It irked me that she talked to him first. "Apparently, you told her that I couldn't be professional?—"
He opened his mouth to interrupt, but I held up my hand. "I'm tired of you and my brothers talking about me as if I'm not a responsible, mature adult. And it's not okay that you told Eve that I wouldn't be able to handle the job."
He leaned back in his chair as if he didn't have a care in the world. "You know we don't get along."
My jaw tightened. "You insinuated that I couldn't rise above our personal issues and be professional."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "Honestly? I don't know if you can."
I was so infuriated. How could he be so calm when I was ready to explode? "She wants me to prove that I'm the right person for this job. She wants it to be a permanent position."
His forehead wrinkled. "I didn't know you were looking for a full-time job."
I looked away from him, feeling fidgety under his scrutiny. "I'm tired of everyone in this family assuming that I'm flaky. Just because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life the second I was born, doesn't mean that what I want isn't valid."
He raised a brow. "What do you want?"
"If we're going to do this"—I gestured between us—"then this is strictly professional. No jabs about how you think I'm immature or telling my boss that I'm not qualified to do my job."
His expression was somber. "This job is important to you."
"Yes."
His face was pinched. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize?—"
"That's because you don't know anything about me," I interjected, my voice filled with irritation.
His jaw tightened. "I don't want to fight."
I clenched my hands into fists at my side. "So don't."
He gave me a look. "You make it difficult."
I tipped my head to the side. "You're saying it's my fault that you're infuriating?"
He let out a breath. "You don't make it easy."
I wasn't sure how we were going to work together. I couldn't be in the same room with him without sniping at him. I assumed it was because I had five brothers and didn't need another one taking my parents' attention away from me. When I was younger, I didn't care why he was at our house all the time; I was just annoyed that he was.
He was quiet for a few seconds. "Maybe we should try and hang out together so we can get to know each other outside the dynamic of your family."
"What are you proposing?" I asked cautiously.
"Why don't you come over tonight for dinner? I'll cook, and we can put these bad feelings in the past."
"You really think that's possible?" I crossed my arms over my chest, panicking at the idea of being inside his house. If we couldn't stand each other, how was that going to work?
He raised a brow. "What do we have to lose?"
"My job. The apartment." Everything was tied to Eve and this town. If I lost this job, then I'd have to find a new place to live.
"Don't you think those are good reasons to put our past behind us and attempt to get along?"
I hated that he was being so reasonable. I wanted to rail at him about all the ways this was never going to work. But that wasn't the mature thing to do in this situation. "Of course."
"We'll see if we can't find some common ground."
"Our common ground is my family." The family that he infiltrated when I was younger and then never left. The last thing I ever wanted was one more brother. I had enough of them, and they were all irritating.