Ah, there we go, out of the mouth of babes. Now I won’t look like the dickhead who’s snitching on her.
All three of us turn to Casey and stare at him with interest. I’m curious about what he did to take down the prick. Pretty sure, though, that Bree and Chase are wanting him to say something entirely different.
“What do you mean?” Chase asks in a growl, glancing at me with disdain and then back Casey.
“I gave a leg kick to the back of his knee. Asshole never felt it coming. Kind of messed up, though, when I didn’t stop him from taking her down,” Casey says and looks almost sheepishly at Bree. “Sorry about that.”
Rolling her eyes with a smile, it’s like she forgets that she’s trying to keep whatever happened quiet. “It’s okay, you’re still my hero.”
Chase stands up to his fullest height and stares down at Bree. “We need to have a talk, if you don’t mind. Privately.”
Privately, my ass, I think, but I can’t do anything with her right now. Not with Goliath standing in my way. And not unless I seriously want to get fucked up. I accept that, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
No, I don’t like it one fucking bit.
Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, Chase starts walking Bree as if she’s a small child to the front of the building. When they’re about halfway to the door, he turns back to give me the biggest stink eye I’ve ever seen.
“Why is he mad at me?” Casey asks in a huff.
“He’s not. We’re all proud of you for taking care of that asshole. He’s pissed I was touching his sister,” I say as I watch them walk into the building.
Bree turns her head to stare at me for a moment, and while I can’t even begin to describe the emotions on her face, just looking past those emotions makes me realize that she’s the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen.
Like straight up launch a thousand ships and go to war beautiful.
The worst part about it though is that it just about kills me to see any man, even if it is Chase, touching her.
“She’s mine,” I say quietly to myself.
“Think she has a sister?” Casey asks.
Rolling my eyes, I shake my head to clear the clouds away and focus on the person beside me. “I’m an asshole, Casey.”
“You didn’t use to be,” he says, and I can feel the hurt in his voice.
Turning to face him, I do the same thing Chase did to Bree, and wrap my arm around his shoulder to slowly walk him to the bumper of my Jeep.
Sitting on it, I say, “I’m also an alcoholic dick, if that explains anything.”
“It doesn’t. Why didn’t you pick up the phone?”
I want to ask about which time, but there’s too many to count.
The one that hurts the most is Tommy’s last message. I should have picked that one up, maybe he’d still be around if I had.
I can feel the craving for a drink starting to race through my brain, but I know right now it’s just me being weak.
Weak and fucking stupid.
In my former, healthier days, I would have caught that little bitch running away from us easily. But looking down at the small spare tire that is starting to show, I wince.
In my former days, I was a lot of things I’m not anymore.
“Because I was scared,” I say, and for the first time in what seems like forever it feels like I’m finally telling the truth.
The real truth, not the little truths I’ve been wallowing in.
“Grandma called you a lot, so did Grandpa… so did I. Didn