Kendall noticed my expression. “Last time I picked up Nolan, he said this bear was cute and just doodled on it. Please don’t be mad at him. I’ll buy you a new one tomorrow.”
“Come on, stop sulking. You’re already old, not earning money to support the family, yet you cling to broken stuffed bears every day. I don’t even dislike you, so what right do you have to be angry?”
That bear had been bought for me by my late grandmother. Kendall knew that.
I quietly wiped its face clean, feeling sorry for it, unwilling to say another word.
Just then, Nolan called.
“Is that old man asleep yet? Forget him, drink with us. Madison and Brooklyn are here, too.”
Kendall glanced at me awkwardly. “He’s next to me.”
“Then bring your brother-in-law. Stop acting like an old man.”
As soon as Kendall saw the location Nolan sent, she turned the car around.
“I don’t want to go. I want to go home!”
The word drink pulled me back to humiliating memories.
That had been my first time meeting Kendall’s friends. I had prepared carefully, but all I got was ridicule. They knew I couldn’t hold liquor, yet they took turns trying to get me drunk.
They even took photos of me in that state and posted them online.