“Okay...”
That was the end of that.
“But, I mean—” Luna looked up from her work.“The thing today wasn’t an isolated incident.”
Thing today?“What thing?”
She worried her bottom lip.“With Sonya and Jeremy?”
I frowned and motioned for her to keep talking.
“And Judith told him to take the rest of the year off.”Luna finished quietly.“I figured you’d know.”
I figured I’d know, too.Fuck.Why didn’t he tell me that?Call me when he was leaving.Something?“He’s probably just cooling down or something.”I was already texting him.
I heard something happened at work.You okay?I wrote.
It took too long for his reply to come through, and I couldn’t focus on my work as minutes ticked away.I jumped when my phone finally chirped with an answer.
It’s nothing.I’ll see you tonight.Don’t worry about it.
That was some of the least comforting language he could’ve used.Especially coming from Brandon, in the middle of the work day, when his boss had told him not to work.
Hell yes I was going to worry.“I need to cut out early.”I felt bad doing so a whole day after they offered me a longer contract, but I wasn’t going to get anything done staying here.
Luna nodded.“I understand.Let me know if I can help.”
“Thanks.”I didn’t even know what I was going to do, let alone what I’d ask anyone else to do for us.
The drive home was torture, despite the afternoon traffic being light, and by the time I got inside, my anxiety was cranked tomaximum.
Brandon was in the music room, but the door was open, and he wasn’t moving.Instead, he was wearing his headphones and staring at the electric keyboard.He didn’t look up when I walked in.
I touched his shoulder to get his attention, and he jumped.
His startled scowl turned to a smile when his gaze landed on me.“What are you doing home?”he asked.
“You had to know your reply wouldn’t reassure me.I want your side of what happened at the office.”
“That can wait.”Brandon grabbed my wrist and pulled me between his legs.As he stood, he pressed his body to mine, and then his mouth to mine, as he gripped the back of my neck.
I pressed a palm to his chest and pushed him back enough to breathe.“It can’t wait.”
Brandon’s expression went flat.
This wasn’t right.None of it.“What’s going on?”
“Same shit as always.I told you, I’m dealing with it.”
I pulled his headphones off and set them aside, then looked him in the eye.“But you’re not.”
“I’m trying.”Brandon turned away.
I didn’t want to make accusations, but we’d said so much up to this point and not dug deep enough to say the right things.“Are you?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Do you remember when we started dating?”I wouldn't have this memory so near the surface if I hadn’t talked to Reese about it the other day.It was healing and soothing then.Now it cranked my anxiety higher.“When I started drinking again?”