Ruined (Barnes Brothers #4)(7)

“Marin!”

He jerked his head around just in time to see Travis catch her.

She’d passed out.





Chapter Three




One year later



The little red number on his machine was blinking.

He didn’t even bother to see how many messages he had—the count wasn’t right anyway.

He hadn’t answered his phone in days. Sometimes he picked up when it rang, but more often than not, it went to his voice mail and he hadn’t listened to those messages in quite some time.

He wasn’t totally lazy, though. Every couple of weeks, he went in and deleted the messages—all of them.

There was one person he didn’t mind talking to these days—no, make that three.

The pizza guy was fine because he took the tip, left the pie, and asked no questions.

The chick who delivered his food for him was good, too. She brought in the groceries, accepted her tip, and ignored the mess—although she had once politely left a card with a number on it for a cleaning service. He’d ended up using the cleaning service. They came out twice a month now, and he had to admit they were just as discreet and quiet as she was. They must like the tip, too.

And then there was Marin.

Sebastien wouldn’t have thought that Marin Lassiter would be welcome, considering that the first day she’d seen him with his shiny new scars, she’d passed out, but there you go.

His brothers, his parents, his sisters-in-law, his friends—all of them grated on his nerves. From time to time, he didn’t mind Zane or Keelie, although Zane would eventually try to get him to call the family. Travis would probably be welcome, but that guy was so buried in work, he never emerged for longer than it took to call and Sebastien didn’t do phones anymore.

Unless it was Marin.

When Marin called, he answered.

When she knocked on the door, he opened.

So today, when she appeared on his deck carrying a picnic basket, he disappeared into the house to shower and try to look presentable.

Now ten minutes into his hot shower, he figured he was about as presentable as he was going to get.

Well, save for the raging hard-on. But he’d grab some board shorts and a T-shirt. Half the ones he owned no longer fit. He’d put on nearly fifteen pounds during the past year and all of it was muscle.

The thought of going out there and seeing Marin . . .

“Get it together, Barnes,” he muttered.

Sebastien should have been able to put Marin out of his head once and for all after what had happened that day in the hospital, but he’d never been able to. She’d been there every day, often until the nursing staff kicked her out late at night, and she’d been the one who persisted in seeing him even when everybody else got tired of his foul temper.

Granted, he’d never really used it on her as much as the others. Even his family had tried to plan their visits around hers. He’d be an idiot not to notice that, and he’d felt like a piece of shit knowing he was pushing everybody away, but at the same time, he hadn’t cared.

He didn’t want anybody to be his cheerleader or his therapist. He was tired of his mom trying to clean up after him, and he was tired of his dad telling him that there was a reason for the things that happened.

Sebastien knew the reason this had happened—it had happened because he was an * and this was his punishment. Further proof of that fact was the long list of people who no longer wanted to be around him.

Trey hadn’t been out to see him ever since Sebastien had told his brother’s cute fiancée Ressa that if he wanted her opinion on something, he’d ask her advice on self-help books. Until that time? She could keep her advice for her patrons.

Trey e-mailed off and on, but Sebastien deleted them unread. Not because he was mad at his brother. Sebastien was mad at himself and he didn’t want to make things worse.

Zach still came out from time to time, but the last visit had been a month ago and Sebastien suspected he was about to give up, too. Abby already had. He’d let them both know that he’d be joining them on all those excellent VH-1 has-been shows sooner rather than later.

Abby had rolled her eyes but Zach had been pissed.

Zane and Keelie didn’t rub him the wrong way, but he had a feeling Keelie might knock his teeth down his throat if he pushed her too hard. And Zane would applaud. Travis might, too.

His father had called him a few days before Mother’s Day, and although Sebastien hadn’t answered the phone, he’d listened to the message. I know you’re going through a rough time, son. We’re trying to be here for you, but it’s hard when you don’t want us. It’s . . . It’s getting hard on your mom, her seeing you like this. If you don’t come see her on Mother’s Day, we won’t be back up there for a while. You decide when you’re ready for us to be a family again, son. We’re here for you, as soon as you decide you’re ready.

That had been three months ago.

Just two days ago, Zane had texted him and told him that he and Keelie had decided to tie the knot—in Vegas—before heading out to Virginia for Ressa and Trey’s wedding.

From there, they’d leave for their honeymoon in Italy, while Trey and Ressa were headed to Australia.

Zane expected him to be at both weddings. Zane’s unexpected one in two days, and Trey’s planned one in four.