Chapter 53
Chapter Fifty-Three
WEST
The second I walked twenty steps from Blue’s house, I regretted it.
From the outside, I probably looked like a toddler throwing a tantrum the way I was storming off, slamming doors, daring anyone to follow me.
But inside? It felt like I’d just torn myself away from the girl that wanted me to stay.
The girl who kept begging me to ignore the fire sirens, the girl who convinced a dumb sixteen year old that sex was more important than family.
Blue wasn’t Brittany. I knew that. My issues with Blue’s sister weren’t even her sister’s fault.
She was just tethered to a moment I regretted more than any other.
But walking away had felt… cathartic. Like bleeding poison out of a wound.
For the first time in years, maybe I’d been healing something I thought would always stay broken.
I just hated that Blue got hurt in the process. That I couldn’t explain any of it.
Now, here I was, sitting at the bar with my brothers flanking me, bourbon burning my throat while they told me they’d known the whole time. Like my elaborate lie hadn’t even fooled them for five minutes.
“I wasn’t fooling myself,” I snapped at Easton.
Miles snorted. “Well, based on this mood swing? Pretty sure you didn’t know what the hell you were doing.”
I glared at him, words slurring just enough to sound pathetic. “How do you even know it was a ploy? Because I made sure it wasn’t. I made sure we were married. So when I told you we were, it wasn’t a lie.”
Easton leaned in, his voice softer. “We don’t think it was a lie, West. Not all of it. Grams and Gramps knew on the plane, but none of us said anything because we didn’t want to mess with the outcome.”
I blinked at them. It felt like they were speaking in riddles. Like Gramps had written this little limerick right into his little book of “How to Train Your Grandson.”
“Wait,” I pulled back from taking another sip of bourbon. “Gramps told y’all to do this?”
Easton shook his head. “All Gramps said was to leave you alone until you were ready.”
“I don’t understand how they knew Blue and I were faking it.”
Miles chuckled. “Oh, we never said we thought it was fake. Just that we knew there was more going on than what you were admitting.”
“That’s all it was,” I muttered, dragging a hand down my face. “Just faking the whole thing.”
“No,” Easton said firmly, shaking his head. “That wasn’t fake. Maybe it started off fake, but I dare you to look me in the eye and tell me none of it was real.”
I didn’t even try. Because we all knew I couldn’t. Every secret Blue and I shared, every laugh, every time I kissed her like she was air. None of that had been pretend. That was the most real I’d ever been.
The problem was, I’d ended it anyway.
Miles nudged me, dragging me out of my thoughts. “So. What happened? And how do we fix it?”
“What do you mean, fix it?” I barked.
“You’ve been there for us,” Easton said. “Now it’s our turn. It’s part of the format.”
“The format?” I arched a brow.
“Yeah,” Easton said, dead serious. “We fall for a girl. Something happens. We think we can’t have her. We sulk. Some of us swear off fishing—” he shot Miles a look, “—but then our brother swoops in and smacks sense into us. It's the classic Brooks routine.”
I let out a half-smirk despite myself. Leave it to Easton to reduce my breakdown into a damn family formula.
But then he ruined it with, “Oh, wait, does this have something to do with Aiden Baker? The guy Blue hooks up with sometimes?” He turned to Miles. “Didn’t you graduate with him? Quarterback or something?”
I stared. “What the fuck are you even talking about? I’m not worried about that guy. I’m pretty sure I made it clear to him that Blue was mine.”
Miles lifted his glass. “Yeah, that sounds like you. All right, so if it’s not Aiden, what’s the problem?”
I slammed my fist on the bar. “I’m the problem.”
They both went still.
“I found out that I hooked up with Blue’s older sister twenty years ago,” I bit out.
“And I’ve hated her ever since. Because that night, while our parents were dying, she was begging me to stay with her.
Begging me not to leave her while my whole fucking world was burning.
And now I’m scared that every time I look at Blue, I’ll see her sister. Every time.”
The words came out like shards of glass, tearing me apart on the way out. My voice rose, cracking, almost a yell, but not at them. At me. Always at me.
Easton and Miles just stared. They didn’t know about my nightmares, or about how twisted I’d become inside.
“It’s complicated,” I muttered, sagging forward, pressing my forehead to the bar. “Now maybe you see why.”
Miles shook his head slowly. “No. That’s not how this works. Complicated doesn’t get to be the excuse. You’re in what I like to call the stupid phase. You’re brilliant, West. You build empires for fun. But you fall for a girl, and suddenly you’re stupid. And that’s fine, it happens.”
“Point is," Easton interjected, “that being stupid doesn’t mean you give up. Complicated doesn’t mean you quit. You figure out how to fix it.”
“There’s another complication,” I said finally, finishing the last of my glass and letting my head fall into my arms.
Easton’s hand landed heavy on my shoulder. “Nothing we can’t fix. Come on, I’ll drive you back to Blue’s.”
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed on the bar, screen lighting up.
Easton pointed. “See? That’s her right now. Blue.”
I groaned, shaking my head. “It’s not.”
I flipped the phone over without even having to look. The number glared up at all of us.
North Dakota.
“It’s her sister. She’s been calling for weeks. Probably wants back pay for child support I never gave her.”
The words hung there, heavier than the bourbon.
And for the first time all night, both of my brothers looked scared.