“Wasn’t my choice.” Brent shrugged. “I wanted Rose to be happy, so I let her pick.”
That sounded like Brent.
It also wasn’t what a healthy relationship was supposed to be like. Brent really wasn’t a cocktails on the beach kinda guy.
“Okay,” Riley said. He got the feeling that he was just starting to see what Brent and Rose’s relationship had been like. The picture wasn’t exactly what he expected.
How could he have been so blind? Why didn’t Brent tell him any of this before?
“I can hear you thinking that I should have stood up for myself,” Brent said. “But it wasn’t like that. I didn’t care, not really. I just wanted… I dunno. I wanted to be a good husband. Maybe a good father one day.”
“You’ve been an excellent father to Emily,” Riley pointed out, taking another sip from his glass. The taste was starting to grow on him.
“She’s my sister. And I just… she’s leaving for college soon, and all I could think about when I realized that last year was how lonely this place would be without her, and I… I wanted someone to share my life with. I love Emily, but I’ve lived my life for her since I was just out of college myself. I wanted to start having my own life.”
Riley opened his mouth to say that Brent rushed into it, but he could tell Brent realized that now. He’d rushed in. He’d grabbed hold of the first person he’d seen and decided to love them.
That was what Brentdid.
Riley really hoped he’d learn one day that he couldn’t be happy like that.
“You need to have your own life on your own terms,” Riley said.
The timer he’d set next to the oven pinged, letting him know that Brent’s food was ready. Riley stood and grabbed a pot holder to get the dish out, waiting for some response from Brent.
All he got was Brent staring into his glass, twirling the stem.
He knew he’d made a mistake. There was no point in rubbing it in.
“She has no idea what a good man she’s lost,” Riley said. “You’re not gonna be alone. You’ll always have me.”
Brent glanced over at him, the look in his eyes saying loud and clear that he wasn’t convinced.
Riley didn’t stick around. Riley blew through people’s lives like a hurricane and then disappeared for six months.
He was just beginning to realize himself why he did that. Brent wasn’t the only one who had issues to work through.
Brent wasn’t the only one in love with someone who didn’t love him back.
Riley plated up his food and brought it over to the table, watching Brent finish his glass of champagne and pour a second one. As long as he was going to eat, that was probably fine.
Not that it mattered. Tomorrow was Sunday, and Brent had every excuse to drink until he passed out right now.
“You’ll feel better after you eat,” Riley said, hoping it was true. He knew there was only so much he could do to stop Brent from hurting, even if he would have given anything to make it all better for him.
“Maybe,” Brent responded, taking up his fork in one hand and his newly-filled glass in the other. “Thanks for this. It means a lot that you’re here.”
“I’ll get you through this,” Riley promised.
Whatever it took, he would. Brent meant too much to him to let him go through this alone.
Even if it was breaking Riley’s heart.
