My dad lets out a relenting sigh. “Fine. But this discussion is not over.” My father says sternly, and I feel the air shift when he leaves the room, Shannon on their tail. She looks back at me with a sad expression.
My mother finally lets go, and I turn away from her.
“I’m sorry,” she says softly.
I collapse on my bed, my head in my hands.
“You’re sorry?” I whisper. “Sorry doesn’t fix it, Mom. Sorry doesn’t just erase it or make it better, it just—”
“You think I don’t know that?” she says, sitting next to me.
“I have made mistakes, Aaron. We all make mistakes,” she says, looking to the door where my father left. “Some of us more than others.”
I shake my head, the softness of her voice making my chest tight. Because her tone is sincere, and I think for the first time in years, she’s being honest with me.
“Yeah, well, I guess mistakes are a dime a dozen in this damn family,” I bite.
“And now I’m fucked,” I say, hanging my arms on my knees, running my hands through my hair. “I lost my shot at the company, and I losthim.”
She hums quietly. “Jacob, you mean.”
It’s the way she says his name. Reverently. Sweetly. Like she can feel the air is different, too.
And I hate that my heart lifts a little because she sounds like she actually cares, for once.
“Don’t act like you give a shit,” I say. “About my mistakes. Don’t act like you care that I’ve lost everything that fucking mattered to me in the blink of an eye.”
Or more accurately, the truth that destroyed everything, ripping open the stitches of my battered heart.
People always say the truth will set you free, but… if this is freedom, it’s fucking painful as shit.
She sighs. “You can’t lose something you never had,” she says, reaching for my hand. She squeezes it. “Just remember that.”
I don’t look at her because I can’t. I pull my hand from hers.
Her words cut me to the core, because it’s just a reminder of the truth that continues to sink its poison in me.
I can’t lose something I never had.
So why does it hurt so fucking bad if it wasn’t real?
I watch as she gets up, her gaze holding me still.
“Travis is right. Weallneed a moment to process this… unsettling information. You should get some rest, baby.”
And with that, she leaves me alone.
All I want to do is scream. Fuck Garrett. This is his fault. If I hadn't caught him with Jacob, God only knows what would’ve happened. His words reverberate in my brain.
He hired Jacob. Four years ago.
My heart sank at those words, his admission. Jacob’s confession.
He was the one. The one Garrett used as a catalyst to divorce his last husband. The man that he manipulated and laughed about over drinks, who he said was naive, and a pussy because he gotupsetabout the whole thing and ran away before he could reap hisrewards. That reward being Garrett’s bitter praise and demands.
Jacob mentioned having an ex where things didn’t end well, but never in a million years did I think he was talking aboutGarrett.The man who’d been my lover for decades. The man I kept at arms length while also using to my advantage, in the same way Garrett liked to use young, sweet men like Jacob like toys.
Knowing he’s slept with Garrett hurts. Like a knife. Knowing Garrett’s preferences, I can’t stop thinking about Jacob in his brutal hold.
