He shook his head. "What did you want me to do? Just turn tail and run and act like I'm a huge dick and that I'm too good to have a conversation with your brother? He's a nice guy. He didn't press me for details, scrutinize me, or do anything that you were afraid he might do. I can understand that you wanted some say, but you've got to understand that there isn't shit I can do about it now. I can't take it back. I talked to him because he asked me to. For fifteen minutes. About how awesome I think you are, what I like to do for fun, and how I'm picking up the tab next time we have drinks. If you want to keep bitching at me about something I can't change, then we might as well call this conversation done."
He shook his head. "You're right, I don't want to listen. You think you're right, I think we're both wrong. I'm done fighting with you. You want to be in control, which is fine for you, but not with me, Emma. You're more like your family than you know. I bet they're all a bunch of people who want to be in control too. You can't control me, though, Emma. That's not what this is about. If you love me, you'll suck it up and agree to disagree. If not, well, I'm going to go home. I don't really need this right now."
He sighed and took a pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket. He barely smoked at all, only when he was stressed, but he sure as fuck needed one now. He put one between his lips and lit it, tucking the lighter away and taking a drag before speaking again. "What you say about Max jokingly isn't supposed to be something I can control, but you're supposed to control everything I say to your brother past "hello"? That's a double standard. You need to fix it and you need to do it pretty damn quick."