Counting Down with You(93)
“You’re so fucking annoying,” Ace says, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Go then. Run off and tell Dad how I’m a fraud. I’m sure he’ll love that.”
“Honestly, Alistair.” Xander sighs deeply, leaning his elbow against the table. “Don’t you get tired of disappointing Dad? He just wants you to succeed.”
I have a strong urge to kick Xander down a flight of stairs. If Ace hadn’t specifically told me to stay out of it, I think I would’ve told Xander to fuck off. It makes sense why Ace is reluctant to talk to our classmates if his own brother is such an ass.
“And what do you want, Alexander?” Ace smiles coldly. “To make me look bad so you can look good? Your superiority complex is pathetic.”
A sense of pride fills me as I watch Ace casually take out a lollipop and unwrap it.
“I don’t have a superiority complex,” Xander says, raising one eyebrow. “I worry about you, Alistair. If Dad and I don’t keep you in line, what’s going to happen to you? Ever since Mom and Dad’s divorce, you’ve had no drive, no motivation. I only want the best for you.”
I gape at Xander. He speaks as if he hasn’t sabotaged Ace repeatedly, as if he hasn’t spread rumors about him, as if he hasn’t consistently thrown Ace under the bus.
Ace has the most drive and motivation of anyone I’ve ever met. He spends hours practicing piano, sought a tutor when he was doing poorly, and is active in almost every aspect of his life. He knows what he wants and goes after it.
And yet his brother unabashedly calls him lazy and apathetic, without even making the effort to learn what kind of person Ace truly is.
Ace is silent as he pops the lollipop in his mouth. Tell him, I want to urge, but I also know why he won’t. Ace’s choices have nothing to do with Xander or his father.
“Talk to me, Alistair.” Xander reaches across the table, but Ace leans away. “You’re being childish.”
“And you’re trying to gaslight me,” Ace says evenly.
“Gaslight?” Xander snorts. “Where’d you learn that word? Was it from your little ‘girlfriend’ over here?” He gestures to me with a wave of his hand. “I guess the tutoring is paying off.”
“Don’t bring her into this,” Ace says, his voice low, before he exhales and looks away. Under the table, I loop my ankle around his, hoping to comfort him in some way. A fleeting and barely there smile passes across his lips. He looks back up at his brother, expression weary. “I’m tired of this, Xander. You’re Dad’s favorite son. I know it. You know it. Can we please stop doing this?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Xander says dismissively.
“Don’t you?” Ace asks. “Ever since Mom and Dad got divorced, you’ve been taking it out on me. You turned Dad against me. It’s not my fault Mom left. It’s not my fault you and Mom barely talk. Stop blaming me for things that are out of my hands.”
Xander’s cool expression slips, his gaze suddenly heated. I shift farther away from him, waiting for the blow to follow.
“It is your fault,” Xander hisses. “She talks to you all the time and never gives me the time of day. And when we do talk, she only ever goes on and on about you. It’s always Ace this, Ace that. I told her I got into Yale, and immediately after congratulating me, she asked me what your plans for college were. It’s always about you.”
Ace stares at his brother like he’s grown a second head. “And that’s my fault? Why don’t you talk to Mom about it instead of trying to ruin my life?”
His brother sniffs with an air of disdain, but there’s a crack in his demeanor now, in the way he carries himself. “You always overexaggerate. I haven’t ruined your life.”
“You told Dad I wanted to go to Italy with Mom and acted like it was because of him. Dad hasn’t looked at me the same since! You know the reason I wanted to leave was because of you, you fucking asshole. Back then, all you ever did was pick fights with me over nothing. But instead of factoring that in, you let Dad think I hated him. Your relationship with Mom isn’t my fault, but my relationship with Dad is yours.”
Xander’s mouth thins into a straight line. “What does it matter to you? You have Mom. You don’t need Dad, too.”
My mouth falls open in disbelief. What kind of logic is that?
Ace seems similarly aghast. “What are you even talking about? He’s my dad.” He shakes his head. “You have no idea. Mom misses you. She tells me all the time she wishes you’d call more. But you’d rather spend your time ruining my relationship with Dad, I guess.”
Xander falters. “Mom misses me?”
Ace looks up, taking in his brother’s expression. His gaze slips briefly to mine, and I offer him a timid smile, hoping it reassures him.
In the face of it, Ace seems to deflate. He scrubs a hand over his face, a sigh escaping his lips. “All right.” He pushes back his chair. “I guess we’re doing this.”
Xander narrows his eyes, looking between us. “Doing what?”
“Talking to Mom and Dad.” Ace stands up, gathering his things before coming around the side of the table to crouch near me. “Hey.”
I carefully brush a strand of dark hair from his eyes. I don’t know what to do with the fight I just witnessed, but I know I want to be there for Ace. “Hey.”