“I hurt her!” he snarls, ripping his hands out of mine. “I told her she’s stupid and selfish like our mother. I scared her.” He drops his head into his hands and sobs. He looks just like his baby sister did a few hours ago. Broken. “And she told me I was just like him.”

I run my fingers through his hair and squeeze his knee, desperate to provide any comfort I can. “She didn’t mean it. You didn’t mean it. You were both hurt and upset.”

He lifts his head and gazes into me. His eyes are black holes, liquid darkness swirling with years of pain. “What if she’s right? What if I hurt people, like him?”

“You’re not. I see you.” I lean into him, sealing my mouth on his and pouring my love into him. Against his lips I whisper, “You think you’re tough, making people scale those walls you’ve built. Barbed wire and all. But, behind it, you’re the most loving man I’ve ever met.”

He lets out a ragged breath. “I don’t blame my mom for taking off. Or for not taking me with her. I look just like him. Don’t think she ever really trusted me ’cause of that.” He chokes on the held-back tears. “But she should’ve taken the baby. Becs deserves better than me.”

“You both deserved better.” I pepper his face with soft, slow kisses.

He pulls me into his lap, wrapping me in his arms and burying his face in my neck. He takes slow, deep breaths, squeezing me to him. I hug him in turn, trying to convince him he’s everything a man should be.

* * * *

I have an emotional hangover from last night. Between finding Becs sobbing and Devin’s confession about his past, my heart is still recovering. A girl can only take so much.

My first class isn’t until ten this morning, so I have plenty of time to sip my coffee and think of the best strategy for talking to Becs. I understand why she’s upset. With three bossy brothers looking over my shoulder, I know exactly how she feels. She just wants to stretch her wings and Devin’s keeping her shackled to the ground. He thinks telling her how dangerous it is to fly will keep her from wanting to feel the wind on her face.

Not gonna happen, bud.

I know he just wants to keep her close. Keep her safe. He’s lost everything and losing her too might just destroy him. But the harder he fights to keep her, the more she’ll want to get away. I can see both sides, but I hate being in the middle. Someone’s got to keep the peace, and since I love the hell out of both of them, I guess today that someone is me.