“You don’t think she knows that?” Silas wasn’t trying to start a fight, and he purposely didn’t comment on the Rae part because of that. “This ain’t the first kid Leah’s had either.” And if anyone would be able to gauge what she could and couldn’t handle, it would be her. “It’s her right to make her own, choices man. Doesn’t make it any easier to disagree with ‘em though.” Maybe he should have been siding with Brandon, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it, not when he could see, at least a little bit, where Leah might be coming from.
Looked like the shit between Evan and Brandon was never going to die completely, but it wasn’t Silas business to get them to get along. “Yeah, you’re the best fucking brother ever,” he commented dryly, smirking. He wouldn’t really change who Brandon was either, ‘cause he was still one of the only guys Silas trusted to have his back. And not every person in the compound needed to get along. He hadn’t met anyone, but could guarantee there were a few people he wouldn’t go out of his way to be around either.
“You’re not making an argument for being perpetually drunk, so don’t try,” he shot back with a laugh. “They might do something stupid like make in charge of everything if your drunk ass starts doing stupid shit, ruining your theory.” He didn’t want all the responsibility; he was way more comfortable sharing it. “And I dunno, guess it didn’t cross my mind to brag about it.” Or something else had come up, distracting him from telling Brandon. Who knew, really.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t expected Brandon to go straight to that conclusion, but it felt like he was getting into an argument he wouldn’t be able to win. “We’re not fucking.” Like Brandon would really believe him. “I don’t see where me spending part of Christmas with her means we’re fucking. She’s a friend, she asked me to come over, and it’s not a big fucking deal.” Later he’d get where Brandon was coming from, but right now he was just irritated. “It’s not like I’m bailing on you and your family, bro.” But he couldn’t really control how Brandon saw things either, even if he wished sometimes that he could.