Seeing Red Read Online Free PDF

whined, and that gave Jillian the final push
to say, “Okay, I guess that would be nice. Give me the address, and
I’ll swing by the hotel first to check out and grab my stuff.”
    “You only said yes so that I would have to sleep on
the couch.”
    She laughed and winked at him, “Point for Jill.”
     
     
     

Chapter 3
    The rule of
brothers: If your brother gets something you want you: 1. Try to
steal it away from him, 2: Break it, or 3. Say it’s no
good.
    -Helen
    Jillian
    Since the rescue, Oliver had kept in touch, and his
calls and letters had become different throughout the years:
sweeter, more loving. He was so protective of Jillian that
sometimes she felt that his letters and calls were toeing the line
of love letters. Plus, he looked so good now. Jill had felt a punch
to her chest when she saw him earlier that day, actually, when she
saw both of them. The line between familial love and lust was
becoming blurred, and she realized that in the last hours since
seeing them again, there were new feelings bubbling up inside that
hadn’t been there before. So, she felt a little awkward being alone
in the apartment with them after they finished lunch.
    Oliver showed her around and told her to make
herself at home as he headed out to the supermarket.
    With a gentle knock against Alexander’s door, she
asked, “May I come in?”
    “Of course.”
    Jillian walked into his room and lay next to him on
his bed. He was on his back with both hands under his head and legs
crossed at the ankle, looking up at the ceiling. He still looked a
little green from the hangover he was nursing. They both stared at
the ceiling in silence.
    “Valedictorian, huh?”
    “Yep.”
    “Georgetown?”
    “Yep.”
    There were another few minutes of comfortable
silence between them. Unexpectedly, Jillian was left with a
tingling sensation from the inconsequential touch of their thighs
and elbows brushing against each other.
    “Xander, why didn’t you ever call or write me?”
    He sighed and closed his eyes. She felt the warmth
of his hand on hers as he reached over and interlocked their
fingers. His eyes were opened, but he didn’t speak because she knew
he didn’t really have an answer.
    What could he say? He was a fuckup. He was too
stoned or drunk to write or call—the same reason he had been a
terrible son to Helen.
    “Red. It sucks about Helen.”
    “Yep, it really does suck.” She squeezed his hand
and added through gritted teeth, “Xander, don’t call me Red.” She
tried to pull her hand away, but he just held on tighter.
    He ignored her comment. “What are we going to do
now?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “We’re supposed to be adults, right? We’re eighteen,
but I don’t feel like an adult,” he confessed. “I need a parent,
but Helen was my parent and now she’s gone. What now?”
    “I know. I have no one left either. I feel so lost
and alone, but we’ve lived such a strange life, and we’ve always
survived. We’ll survive this too. Remember Helen’s funny little
life lessons? One that always keeps me hopeful is, ‘Everybody wants
happiness, nobody wants pain, but you can’t have a rainbow without
a little rain.’ Xander, this is just one big puddle of rain in our
lives. Remember you have a brother and you have me. Don’t keep
pushing me away. Call me; write me; visit me.”
    “You’re not alone either, Red. You have us. I
promise I’ll keep in touch this time around.” He turned his body,
his forced indifference gone, and gave her a big hug. It was a
tender and cathartic hug, unlike the sloppy one at the funeral.
    When Oliver returned, he found his brother and
Jillian on the bed, just staring at the ceiling holding hands.
    “Scoot over,” he said, plopping on the bed and
grabbing Jill’s other hand.
    All three lay in silence, staring at the ceiling.
The fan was on, and they stared at it going round and round. It was
the first time all three had been together in seven years. She felt
so at home and