” Austin howled, clapping his hands together as if he were trying to frighten a small animal.

Kael and I stepped back from each other, as if by instinct. Mendoza rested an almost empty tequila bottle on the counter by the kitchen door.

“My man. You leaving?” Austin asked, as Mendoza nodded and clasped his shoulder. “Thanks for coming.” Austin continued, “I know it’s hard to get out.”

“Yeah.” Mendoza turned to Kael. I felt like something significant was going on in front of me, but I wasn’t really able to decipher it.

“Next time bring Gloria,” Austin said, reaching for the tequila bottle. “One more before you go?”

Mendoza looked at the thick, white watch strapped to his wrist and shook his head. “No way, man. I have to go home. Kids get to be a handful, and Gloria’s tired. The baby is keeping her up all night.”

“I didn’t mean you.” Austin touched Mendoza’s car keys on his belt loop. “But for me?”

Mendoza took the bottle and emptied the remaining tequila into Austin’s glass. It wasn’t my responsibility to worry about my brother. This was his party and I was already over being the house mother. Not tonight.

“It was nice to meet you, again,” I told Mendoza when he said bye to me.

“Take care of my boy,” he whispered. Then he hugged Kael and went out the back door, leaving me to wonder what on earth he meant.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

“Man, I love that guy. He’s a Grade A fucking guy.”

Austin was over-the-top cheerful, even for him. It made me a little afraid of what was coming next. It wasn’t that I was worried about him getting into trouble. Not really. It was hard to see him standing there swaying like that.

“My sister! My beautiful sis.” Austin wrapped his arm around me. His movements were fluid and his pale cheeks were red. He was clearly smashed.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” he asked Kael. I froze. I hated when Austin talked about my looks.

Kael nodded yes, clearly uncomfortable.