Zack - M. Malone Page 0,2

going to clean all this up.”

Her eyes narrow. “Bite me, Zack.”

Then her eyes latch onto mine and before I can stop myself, my arms are open. She launches herself at me, knocking into me so hard that I have to take a step back to keep us upright. There’s paint all over me now but I don’t even care. The only thing that matters is the way her shoulders are shaking beneath my hands. In that moment, all I care about is the fact that she’s hurting.

Her feelings for my brother have never been a secret. Ever since that terrible day when Gabe interrupted the assholes who were trying to take advantage of her at a party, she’s looked at him like he’s her personal hero. Most people assume Josie loves Gabe for the same reasons everyone else does. Because he’s handsome and charming and the kind of guy that girls like her dream of. They have no idea that she sees him as her own personal guardian angel.

But I do.

Everyone around us doesn’t know the circumstances behind it because as far as I know, none of us ever told anyone about what happened that night.

As much as Gabe and I wanted to go back and tear those guys apart, Josie was frantic. She was humiliated and frightened about what her parents and friends would say and think. She didn’t want anyone to know and so that night has become just one more thing that none of us speak of. Jo has been following us around ever since and after a while she blended seamlessly into the fabric of our lives. It should be strange how we adopted her, like a random puppy or something.

But she just fit with us.

“I finally got him upstairs. He just needs to sleep. You know nothing can keep Gabe down for long.”

Her fingers curl into my chest, balling the fabric of my cotton T-shirt beneath her fists. She rubs her face against my shirt and nods wordlessly. The helplessness I felt earlier comes back full force.

“It’s all going to be okay.” I’m stroking her hair, whispering whatever I think will help to calm her down. But inside, I’m on fire because I know his injury isn’t the only reason she’s crying. It’s because Josie can’t do what she really wants and watch over Gabe herself.

He has a girlfriend now and things are never going to be the same.

After a few minutes she pulls back and wipes at her tears, leaving a streak of red paint on her cheek.

“I’m okay now. Sorry about that.” She can’t even look at me. Her breaths are still coming in gasping little sobs as she rolls up the paper on the easel.

I want to help her but something tells me she won’t welcome that so I move out of the way so she can collect the brushes near my feet. Several locks of her wavy hair have escaped her bun and are sticking to the paint on her cheeks and neck. Even sweaty and disheveled, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

Over the years I’ve watched her blossom from a scared, naive young girl into a confident woman. The outside may have changed but she’s still our same sweet Josie on the inside. And she still loves the man who saved her when no one else cared. All the guys she’s dated since high school seemed like plastic stand-ins for my brother. I think our parents and hers have secretly been waiting for them to get back together. Hell, even I was expecting it to happen eventually.

Now things are different and it’s like she’s self-destructing right in front of me.

“You don’t have to apologize. I’m worried about him, too.”

She looks up at me sharply. “You are? Is there something you aren’t telling me?”

“No, it’s not that. He’s just never gotten hurt so badly before.”

“Yeah.” Her eyes become distant and she looks out over the yard. “He’s been better lately. Less impulsive. I thought I wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.”

I understand exactly what she means. Gabe has gotten into his fair share of trouble, and so have I, but most of it was borne of necessity. When money was tight we'd boost a few cars to make sure the gas wasn't cut off in the middle of winter. The stuff we did was wrong but I’ve never regretted it because we did what we had to do. Gabe though, he always seemed to enjoy it. Now that