The door swung again, revealing a face from my nightmares. He’d grown into his beard, more handsome than ever … but his expression still exuded malice.
“Jeremiah!” Levi exclaimed in false bravado. “I guess we were right, all those years ago, when we called you Maya,” he said, flipping my hair.
I stood my ground, tilting my head away and using the disarming tone I’d practiced in conflict resolution seminars. “Don’t touch me.”
Before Levi could reply, Alex stood in front of me, pushing me back. “You touch her again, and I’ll —”
Levi crossed his arms as my father rasped, “Who are you?”
“Her boyfriend,” Alex answered.
Oh no. No, no, no. That was fine for Mama, but not —
“Are you blind?” Levi’s surprise transformed into a sneer. “Or just stupid?”
Alex stepped forward until their chests practically touched, his voice low and dripping with venom. “You shut your fucking mouth. Nobody talks that way about the woman I love.”
The woman I … what was he talking about? Why would he say that? Did he think he was helping? That would only make things worse.
I ran my hand down his arm and tugged his hand … but he didn’t budge, eyes locked with Levi in this ridiculous pissing contest.
“Who's prettier, Dad? Jeremiah or her pretty boy?” Levi taunted.
Alex shook me off, fists clenched. I wedged myself between these two idiots, pressing my back into Alex’s chest, knowing he wouldn’t act if I could get hurt, but knowing better than to turn my back on my brother.
I pushed back with all my might and said Alex’s name, the fury in his eyes dissipating once they fixed on me. Through gritted teeth, I said, “There are enough testosterone-fueled jerks in this house already. Don’t let him bait you, he’s not worth it.”
Alex calmed, then looked behind me. Levi's arms raised, begging for a fight.
“Alex, this is my fight, not yours.” Reluctantly, Alex stepped back.
But Levi read that as a victory and his lips curled into a sneer. “You know she has a dick, right?”
And that’s when all hell broke loose.
Chapter 31Grace
“My brother sucker punched your brother?” Mallory said in awe.
“Right in the nose, blood everywhere,” I said as we all curled up on the queen bed that Mallory and Kate shared at the cabin.
“So what happened, exactly? Spare no detail.” Mallory asked.
“We were eating pie with my mom — who kept deadnaming and misgendering me — when my dad and brother got home. Dad disowned me again,” I tried to keep my voice light, although my heart lurched at my crushed hope of reunion, “and then Levi started taunting. Alex challenged Levi to a pissing contest.”
I skipped the part where Alex called me ‘the woman I love.’ I’m not even sure he noticed that he said it.
“Levi said,” I dropped my voice, “‘You know she had a dick, right?’ Before I blinked, Alex’s fist was in Levi’s face.”
“You had two men duel over you.”
“Doesn’t count as a duel when one of them is your brother.”
“Totally counts! Anthony Bridgerton defended Daphne’s honor in that duel against Simon.” We released a joint sigh about Simon’s red jacket, and Anthony climbing out of the lake.
“Wait a minute? Did your brother call you she?” Mallory asked.
It took a moment for me to recall the conversation …
“Oh my gosh, he did. And he called me pretty,” I murmured, touching my hair where he’d flipped it. He meant it as an insult, but he said it.
“So then what happened?” Kate asked. “Did Levi fight back?”
“Alex threatened legal action if he touched me. I told Levi to go to hell —”
“You what?” Mallory shrieked. “Our sweet Grace said that?”
“I thought, ‘What would Mallory say?’”
“I’m thinking of printing wristbands,” Mallory said. Kate rolled her eyes.
“Then we got the heck out, before anybody else got punched.”
“Did you pull over on the way home to bang it out?” Kate asked, and Mallory nodded with an expression that said, ‘Thanks for asking because I'm curious but please not too many details because ew that’s my brother.’
“Gosh, no,” I said. Even though I’d considered it, I didn’t want to admit it to his sister. “I was overwhelmed from the memories, and mad at him for getting violent, but also turned on —” Ok, so I had admitted it, “and confused about what the heck just happened.”