More Than Meets the Eye - Page 115

Eevee sank onto the spot on the couch Aya had warmed while Aya disappeared into the kitchen.Baz threw himself into Eevee’s arms.Her familiar vanilla smell pushed more tears out of his leaking eyes.

“Oh, Baz!”Her fingers glided along his scalp.The same way he loved doing to Sami.A sob shook through him.

“It’s okay.I’m here,” she soothed.Baz wished he could believe her.“Tell me everything.”

That simple request opened the floodgates.What had happened at court, his fear of having fallen much deeper than Sami had, how he had chosen the worst possible moment to bring it up, the fallout, it all poured out of him.

He could feel the questions brimming under her skin, the judgment she’d never vocalize because she was a goddamn angel who was always there for Baz, and Baz had not once thanked her for that.Not recently.Not enough.

He wrapped his monologue up with an “I’m sorry” and wiped the trails of tears away.Embarrassing how much he was crying these days.He had never been a crier.That was Sami’s fault for knocking his walls down and leaving him without defenses.

“What for?”

“Everything.I’ve been nothing but a burden to you your entire adult life, and I couldn’t even make your sacrifices worth it.”

Eevee pulled away enough for Baz to see her frown.“What the hell are you talking about?”It was the harshest he had heard her voice in years.Great, now he’d managed to upset her too.

“Baz!”Eevee exclaimed and squeezed him tight, suffocating him with her love and probably not giving a damn about it.“That is so dumb.”

“Theme of the day,” Baz mumbled, freeing his face from her chest to breathe again.

“I love you.Joel loves you.You were never a burden to us.”

“I made your life a hell of a lot harder when you had enough going on already, and that is a fact.”

“Without you, I wouldn’t have a life at all anymore.”

“Don’t say that!”Life without Eevee was unfathomable.She had built it all herself with a courage and strength Baz could only dream of.That was her achievement and hers alone.

“It’s true!Don’t you remember all the nights I just wanted it all to end and you were there for me?You researched therapists and specialists, and you always supported me.You even stayed up all night before my surgery despite your huge exam the next day!”

“Of course I did.You would have done the same.”Offering a few rides and some encouraging words didn’t compare to the strain of taking guardianship over a teenager.

“Does that make it any less significant?You always believed in me and kept me going.You’re the best brother I could have asked for.”

“Eve…”

“I mean it, and I’m the big sister, so you have to listen to me.”

Well, if she played the sister card.Baz smiled through his sob.He buried his face in her shoulder, the same way he had done with Sami last Friday night.It seemed years ago.

“I love you too,” he whispered.

“Why do you only have bread?”Aya asked from the doorway to the kitchen.Eevee glared at her with herare-you-seriousstare Baz was all too familiar with, though usually aimed at him or Joel when they were in trouble.

“Sami asked that too.”So amused by Baz’s ridiculous priorities: looking expensive, saving money to buy into a firm that was about to let him go…

“Aw.”Eevee stroked over his hair.Baz closed his eyes.“Maybe it’s not over yet?”

If only.“He told me it was.”

“He was distressed.”

“Which was also my fault.”

“If one mistake is a deal-breaker, he was never the one for you.”

That depended entirely on the size of that mistake.There was only so much anyone could forgive.The fury Ian had unleashed on him… Sami had seemed so small when he was everything but.It was obvious he had drawn the short end of the stick of their deal, and now Baz had forfeited his right to help—if he ever had it in the first place.