Free A Year of You by A. D. Roland Page A

“What were you going to say while ago?”
    She turned sideways in the seat. “I was just thinking. She’s so much younger than you. There’s no way you are both on the same wavelength. Do you really love her, or have you sort of talked yourself into it?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Like, when I was a kid, somebody told me I needed to have a favorite Looney Tunes character. I didn’t really like any of them, but I felt pressured and picked Tweety Bird. He’s an annoying little crap. But I kept telling myself that I liked him. Part of me played that part, but another part of me wanted to puke every time I wore a Tweety Bird shirt or something.”

    “Em’s been part of my life since I was six. She’s your little sister. When Elaine disappeared, I swore I wasn’t going to ever let anything happen to her.”

    “So you sort of made it your job to watch out for her?”

    “Yeah.”

    “I bet,” Mattie said thoughtfully, knowing she’d figured him out. “When she started dating and all, you couldn’t really watch out for her like you felt like you had to, you started to tell yourself you were in love with her. You know all the stuff she does. You see it, and you still can’t bring yourself to let her go, because you’re scared you’re going to fail.”
    He frowned at her, but she saw the uncertainty in his eyes. “You know, maybe, but—that just sounds crazy.”
    “True though. It makes sense.”

    “Honey, nothing you say makes sense.”

    “Bite me.” She paused dramatically. “Really. I like that.” She winked at him, laughing at the flush of his cheeks.
    “Seriously, though, you can start to let go of her. I’m back. I’m not leaving. You can replace your damaged emotions and regain your identity as Brant West, rather than Emeline’s boy-toy.”
    “Shut up with the psychobabble. You’re making my head hurt.”

    “Anger is an entirely acceptable way to deal with this issue.”

    “You don’t make any sense.”

    “Sure I do. Getting mad will give you courage to do the things you know you should do but can’t do unless you’re so totally pissed you can’t see straight.” She paused. “Or drunk. Getting drunk will help, too.”
    “Yeah, then I won’t feel it when she jams her five-inch-stiletto up my ass. I got your point, Mattie. Can we talk about something else, please?”
    Mattie leaned her head on the back of the seat, gazing at West. “I don’t see how she can do it, West.”
    “What?”
    “Hurt you like she does. Why doesn’t she see the things that I see in you? I mean, me and you are just friends and you seem like a really great guy.”
    West blushed again and shrugged self-consciously. “She’s used to me, I guess. Nothing’s new anymore.”
    “How is she in bed?” Mattie asked.
West barked a hard, sharp laugh.
    “Well, she’s...”

    “A tiger? Some sort of cat?”

    “No...”

    “An antelope?”

    “What?” West laughed. “An antelope?”

    “I was going to say anteater, but they got that tongue thing going on.”

    “You really have issues.”

    “So I’ve been told.”
Mattie propped her arm up on the back of the seat and stared out the tinted window at the rows and rows of cars. “West?”
    “Yeah?”
    “What happened, the night Elaine disappeared?”
West raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Why do you want to know about that?”

    “Because I don’t know anything about it. I don’t remember a thing.”

    He slouched down in the seat a little, using the lever on the side to tilt it back a few degrees. “My mother and Karen used to be friends. Sort of, anyway. My mom worked for her. Me and Elaine were best friends. The McKendricks lived pretty close to my family, and your dad owned the land. We played together all day, every day. One day Elaine came over and said her parents and Justine were fighting about stuff, but I had no clue what that was, then. I finally figured out it meant