When Sky Breaks: Burn & Break Duet Book 2

46. August

Work at Snapsshouldn’t even be considered work. Since it’s essentially a lot of self service, most of my time is spent printing photos for customers not used to the new tech or creating canvas prints for them. Also, managing the books. One day, I plan on hiring someone to do that shit because math has never been my favorite. But between what the store brings in and what I earn from royalties, I’ve got enough funds to keep this place going for a while.

The bell above the door rings. Without looking up from the canvas I’m working on, I yell to Alex, “Can you help them, please? I’ll be done in a minute.”

There’s a pause as she speaks to the customer. “He says he needs to talk to you.”

Curious, I lift my head and turn to face whoever it is.

My chest tightens. Ever since I started repairing my relationship with Sky, I knew the moment would come when I’d have to face her brother.

My former best friend.

My voice betrays me and stutters. “Oh, uh, hey Trek. How can I help you?”

He cracks his neck, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. “Do you have time to go somewhere and talk?”

His twitchy energy raises a red flag, and I stand. “Is everything okay? Foster, Sky? Is she all right?”

I just saw her yesterday at the Villain’s Playground while I was taking more pictures for the paper, and she was fine. Even allowed me to feel her up again. This time in my truck in the parking lot.

He huffs out a small laugh and smirks. “Yeah, man, she’s good. Foster too. He’s fine.”

Relief fills me. I catch Alex’s eyes and tilt my chin up. “Cover the store for me? I shouldn’t be gone long. Text me if you need anything.”

Once I put away my materials and grab my jacket, I follow a jumpy Trek out the door. It’s reminiscent of our interactions after the fire and when Sky was adopted by Foster. Anxious. Bubbling with some emotion that itches to escape.

Mirroring his stance, I shove my hands into my jeans pockets and wait for him to speak.

He gestures to his car in a parking spot and walks to the driver’s side.

“You kidnapping me, Berry?” I joke and pull open the passenger door.

He grunts as he slides into the driver’s seat. “Sorry. You’re not my type.”

“That’s right. Your type is more the educational ones. Older.”

Trek turns and glares while a flush rides up his neck. “Of course. I should’ve never said she could tell you. I’m gonna ring her—no, I’m gonna rearrange all the books on her shelf every night so she can never find the one she’s looking for.”

I hold my hands up as he backs from the parking space. “That’s harsh. However, dog-earing them might be worse.” He raises a brow in confusion, and I shake my head. “I’m just messing with you.” And trying to diffuse whatever this heavy feeling is.

Deflating, Trek rubs at his temple while he drives. “I know. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact I’m going to be a dad and how weird it is to talk to you after all this time.”

Silence hangs in the air. I wait him out. I’m just as at a loss for words as he is.

After a tense few minutes, he pulls into the empty lot of the boarded up under twenty-one club. That place didn’t even last a year before the town decided it was a terrible idea. That or the influx of drug deals that occurred while it was open helped in its demise.

It’s evening and the gray clouds hide the setting sun, casting shadows and encouraging the chill in the air.

He reaches into the middle console and pulls out a piece of paper. Holds it on his lap like it’s capable of revealing the secret to everlasting life.

“What’s going on? We haven’t spoken in years, and you come into the shop acting all shifty. I swear if this is some weird joke, I won’t hesitate to kick your ass and leave it here. I’ll apologize to Sky later for it,” I tease because it was always so easy to rile Trek up.

He cracks a smile and rolls his eyes. “Eh, we all know who’d win that fight.”

“Oh, you wanna bet?”

Trek and I wrestled as boys do all the time growing up. When you spend the bulk of your time either watching WWE or playing the video games, the urge to act it out never fades. We think we’re the best, and we have to prove it or risk our pride being swiped from under our feet. Kids are dumb and we were no better. Those memories were my favorite. I haven’t had a close friend like Trek, aside from Benny, since.

He slaps the paper on my leg. “Read this and then let me know if you still want to fight afterward.”

Eyeing him from the side, I gingerly pick it up. I spread it open on my lap and rub out the creases, prolonging the read. Fear roots in my gut as my insides churn. My eyes scan the page, and my heart seizes over and over again in my rib cage, sputtering as I read to the end. Sweat pops up under my arms, and I tear through my bottom lip, the sharp tang of blood coating my tongue.

Disbelief clouds my judgment, and I choke on the words. “Is this true?”

“It’s real, Moore. All of it.”

I turn my head to face Trek and he looks just as shredded as I am.

All this time.

“It wasn’t me, I—” I swallow the hard lump in my throat. “I didn’t start the fire.”

Trek slowly shakes his head and takes the paper from my trembling hands.

My voice grows hoarse. “It was just faulty wiring.”

He nods again, letting me process this bomb out loud.

“I didn’t kill her dad. Or Chase. I wasn’t at fault.”

More silence. Pain pulses in my veins as shock settles in my brain.

“It would’ve happened whether you gave me the matches or not.”

The door creaks loudly as I thrust it open and scramble out. Shaking, I can’t stop the tears. They leak from my eyes, trail down my cheeks, and plop onto the pavement as I hunch over my knees. Years of guilt flow like a river with no dam in sight. I bite my knuckles to curb the sob breaking loose in my chest.

I didn’t do it.

I didn’t start the fire.

I didn’t kill Chase.

A disjointed howl disturbs the night, and I realize it’s coming from me.

For thirteen years, I blamed myself, saw myself as this monster, this hollowed-out version of a man not worthy to live, let alone have any of his dreams come true.

Flashbacks of that night filter in. The heat of the summer well into the evening. My feet crunching over loose rocks on the sidewalk, the box of matches weighing heavy in my pocket. Silence pouring out of Sky’s house from that broken window. The smell of sulfur as the match lights. The indecision, the souring of my gut. Then, the trembling flick of my wrist and my heaving chest as I ran in the other direction. I didn’t look to see if the match made it into the house. I just assumed it did.

But somehow, I wasn’t the one who started it.

Faulty fucking power strip.

Bewilderment claws its way out of my throat before sudden relief takes its place. My heart rate slows as the truth inhabits my bones, curling around my tattered soul.

I didn’t do it.

My lungs quietly inflate with air. One breath. Two, three. Each exhale banishes the ingrained denial.

I didn’t kill Chase.

Trek must have gotten out while I was breaking down and now leans against the car next to me. Waiting. Watching as I tumble my innocence around in my mind.

It wasn’t my fault.

Finally, I straighten and rest my body over the top of the cold passenger door, shivering from the sweat drying under my shirt. “Does Sky know?” I finally ask once I’ve gained control over my emotions and cleared my scratchy throat.

“Yeah. She does. She found it when she went looking for something my dad wanted but didn’t have the courage to open it until recently.”

I close my eyes.

Of course.

She must have found it with the file she had on her mom. Before doubt creeps in at the thought she knew before and didn’t tell me, Trek’s voice interrupts.

“August—” He pauses and shifts on the pavement, the rocks crunching under his feet.

I swipe the remaining liquid from under my eyes and train my gaze on the moon, making an appearance from behind a cloud. “Yeah?”

“I owe you a huge fucking apology.”

“No, it?—”

“Hey, please listen. I do.”

The chilly fall air kicks up and wraps around my face, cooling the warmth in my cheeks.

“I fucked up. I thought I was doing the right thing by Sky, and I just completely turned my back on you. You were my best friend, and I fucked it all up to save my ass.”

Overwhelmed, I let him expel all the pent-up feelings he has. Catharsis is exhausting, I think, as I turn my body to watch his chest heave.

“I watched you suffer and hold this—this secret and take the brunt of it all.”

“I let you.” A weak smile is all I can muster.

His fingers curl into fists at his sides. “You did and you shouldn’t have, but I was the asshole. I was fucked up from the moment my mom died, and I couldn’t see anything straight. You told me Sky was being hurt, and I just went with the first thing that made sense. I didn’t think about consequences for you or myself, anyone. All I wanted to do was feel after being so numb. If I helped someone get out of a bad situation, then great. It felt like something my mom would’ve been proud of, but it was the complete opposite. I didn’t feel anything but shitty.”

Shifting, he props his elbows on the top of the car, shaking his head, our shoulders brushing. “Jesus, I was such an idiot. When Sky showed up with Foster from Magnolia, I freaked out right along with you. It made sense at the time to pretend it didn’t happen, but, dude, I’m sorry. I made your life hell to keep Sky safe and yet it didn’t matter in the end. She still fell for you again and again. All I did was make you two waste five years apart from each other.”

“It’s okay.”

He gives me a light punch to the shoulder and scowls. I swear it looks just like the one Sky likes to dish me sometimes, and they’re not even blood-related.

“No, it’s not. Please don’t make me feel better. God, you and Sky are perfect for each other. She does the same damn thing. Tries to take care of others above her own feelings. You’re allowed to hate me. In fact, I encourage it. I know I deserve it.”

Those were the same words I issued to Sky. How ironic to hear them repeated for me.

Trek’s eyes glaze over in the moonlight.

We’re both a fucking mess.

Energized by the turn of events, I reach into the open car door, snatch the paper, and hold it to his face. “No. I’m done with all the self-loathing. From both of us. We each played a part. This proves we’re innocent of it all. We were kids, Trek. Just kids. If Sky has done anything, it’s shown us we’re still good people. We loved her enough to help her in whatever stupid way our kid brains made sense of her situation. But sitting here and expecting me to still hate you after all this time won’t happen. It won’t bring Chase back to Sky. It won’t make us feel any better.” I crinkle the paper in my hand. “I’m done. I’m tired of the guilt eating my soul alive. It’s been thirteen years. We’ve held this inside us for so long. I’m spent, man. So no, I’m not going to hate you.”

More silence blankets the space. The sun has officially set and the clouds have parted, revealing all the stars I love looking at in the country. If you’re lucky, far out in the boonies, you can see parts of the galaxy.

“That’s probably the most words I’ve ever spoken to you in my life, Moore.”

Chuckling, I nod. “Same to you.”

He holds out his fist. “Truce?”

I fist bump him. “You got it. Truce.”

After a few more minutes of absorbing this revelation, we both get back in, and Trek starts the car. He pulls out of the lot.

“But if you hurt my sister?—”

I shove him in the shoulder. “Don’t even. I fucking love her.”

Trek mumbles, “You better. Just maybe keep the other…finer parts of your relationship between you two. There’s only so much of that stuff I can handle.”

I burst into laughter, finally released from the shackles that held me captive.