An Unlocked Mind (Secrets #2)(101)

The praise filled Rob’s heart. Maybe this could work out.





Chapter Twenty-Eight


AS THE evening wore on, Rob had to admit it had been a great idea. Granted, it was a little awkward at first, but as time went on, the three of them loosened up and conversation became easier.

Ellis shuffled the cards and passed them out to Rob and Jarod. After spending some time with him, Rob had come to realize that Ellis wasn’t nearly as scary as Rob had pictured him. In fact, he was pretty much a teddy bear. A lot of grumbling, but also cute in his own way.

Rob was glad they’d done this. He needed people around him to remind himself that he wasn’t alone. That he wasn’t the only one who had fears. Fuck, everyone had them.

Jarod cocked his head when someone knocked tentatively at the door. “Come in,” he called out.

The door opened slowly, and Rob’s heart hammered when a familiar head peered around it. No. What the fuck?

“Got room for one more?”

Rob stood up so quickly, he almost knocked over his chair. “Alex?” The word came out as a strangled cry.

“In the flesh.”

Rob stared at him, clueless as to how to react. What is he doing here?

“Hey, come in,” Jarod said. “Pull up a chair. I was wondering when you’d arrive.”

Alex stepped into the room, wearing a pair of black jeans and a black T-shirt. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just wanted to… I guess I came to talk with Rob.”

Me? He came all this way to talk to me? Then Jarod’s words finally sank in. “You… you knew he was coming?”

Jarod nodded.

Alex cocked his head to one side. “Unless… you don’t want to talk to me?”

Rob couldn’t keep a lid on his emotions a second longer. He propelled himself forward and slammed into Alex with a grunt, not giving a damn how it looked. His brother had come to see him.

Alex stood stiffly at first, then relaxed and wrapped his arms around Rob. “Hey,” he whispered in Rob’s ear.

Rob knew exactly what he wanted to say.

“I’m sorry. So fucking sorry.” He buried his face in Alex’s chest, unable to look him in the eye. For once he was grateful for Alex’s height.

It wasn’t until they’d stood clutching each other for a few minutes that Rob realized the room had grown quiet. He took a step back and peered round him. “Where did Ellis and Jarod go?”

“I think they left to give us some space.” Alex inclined his head toward the table. “Let’s sit down, shall we?”

Rob nodded, his head still in a daze. “What are you doing here?”

“Like I said, I came to talk.” Alex regarded him with a calm that Rob envied.

“Okay.” Rob cursed inwardly for the hesitancy that laced the single word. He was in the dark here, feeling for which way to proceed. After his emotional outburst, he didn’t know how to continue. In the end he played it safe. “How are you?”

Alex smiled. “I’m doing well. Things are going well at the new job. Peter—he’s my best mate—and I have been spending a lot of time with Scott, our other friend. He and his husband had twins, so we’re doing our best to be there for them all.”

“Oh, that’s… good.” The silence that followed was awkward. Rob had counted on having more time to figure out what he wanted to say when he and Alex finally met, but here was Alex. Rob’s mouth had gone dry, and his head had emptied itself of all coherent thought.

Then he realized there was a place to start.

“I saw Dad.” Rob paused. “He told me you knew it wasn’t me who got Leo in trouble.”

Alex nodded slowly. “Yeah, I knew. I’m not sure what got into Mum. We don’t talk anymore. I see Dad once in a while, though.”

“He wants to get together with me and Vic.”

Alex grinned. “Yeah, about him. I have to admit, that part blew me away. My little brother, my permanent pain in the arse. Who would have thought he’d turn out to be gay?”

Rob cleared his throat. “I prefer bi. I mean, I still like looking at women, but Vic is the whole package.”

“You were like this as a kid, you know.” Alex was still grinning. “I got a water pistol, you wanted a better one. I got a skateboard, so of course you had to have one. So I suppose I ought to have known what was coming when I got myself a Dom. You just had to go there, right?”

Rob laughed, but then he quietened. “I need him. He’s helping me put things to right. He’s the one who told me I needed to talk to you.”

“And here we are, talking.” Alex cocked his head to one side. “So, what was it that you wanted to say?”

Rob inhaled deeply. “There’s nothing I can do to make up for how awful I was, and I know that. To be honest, I’m really surprised you came to see me at all.”

It was Alex’s turn to breathe deeply. “I’ll admit it, what happened hurt me for a long while. I thought you and Mum had done your best to ruin my life. Even though she was ultimately responsible for the whole Leo episode, I’m still a little stung over your part in it.”

Rob couldn’t blame him for that. He opened his mouth to apologize again, but Alex held up his hand.

“Then I recalled a conversation I had with Dad after it happened. He didn’t try to make excuses for her, which surprised the hell out of me. He then shocked me even further by sharing candidly that he wasn’t sure why they ever had kids, because she wasn’t interested in them at all.” Alex shrugged. “It was the first time I saw him as another person, not just my dad. But he’s not like her. He loves us—he just has a hard time showing it. He’s gotten a lot better since then, and maybe you ought to talk to him too.”