31. Rex
THIRTY-ONE
REX
So this was what it was like being behind bars. Depressing. And not just because my fellow inmates all hated me at the moment. Donny and Gabe sat across from me in a cell the size of a walk-in closet. In the adjoining cell, Abigail and Tammy sat across from one another. The tension seemed to mount with every second of blistering silence.
I oscillated between looking at the ground and looking at Abigail. She wouldn’t meet my eye. No one would.
Every time I tried to explain that they had it all wrong, the tension would ratchet up again and Gabe would look at me like he wanted to kill me. I just couldn’t find the right words to make them understand.
This was my fault. If I had only told Gabe how I felt about Abigail when I had the chance. If I’d walked away the moment I saw Blair in the coat room and not Donny. If I’d told Donny to get a hotel room in the first place. Maybe we could’ve been spared. No one would be in jail and Donny could’ve dealt with his own crap. I rubbed my face with both hands and dropped my head. A nearby clock ticked a little too loudly.
Donny was the first one to break the silence. His voice was so tense it nearly broke—and without even looking up, I knew he was talking to me. “What were you doing kissing Blair? What, the moment I said I was done with her, you were waiting in the wings to get her back?”
Suddenly, I was exhausted. Everything I’d done for him. The years of putting him first. The countless times I’d come to his rescue. The fires I’d put out in the name of keeping the family together. And now he was questioning me? Just like the rest of them? I was Boy Scout Rex, Mr. Reliable, up until it wasn’t convenient for them anymore? They used me and then doubted me so easily?
I shot my brother a glare and said the first thing that came to mind: “Donny, please. I’m not like you. I would never go after your girl.”
“Oh, right. I’m the bad guy because I stole your girlfriend years ago.”
“You didn’t steal shit. We were already broken up.”
“Well, she chose me in the end.”
“Congratu-fucking-lations,” I snapped.
Gabe snorted. “What, you just wanted to kiss her to see if it was as good as you remembered?”
In the adjoining cell, Abigail let out a pained noise.
The retort that had been on the tip of my tongue died in an instant. I took a deep breath and shoved my hands in my hair, tugging hard. The pain settled me. One more breath, and I was able to meet my brother’s eyes.
“Yeah, Donny. That was shitty, when you started dating Blair. And it hurt. Not because Blair chose you, but because you didn’t even consider me . I’m your brother. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve sacrificed what I wanted so that you could have what you want?”
“You mean Blair?”
“Stop making this about Blair. It’s not about her. It’s about you taking responsibility for yourself. It’s about growing up and being a man. And by the way, I never kissed Blair. She kissed me,” I declared, hoping everyone would hear the truth in my voice. Especially Abigail. But she didn’t look at me when I said it.
“I thought you said this wasn’t about her,” Donny mumbled.
“It’s not. This is about you and me.”
“Actually, it is about Blair. If she hadn’t kissed you, we wouldn’t all be in jail right now,” Tammy spoke up with her snobbish tone.
“So you admit that she kissed me ?” I asked through the bars, rounding on her.
“The two of you kissed,” she retorted, sticking her tongue out.
“And if you hadn’t filmed the whole thing, then maybe millions of people wouldn’t know we’re all a bunch of hooligans!” Abigail snapped back.
“You think millions of people saw my live stream?” Tammy perked up at the prospect.
“Shut up, Tammy,” Donny said.
“You shut up, Donny. You’re the one who dumped Blair on your wedding day. No wonder she went after Rex. She’s probably heartbroken.”
“Maybe all of you should shut up,” Abigail commanded, and both cells went silent. I wanted to reach through the bars and touch her shoulder, tell her I was sorry for putting her through this. All of it.
“Sounds like a good idea.” A new voice came in through the bars. I looked up and recognized that jerk immediately. Travis Thomas, Abigail’s infamous ex-husband. I clenched my jaw, and he stared down at me.
“I heard about what happened. Thought at least one of you might need an attorney,” Travis said, then looked in the women’s cell. “How you doing, Abs?”
Her cheeks turned red, and she hardly looked up at him. “Travis.” Her voice sounded small, but it still rang with hurt.
He’d done that to her. I’d done that to her.
“Well, I could certainly use one right now. I don’t know why they arrested me,” Tammy said, glancing at her manicure.
Travis moved toward the women’s cell. “Sure, honey. And what about you, Abs? Need some help getting bailed out again?”
Abigail’s mouth tightened as she glanced at me before glaring at her ex. “Don’t act like the reason you came down here was to do me a favor.”
He scoffed. “What? Can’t a friend help out another friend?”
I watched the exchange, feeling my limbs fill with blood and the urge to get him away from her, even if they were already separated by metal bars. Abigail glanced my way again. “We’re not friends. And I’ll be damned if I ever accept a favor from you.” She was saying it to him, but she was glaring at me.
“I didn’t kiss her, Abigail,” I said. “I’m not in love with her.”
“Well, you sure as hell aren’t in love with me,” she snapped back. “Otherwise you would’ve cared more about how I felt all day today instead of running around trying to be the fucking hero.”
I sat back against the concrete wall, a pit forming in my stomach. I’d let her down. Just like her brother, and her dad, and her ex. I could pretend that I was the best of the best, that I was some self-sacrificing guy, but I couldn’t even manage to stand up for the woman who had made me believe in love again.
So what kind of guy was I, really?
Maybe I was just like my mom, who cared only about appearances. Just like my dad, who blamed everyone around him for his problems. Just like my brother, who blamed everyone else when things went wrong.
“Well, as fun as this is, I’m on the clock. Enjoy getting out of this one alone, darling,” Travis told Abigail with a sneer.
“She’s not alone, you asshole.” Charlie Washington Reeves, Esquire stood in the entryway with her hand on her hip and Sophie by her side. A wave of relief washed over me. If I couldn’t be the one to get her out of here, at least her best friends could.
An officer entered right behind them and walked toward the cell. “Abigail Stone, you’re being released on bail,” the policewoman said and opened the door.
Tammy stood up. “What about me?”
“What about you?” the officer replied with a raised eyebrow. “No one’s come for you, ma’am. You need to stay put.”
“I’m sure Blair’s on her way.”
“You mean that social media bride? Yeah, she was here earlier to give a statement. But she left a while ago.”
Tammy gaped at the news and sat right back down as Abigail was released. Her friends wrapped their arms around Abigail as if to protect her from the world.
“Are you all right?” Sophie asked quietly.
“Fine. I just want to go home,” Abigail said with her head lowered. Sophie gave Abigail’s back a comforting rub as she put her arm around her to leave.
I stood up and wrapped both hands around the bars. My throat was tight. Abigail was going to leave…and it felt very final.
Abigail was angry, and for most things, her anger blew over quickly. It’s why she booked the vineyard for Blair, even though Blair was awful to her. It’s the reason she’d invited me into her bed—and her heart. She was impulsive, and she forgave quickly.
But I knew that wasn’t what would happen with me. I could see that beyond those thick walls she was trying to rebuild, Abigail was wounded. I’d hurt her.
And she wouldn’t forgive me.
“Abigail, wait.”
She stopped and looked back. The moment hung between us, and I needed to find the right words. I needed to make her understand that I wasn’t worthy of her, but I would try. I did love her. If only she’d let me.
My knuckles went white as I squeezed the bars, and I croaked, “I’m sorry. This is all my fault.”
She watched me for a long moment. Her eyes, brown and guarded, never left mine. A glimmer of hope shone through me as the silence stretched, because Abigail was forgiving and mercurial and amazing. And she was mine. She’d let me make this up to her. Even if it was all my fault.
But then she snorted. “Yeah, it is.” She turned her back and left me to rot.
I listened to her footsteps fade until I couldn’t hear them anymore. Leaning my head against the bars, I fought the tears that threatened to fall. I could fix this. I had to fix this.
But how?
What if this was unfixable?
I’d been too afraid to step up and be honest with Abigail, with Gabe, with myself , and now everything had turned to shit. And from this jail cell, there was nothing I could do to clean it up.
Except one thing. I turned to my childhood best friend, who had been brutally quiet in the corner.
“I didn’t kiss Blair,” I told him, for what felt like the millionth time. “Because I’m in love with Abigail.”
Saying the words out loud was like a weight lifting from my chest. I let out a sigh and lifted my gaze to meet Gabe’s, ready for whatever he had to give me. A punch. A string of insults. A chest-thumping display of protectiveness, because I wasn’t supposed to go anywhere near his sister.
Instead, Gabe just scoffed. “I know, Rex,” he snapped. “I believe you.”
“You do?”
“I’ve seen the way you look at her every time she walks into Sullivan’s for lunch. Even the fact that you happen to be there around the same time almost every weekday. I’m not an idiot. I know you like her. I just didn’t think you were crazy enough to do something about it.”
“You mean because of you?” I asked.
“No, you idiot, because of her. She’s not like you, Rex. She’s impulsive and irresponsible. She’d be too much trouble for you. And in the end, you’d realize that and leave her heartbroken. Just like that piece of shit, over there.” Gabe pointed up to Travis, who was still hanging around near the cells.
“I heard that!” Travis yelled back.
“I meant you to!” Gabe barked.
In his own weird, screwed-up way, Gabe was just looking out for all of us. That’s how he was—protective to his core.
My throat was full of rocks. My head spun. I felt like the best thing in my life had just slipped through my fingers, and I didn’t know what to do about it. I had to fix it. That’s what I did. If Abigail was the one who tore through life like a tornado, the one who ruined everything she touched, I was the one who fixed things and kept people together.
I couldn’t do that now.
Feeling helpless, I looked at Gabe and said, “Maybe she’s not too much trouble for me. Maybe she’s the perfect kind of trouble. Have you ever wondered how she manages to dominate this town’s real estate if she’s so impulsive and irresponsible?”
Gabe swallowed, eyes shifting away from me. “So she can sell houses. It doesn’t make up for everything else.”
“Listen to yourself, Gabe,” I snapped. “Everything that makes Abigail Abigail is the reason she’s good at her job. Because she’s bright and funny and she makes people dream. She walks people through these houses and paints a picture of a life they could have, if only they were able to reach out and grab it. If only they were a little bit more impulsive. A bit more like her.”
Gabe met my gaze, but I didn’t let him speak because I was on a roll. “And maybe you need to back off and let her be, even if that means she has to clean up her own mess sometimes. I get the whole protective brother thing. I’ve been doing it my whole life too. But Abigail and Donny are grown-ups. We need to let them live their lives.”
“What life am I supposed to live now?” Donny lamented.
I gave my brother a long look. “That’s for you to figure out.”
He scowled and stared through the jail cell bars.
I turned back to Gabe. “I should’ve been up front with you and with Abigail. I should’ve been a little braver. A little more like her. I love her, man. I’m in love with her. And until this afternoon, I was pretty sure she loved me too. I’m not going to break her heart.”
Gabe finally relented, the tension in his shoulders melting as he sighed. His head fell backward and hit the concrete wall behind him. Then he pinched his lips and said, “I hear you, buddy, I do. But I think you already broke it.”