Free Wingless Book Series (book 1) by Holly Hood

going my whole
life.”
    “ Remain slow.” He always repeated
my words. It was sort of funny, like I was a foreigner or something
and my English was off to him.
    “ Yeah, as kids
we had a nanny, like, almost all day long. My parents were hardly ever home.”
    “ How did that make you
feel?”
    “ Honestly? Severely emotional. I
was always miserable and crying when I was a kid. Then I figured
out, no matter what I acted like, it didn’t matter. So I gave up on
hoping they would change. And the greatest surprise….”
    “ What’s that?” he asked, dropping
my hand as he pulled into his driveway.
    “ They never
did.” I opened my door, giving him a glance before hopping out.
Evan’s face was puzzled. My mood was starting to become a little
dark- I never liked to discuss my family.
I barely did that with Vanessa. It was a great deal to wrap your
head around.
    Inside his maintained and orderly
house, he tossed his keys on the table in the foyer as usual and
headed in the kitchen. I set my jacket on the arm of the
couch.
    “ So, now that we are alone, are
you thirsty? Hungry?” He opened his fridge, staring in at an array
of things.
    “ Not really,” I said, heading to
the living room.
    “ What?”
    “ Nothing, I’m fine.” I plopped
down on his couch bringing my bare feet up on the cushion. Evan sat
down as well. He took a sip of his bottled water then set it on the
glass table.
    “ Okay, good. What’s the greatest
or biggest thing that ever happened to you? I know it seems strange
to ask something like that out of the blue, but sometimes you get
the best stories.”
    I rubbed my forehead, feeling
horribly flustered. I bit my lip staring at him. Was there anything
he wasn’t afraid to ask me?
    “ What is it you want me to tell
you?”
    “ Whatever you want.” He leaned
back on the couch, hands behind his head, staring at me with an
amused grin. I wasn’t feeling too amused.
    “ I had another brother,” I said,
staring down at my toes. This wasn’t something I liked to share
with just anyone, but I thought by chance it would make him shut
up.
    “ Older or younger?”
    “ Older than me, younger then Gray.
His name was Marcus. He was a lot like me, hardheaded and didn’t
want to be anything like our family. He had it all mapped out for
himself. But I guess you can’t always be sure you will get to that
place you’re striving to get to.”
    “ What do you mean? What did he
want to do?”
    “ He planned on just taking off
after he graduated, traveling all over the place. Like a rolling
stone or something. He wanted to be free, do what he
wanted.”
    “ That’s a great attitude to have.
Sounds like an awesome person.” He stared at me. I could tell from
his face that he was getting a little nervous. He wasn’t sure what
was coming next.
    “ He was the best. He, out of
anyone, could have done it, too.” I laughed, remembering my
brother, Marcus, with his toothy grin, wavy hair… those green
eyes.
    “ He was always laughing and bounding around. Thinking
always thinking. He had a huge heart. He cared about us. He told me
every day that, no matter what, I always had him. But he was
cheated out of keeping his promise to me, and a little part of me
hated him and the world for that. But I kept my feelings hidden. I
hid them for fear my mother would throw me into more therapy
sessions.”
    “ Why didn’t he,” he asked, sitting
up and putting his arm around me.
    I shrugged. “You haven’t lived
here long enough to have heard about it. My brother worked at a
carry out farther out past Denver. These young kids came in there
to rob the place. He was working with a girl and they pulled guns,
shot them both in their heads. He survived for a bit. We got to
come up to the hospital and see him, but he was barely awake, or
there, I don’t know. His heart stopped, like, ten minutes or so
after we all got there.”
    Evan pulled me to him. I
didn’t cry. I was tired of crying about the heartless kids that