I didn’t answer.I couldn’t.I grabbed my keys and walked out the door.
When I was halfway down the street, I let out the scream of frustration I’d been holding in, and kept shouting until my throat was raw.When I couldn’t make any more sound, I hammered the sides of my fists on the steering wheel instead.Did I really just do that?I couldn’t believe it.Were things that bad?
No, but they were getting there fast, and if this yanked Brandon back, the pain was worth it.
And if it didn’t…
If it didn’t, if he continued down the path he was on, then I’d made the right choice.
It took way too long, and not nearly long enough, to reach Reese’s apartment.I knocked.
She answered, and frowned when her gaze met mine.“What happened?”
Of course it was written all over my face.Always.Why did I have to be the guy who wore my heart on my sleeve?“I left Brandon.”
“Oh.Fuck me.”Reese tugged me inside, closed the door, and wrapped her arms around me.
I squeezed back, holding onto her for all I was worth.
Twenty-Five
Brandon
How dare he?
The thought roared through my head as I clenched and unclenched my fist.
“Howdarehe.”Saying the words out loud sprinkled pepper on my anger, giving it a new taste.I couldn’t think.Could see anything but red.
A blur of white caught the corner of my eye, and I whirled on the popcorn strung around the living room.“Not only did you leave, you went straight to her.”I ripped a strand from the wall.
It was up there because of her.Was all of this her fault?“Reese.”If a name had power, hers evoked envy.Ferocity.“I knew him letting you come back was a mistake.Iknewit.”I forced the words through clenched teeth.“He was fine.I was fine.Wewere good.”
“And now this.”I stalked into the music room.Her drums were the most obvious thing in here, against the back wall, taking up so much space, like baggage from his past.
I wanted her shit out of sight.Out of our home.One by one I dragged Reese’s drums, and then her guitars, into the shed behind the house.I wasn’t far gone enough to damage them, butfuckthe temptation was there.
How could Danny do this?“You know things take work.You know how much pain she’s capable of causing.Youknowhow much it hurts to have your heart ripped out.And you gave up on us.”
The music room looked empty now, but Reese’s perfume and Danny’s cologne still permeated the air in here.Danny’s guitars mocked me from their various resting spots.I couldn’t look at this.I stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut behind me.
“At least you weren’t a complete idiot about surrendering.”I didn’t care that I was talking to the air.If Danny wasn’t here to listen, I’d say it anyway.I’d talk to myself.“At least you weren’t stupid about it like Dad was.”I almost choked on the words and the pain attached to them.“Am I really the only person I know who can see things through?”
Why did the world have to feel so heavy, like a weight pressing in on my chest?
Why was I so cold to Adam?Why did I push Danny away?
The questions came out of nowhere, blindsiding me and knocking my thoughts off balance.Frustration and grief bled in to taint the rage.
“Why did I give up on such a good thing, Danny?”I asked the empty room.“Why couldn’t I admit that Reese—”
Why did Danny have to leave the way he did?Why wasn’t I good enough to point out why he should stay?What did I do wrong?
I sank to my knees in the middle of the living room, tears streaming down my face.
Twenty-Six
Reese