A Bad Boy's Brother (Book #2)

2. Cain

"Ryder!" Kelsey grabbed me around the waist, pulling me away from Corey. "Stop! Stop, it's not Corey!"

As her words sank in, I stopped struggling and looked more closely at the boy standing in front of me.

He had Corey's eyes, that much was sure, and his face was identical, but there were indeed differences. He had two lip piercings as well as small gages, and the biggest difference: he didn't have white eyelashes or white hair patches. It was all black. There was a grimace on his face from having been punched, but he offered me a pained smile. "I assume you're Ryder, then? I can tell you're in some kind of martial arts."

"Kickboxing," I said numbly, barely moving my lips out of shock.

"You're doing a great job in that," he commented, straightening up and coughing once. "It would seem my brother pissed off a lot of people. I've been punched three times since I've been here, and I didn't know any of the people that did it. He really left a trail for me, didn't he?"

I couldn't help but stare at him.

"My name's Cain," he said after an awkward pause.

I didn't reply.

"I...uh...Corey told me a lot about you."

My eyes burned with anger and tears. "Don't believe one word of it. He knows nothing about me."

Kelsey grimaced out of the corner of my eye and made some kind of gesture to him that made his face smooth out from the awkward expression.

"Alright. Well, I just moved back here to be closer to my parents, and..." he looked around the park. "I don't know. Corey left one hell of an angry group of people behind when he left I guess, seeing as how all of them want to kill him." His eyes moved to mine, almost causing me to flinch with their uncanny likeness to Corey's. "I'm sorry for whatever trouble he caused you, Ryder. He's always been rather...difficult."

I still couldn't reply.

"Ryder is...well...I think we should probably save the whole introduction thing until later, if you don't mind, Cain. I think she might punch you again, or she might throw up, but either way she really doesn't look well right now. I'm going to take her home."

"Alright. It was nice meeting you, Kelsey."

"You too."

Kelsey touched my arm, pulling me away gently, but I couldn't tear my eyes off of Cain. He looked so much like Corey. Identical. Corey hadn't told me about having a twin brother. I knew nothing about the boy that I had fallen in love with. Cain was proof of that. "Ryder," she whispered, "Come on. Give me Sky's leash and we'll walk back to my car, then I'll drive you home, alright?"

"No." My eyes were still on Cain. "I'm walking home. I don't want to be in a car." I tightened my grip on Sky's leash, finally turning away from him, and began running. The jog that had taken me twenty minutes to get to the park got me home in five. I was angry, hurt, and confused. Why hadn't he told me about Cain? Why was I still upset about him? Why was Cain coming back now? What had Corey told him about me?

As I got in to my house, I picked up my phone, looking down at it. I wanted to call someone. I just had no idea who. Not Corey. Not his parents. Not the twins. Not Kelsey. Not Jason. But I wanted to call someone. Finally, I dialed Devon.

"Hey Ryder." He had picked up on the first ring.

"Hey."

"What's wrong?"

"What? Nothing."

"Liar. Tell me, Ryder. What's happening?"

I told him everything. About my confusing contact with Cain, about my frustration and anger of not knowing he existed, about the pain that was pulling me back toward where I had been a year ago. Once I had gotten everything off my chest, I felt a little bit better, but I still felt like shit.

Devon was quiet, either thinking or just listening as I spoke. Finally, when I stopped, he spoke. "There are a few things I want to say, Ryder. First, don't just go around punching people, no matter who you think they are, though I would love to get Corey's blood on my hands myself. Second, if Cain isn't the one that hurt you, I don't think you should judge him just yet. Get to know him, and if he is really like his brother, then you can have a reason to hate him. Don't just hate him because of who he looks like, that's unfair to both of you. And third...it doesn't matter that Corey didn't tell you about him. He was an untrustworthy piece of shit and I hope he burns in hell for everything he's done to you, and you can't be hurting over him again. He isn't worth your tears, Ryder."

He always made things better for me. Devon would just break situations down in to three main points and address each one separately and make them seem so easy to solve. I felt much better after talking to him. "Thank you, Devon."

"No problem, Ryder. Do you want me to come down there?"

"No, you don't have to do that. You have the baby."

"He took his first steps not too long ago. I tried but you wouldn't pick up the phone."

"I haven't touched my phone in two months."

"I know."

Every day after Corey left I had stared at the phone in my hand, hoping that he would call me or text me or do anything as a sign that he possibly still cared about me. It had never happened. So, two months ago, I had given up my phone entirely, as if to throw away the little hope I had left in Corey. It was a big step for me. And now everything was going backwards again. "I'm gonna go. I need to think for a while. Alright?"

"Alright. I love you, Ryder."

"Love you too, Devon. I'll answer the phone more often, I promise."

"That'd be nice," he teased lightly.

I smiled in to the phone a little. "Bye."

"Bye."

I clicked out of the call and sat down on my bed. Sky was laid out across my pillows as far as her little body would reach, softly snoring the way she did. "Your cousin Devon is a really good person," I said quietly, smoothing my fingers across her soft fur. "I hope you get to see him soon. He might come down here for Christmas, wouldn't that be a nice surprise?"

My phone buzzed suddenly and I looked at the screen.

don't hate cain. I think he might actually be a good guy. hes kind.

I sighed, texting Kelsey back for the first time in months. I wasn't going to hate him. I was just confused, Kel. look, if you want to throw me a birthday party, go ahead. I don't care. ill go to whatever you plan.

omg are you serious?! thank you!!!! okay im gonna go plan, see you soon! :D

I smiled a bit at the phone. Maybe a party wouldn't be so bad. I needed something to get my mind off of everything anyway. Crawling up closer to Sky, I laid my head on her side to be more comfortable. With the sounds of her little snores and her heartbeat, I was able to fall asleep more easily than I had expected.

I didn't need Corey. I had a perfectly good group of people to support me.

I didn't need him anymore.