Chapter 22

Tall, blond, and blue-eyed, Tadder was what Rush would have wanted if he could have a single wish, but he knew wishes didn’t come true, not for him at any rate. A cute jock like Tad Jackson wouldn’t want anything to do with a short computer geek like himself who’d wasted time and money on a degree he had no desire for.

Emmett, his middle brother, always referred to him as the runt of the litter. He said it matter-of-factly, without malice, and had been surprised when Rush became upset. “Not your fault, Shorty. You just don’t have the family looks.”

And that was true. Hadn’t Father told him as much, stating that it was only his resemblance to his grandmother that kept Father from assuming Mother had had an affair nine months before he’d been born? Father had said it in the heat of an argument, but all that meant was his tongue wasn’t as zealously guarded as it usually was, not that the belief wasn’t lurking in the back of his mind