30. Reed #3
“Or maybe you’re drunk,” I toss back, and the corner of his mouth twitches, but it doesn’t hide the way his eyes take on that distracted look again.
“You’d drink too if you had my problems, Blue,” he starts, taking another sip of his drink, and I spot Bobby taking possession of the bottle, but unfortunately so does Wilder. “Isn’t that right, Bobs?”
The man in question is already shaking his head. “Nope, I’m staying out of this.” His words are laced with warning, and I can’t help but feel that once again I am missing something.
“Staying out of what?” I ask, looking between them both, and beside him, Caden finally looks up from his hand.
His gaze flicks between me and Wilder once, then he takes a slow sip of his drink. “Careful,” he says slowly, just one word, that’s all, but something about the way he says it makes Wilder tense slightly beside me.
“Why? You’re never careful.” His words are light, almost teasing, except it doesn’t feel like teasing, it feels like taunting.
Bobby tenses completely, slowly placing his cards on the table as he looks between his two friends, but it’s the stillness in Caden that worries me.
“Are we really doing this here?” Caden asks calmly, looking pointedly at me, and for some reason I find myself putting my own cards down too.
Wilder only shrugs. “Doing what?”
“Pretending your hindsight on the situation is useful.”
Whatever they are talking about is lost on me completely, but Wilder’s jaw tightens. “I had the right to know,” he starts, but Caden cuts him off.
“I had to make a choice and I stand by it,” he snaps, losing the tight control he keeps on his temper.
Wilder is already shaking his head, tossing his cards down carelessly, making it clear that the game of pretending nothing is wrong, is over.
“You’ve never been good at admitting when you were wrong.
” I can tell from the tone of his voice that whatever they are talking about is important to him, but I am still completely lost.
Caden finally leans back in his chair, appearing calm, but I know it’s just an illusion. “And you’ve never been good at taking your emotions out of things when you need to.”
"Yeah, well you got what you wanted," Wilder says quietly.
The words make something flicker in Caden's expression, something that tells me he cares a lot more than he is letting on. "Did I?"
The question hangs in the air, and for the first time all evening, neither of them look angry, just tired. Like whatever this is, it has been something they have been dancing around for months.
“Do you ever even feel guilty?” I hear emotion in his voice now, so raw that it causes a visceral reaction inside me.
Caden too looks conflicted, like he wants to spill whatever he is holding inside, but something is stopping him. “It’s not an emotion I’m familiar with.” I can tell he says the words as casually as possible, hoping not to set his cousin off, but it’s no use.
Wilder pushes up now, knocking his stool back as he points his finger at his cousin. “You’re not familiar with any of them, and that’s the fucking problem, Cade. Look what you did! What you took from me! And you don’t even fucking care!”
Caden’s jaw tightens, but all he does is nod his head at Bobby, who instantly lifts his large frame off his stool and moves toward Wilder.
“Oh fuck off, Bobby, you’re as bad as him. You stood there and didn’t fucking stop him I’m sure,” Wilder curses, shoving him back, and I jump up to help him, but Bobby waves me off.
“It’s okay, Reed, I got it,” Bobby tells me, as Wilder stumbles, and the two of them start to make their way down the hallway.
All I can do is stare after them in total confusion about whatever just happened, as the two of them stumble to our room. When I turn back to Caden his jaw is still tight, a dark look in his eyes, but when he meets my stare, he lets some of the tension bleed out.
“You should go with him.” It’s not a suggestion, and I find myself nodding slowly, as Caden begins to clean up all the scattered cards.
I’m still trying to work out how we got here, but I clear my throat and reply, “Thanks for the game, it’s been a while since anyone beat me.
” At that his lips turn up ever so slightly, but he doesn’t offer me more than a nod.
“Goodnight, Caden,” I add, pushing away from the island and going to follow after the other two.
“Reed,” he calls out, making me pause, and it’s the first time he has referred to me directly, and something about that chills me to the bone.
I turn to meet his stare and find him leaning on the island, his fingers white knuckling the edge, and his shoulders slumped as if he has the weight of the world on them.
“Be careful with his heart, it’s more fragile than you think. ”
The words penetrate my chest and take up home there, as I realize two very important things. I care for Wilder Miles more than I should have ever let myself, and I think Caden Miles just realized the same. And for some reason, that scares me more than anything else ever has.