The drive to Coronacwas tense enough to choke on.
Bryan sat in the passenger seat, fists clenched on his knees, his leg bouncing so hard the whole truck shook.Every few seconds, he muttered something under his breath.
“I told you to let it go,” I said finally, done with hearing his mumbled curses.
Bryan scoffed.“Let it go?You saw her face, Seth.She looked like she was about to fall apart, and she still told him it was okay to leave.”
I gripped the steering wheel tighter, staring at the road.Her expression kept looping in my head.Over and over again.Her pain and guilt.Her sadness.“I know.”
“She was trying to make him feel better,” Bryan went on, voice shaking with frustration.“He didn’t even look back when he walked out.Didn’t even say goodbye.She said it was fine, and then she left so we’d stop fucking fighting.She’s not the one who should be fixing this.”
He wasn’t wrong.Not even a little.
The silence filled the space again, minus the moments when Bryan’s thoughts were loud enough for him to curse.
I kept my hands steady on the steering wheel, watching the misted road ahead.The rain had picked up again, light against the windshield.“You’re going to scare his neighbors if you go in like that,” I said quietly.
“Good,” Bryan snapped.“Maybe they’ll know what kind of idiot they’re living next to.”
I sighed.“You’re not helping.”
“I’m not trying to help,” he bit back.“I’m trying to make that idiot understand he can’t keep hurting her like this.”
That shut me up for a bit.He still wasn’t wrong.But anger wasn’t going to fix this either.
When we pulled up in front of Paxon’s house, the porch light was on, glowing soft against the drizzle.I parked at the curb and turned to Bryan.“Let me handle this first.”
Bryan’s jaw flexed.“If he says one stupid thing—”
“I’ll stop you.”
He scoffed but didn’t argue.While Bryan was taller than me, I was used to manual labor.I had no doubt I’d be able to handle Bryan if he decided to throw a punch instead of using his words.
I didn’t bother knocking.The front door wasn’t locked.He probably expected one of us to show up at this point.He knew what he’d done was far from okay, and we weren’t shy in confronting each other when someone was acting like an asshole.I pushed it open and stepped inside, Bryan shadowing me.
Paxon was at the kitchen table, a mug of steaming tea in front of him.His phone lay face-down beside it.He looked up, eyes already tired.“Let me guess,” he said quietly.“Here to yell at me.”
“Something like that,” I said.
Bryan barked out a short humorless laugh.“Oh, I’m past yelling.I’m ready to knock some sense into you.”
Paxon frowned.“I didn’t do anything—”
Bryan cut him off.“You know she told you it was okay to leave for you, right?Because you looked like you wanted to be anywhere but near her.And you did just that.You ran from her and she knows it.”
Paxon flinched.“She said it was fine.”
Bryan’s voice rose.“Of course she said that!Because she doesn’t want to make things worse.She already blames herself for everything bad happening between you and her and us.She’s taking it all as failure on her part.And you running whenever she’s ten fucking feet near you makes it worse.”
“Bryan,” I warned, grabbing his shoulder.
Bryan yanked away from me.“No.This fucker needs to hear it.”Bryan’s face was growing red with rage, his eyes practically burning.
Paxon pushed the mug away, his voice low.“I’m not trying to hurt her.”
“But you are,” I said, stepping closer, stepping slightly between Bryan and Paxon, trying to ease the tension between us before Bryan exploded.“The point is that you keep letting her think she’s the problem.You’re so wrapped up in whatever’s in your head that you can’t see what’s happening to her and to us.”
Paxon leaned back, looking exhausted.“I like her.I care about her.”
