Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Rhett
My gifts for Brynlee sit in my house and garage, ready to be sent to her, but Darla refuses to give me any information about Brynlee. I’m not entirely certain Darla has much to begin with, but she’s still angry with me regardless.
Carter and I only speak about work, and it kills me because I know the problems in his marriage are back. They had problems before she planned to buy the Golden Comb, and I’m worried this will push them over the edge.
The doorbell rings, and I let hope wash over me as I hurry to see if Brynlee decided to come home. It’s only days away from Christmas, and having her back here would be the only present I want for the rest of my life.
“Hey,” I say, surprised to see Everett on my doorstep.
He hasn’t been to my place since he confessed to sleeping with Honor. The night I stupidly told him I was okay with him dating my ex-girlfriend only to be upset with him for the next two years.
“Can I come inside?”
Moving aside, I nod, and he walks in. “Of course. I’ve been meanin’ to call you.”
We head into the living room where many football games have been watched together with Carter. Something we haven’t done in years. He nods to my beer can tower on the coffee table, and I wish I’d have cleaned up.
“I see you’ve been partakin’ in the same after-work activities as I have.”
“Yeah, it’s the only thing that makes it a little less lonely these days,” I say and sit down on the couch as he takes the recliner. “Look, man, I wanted to apologize—”
“No, I should be the one to say I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
He sighs and leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “You were right. I had no right to comment on your life. Not after I ruined our friendship.”
“I told you it was okay to date Honor. I never should have said it was when it wasn’t.”
Staring at the floor between his boots, he shakes his head and sucks his cheeks in.
“I never should have asked. It should’ve never been a thought in my mind.
She dumped you, and I saw how heartbroken you were no matter how much you tried to hide it.
Then I slept with her before talkin’ to you, and I knew better.
Friends don’t date their buddy’s exes. I broke bro code. ”
“I appreciate that, but the truth is, I could’ve said no. Part of me thought that if I didn’t deserve her, my friend did. But it hurt to see because we all knew she was usin’ me. I knew it, but I wanted to believe I could change her mind.”
He rubs his face with both hands and groans, and I bite back a smirk.
He and Carter are identical twins, but they’ve spent most of their lives trying to distinguish themselves as individuals.
Different haircuts. Carter keeps stubble while Everett alternates between clean shaven and burly beard.
Carter went blue collar while Everett is white collar.
It’s never been difficult for people who really know them to tell them apart.
“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” Everett says with a chuckle.
It hits me, and I lean back. I’ve been avoiding public areas since the terrible night Brynlee left. “You and Honor broke up?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?” I can’t imagine her finding anyone better than him. Not to mention the two years they spent together. That has to mean something to her, doesn’t it?
“Are you serious?”
I shake my head, not really sure what he means. “Did she break up with you for not defendin’ her when Brynlee kind of handed her ass to her?”
“I can’t be with someone I never should have been with in the first place. Plus, she’s kind of a ragin’ bitch.”
Well, yeah, that’s not exactly been a secret. “You love her.”
“I don’t know if that’s enough. Not anymore. Besides, I don’t know how much longer I can keep defendin’ her to people because they only see the snotty side of her. She has no real friends.”
“Does she love you?”
“She says she does.”
“Then it’s enough,” I say. “Don’t let her get away because of what other people think. What you think is what matters.”
His leg bounces, and I focus on his knee while I wait for him to respond. He and Carter are exactly alike in this way. If I push, he’ll shut down. I need to wait for him to settle his mind before continuing the conversation.
I can’t get my mind off the fact he at least told her how he feels. Unlike me, the moron sitting in front of a beer can pyramid rather than planning what to do for Christmas with the love of my life.
“I really don’t think love’s enough, Rhett. But I’m not here to talk about my failed relationship with Honor. I want to talk about my failed relationship with you.”
“Here’s where I sit, Everett. Do I think you should have slept with Honor or ever considered datin’ her?
No, I don’t. She hurt me, and she used me.
As my buddy, she should have been off-limits, but I should have told you that when you had the guts to come to me as a man.
That’s on me. I lied and said it was okay when it wasn’t.
We’re both in the wrong, and we both share some of the blame for what happened. ”
“Where do we go from here?”
I look up at his face staring at me, and I shrug. “We can try bein’ friends again.”
“Even after I pissed you off that last night at the bar?”
“You called me on my shit, and you had every right to. That’s what friends do.”
For the first time in a long time, Everett smiles at me. “I could really use my friend back.”
“I could, too. Especially one who can overlook the short stint I had as a total jackass.”
“Yeah, what was up with that?” he asks. “I’ve never seen you act like that, even when the person actually deserved it.”
I laugh and give him a quick rundown of the events that happened.
How I found that stupid wedding countdown and continued the stupidity by not just asking her about it.
How I obsessed over what Kevin looked like, and how my insecurities run deeper than even I know.
It’s the only way I can explain turning into a version of myself I don’t recognize.
“Do you love her?”
“I’ve loved her since the moment she smiled at me rather than sprayin’ me with mace,” I admit.
Leaning back in the chair, he shakes his head at me. “I say this with all the love in the world, but what the hell is wrong with you, man? You had everythin’ you ever wanted with her. At least from where I sit.”
“I did.”
“Unless she’s bad in bed or secretly as bitchy as everyone wants her to be, but it really does look like you lived out your own damned fairy tale.”
How ironic he and Carter have the exact interpretation. I went from a Disney fairy tale to Grimms’ in a span of forty-eight hours. And I’m the wicked villain in the story.
“She’s exactly who you see. And she’s the furthest thing from bad in bed. Trust me. I just… I guess I didn’t think I’d really get to keep her. Every other woman was always on loan to me. Never meant for me.”
Everett glares. “What the hell are you talkin’ about? She was yours, dude.”
“You know as well as I do that I’ve never been the end goal for any woman. I’m always a pit stop. Part of the journey, but never the destination. And part of me didn’t think I deserved her.”
“After the way you acted, you definitely don’t now.”
We both laugh. “I just want her to come back. I’d give anythin’ to get her to come here.”
“Okay, it’s comin’ up on the New Year, and I think this warrants a resolution for you.”
“Yeah?”
“Get out of your damn head!” he shouts. “You’re your own worst enemy, Rhett. You’re a nice guy, probably the nicest you’ll find when you’re in your right mind, but you ruin things because you can’t stop from overthinkin’ everythin’.”
Getting up, I grab two beers from the fridge to take a small breather. It’s the truth, but it’s hard to accept what I’ve been telling myself for weeks now. Walking back, I hand him a can. “You might be onto somethin’.”
“Wanna know what she told that cheese dick? I was smokin’ with Tim outside when they came out.”
Everett recounts how Brynlee told Kevin she doesn’t want a loveless relationship or become a drugged-up housewife dealing with cheating like his mother.
What makes me happy but depressed is when Everett tells me how she told Kevin how great I am in bed.
That I’m everything this rich asshole isn’t, and he can’t give her what she needs because he can’t buy it.
“Was her split lip really an accident?” This has bothered me since that night. Was she coverin’ for him to get him to leave, or was she tellin’ the truth? Is there still some love there that she didn’t want him to get in trouble?
“It could have been. She wobbled and twisted her ankle on the curb tryin’ to take her arm back. He threatened to get her medicated because she was actin’ crazy by wantin’ to stay here with you. He reached for her as she fell, but he also could’ve smacked her and made her fall.”
“She could be coverin’ for him?”
He shrugs. “It’s hard to tell, but I don’t know that she’d do that. If she says it was an accident, I think I’d believe her. Wouldn’t stop me from beatin’ his ass, though.”
It makes me feel a little better to know she’s not protecting an abuser. “Thanks.”
“You really don’t know where she is?”
I shrug and drink the beer. “I’d guess she went back to Chicago. She told me once she missed bein’ invisible. I’ve thought about goin’ there, but I don’t know the first place to look.”
“And part of you worries she went back to the rich asshat.” I nod and avoid him as I focus on my beer tower. “No way. That dude ain’t shit, and she told him as much. Pretty much when she verbally punched him in the nuts.”
That’s my girl. Former girl. “If I tell you somethin’, you have to swear not to tell anyone. Especially Carter and Darla.”
“I swear.”
“I did somethin’ a little crazy after she left,” I say and walk into my bedroom.
“What’d you do?” Everett asks.
Walking back out, I hand him the box. “I bought this.”
He opens it, eyes wide, and looks up at me. “You didn’t.”
“It was like I was under a spell. I didn’t mean to. The store was empty, and it looks like Brynlee. The ring—it was meant for her, man. Next thing I know, I dropped more than I ever thought I would on a ring. And the craziest part? There was no anxiety about it.”
“Anxiety?”
“Remember how I almost backed out of this house when I signed the papers? Same with my truck.”
Handing it back to me, he lets out a long breath. “That’s big. But you guys were only together for a couple of months. Are you sure this is what you should have bought?”
“You mean since the woman I want to make my wife is currently MIA with no way to get in touch with her?”
“You know what I mean.”
“She’s the one, Ev. If she ever comes back and gives me another chance, I’m never lettin’ her go.”
He smiles and leans back. “Damn.”
“You once said you wanted my house. Well, dependin’ on whether I decide to sell it to pay off this ring or not, I’ll let you know,” I joke, trying to shift gears. The air around us feels too heavy.
“I’d buy this in a heartbeat.”
Putting the ring back in the safety of my dresser drawer, I stare at the pink bear on the bed. There’s a reason I’m miserable, and I’m the cause. But Everett doesn’t need to be. He obviously misses Honor, and I walk back out to confront him.
“Get her back,” I say.
“What?”
“Honor. You miss her, and you know where she is. Talk to her and find a way to make it work. Don’t pass up somethin’ like this.”
His eyes don’t meet mine as he stares at the wall.
“I can’t. Not unless she tones it down. Brynlee wasn’t wrong when she said what she did, and I hate how she treats everyone.
She hated how they made her feel because of her past, but then she goes out of her way to hurt others.
She hurt you on purpose for selfish reasons, and it’s bullshit. I’m sick of it.”
“Maybe she’d be willin’ to work on her attitude if she knows you’re willin’ to give her a second chance.”
Shrugging, he just laughs. “I don’t know if anythin’ will get through to her. I want her to change to be a better person, not because she wants me back. It won’t be genuine, and it probably won’t stick otherwise.”
“I’m sorry, Ev.”
“Me, too. For all of it.”
We sit in silence for a few minutes before I turn on the football game. Grabbing us another beer, we both pretend to watch the game. I know we’re thinking about the women who have our hearts rather than the team winning, but it’s nice to have company.
“This is gonna be our life until one of us moves on, isn’t it? Sittin’ in a room and drinkin’ beer together.”
“Less depressin’,” I offer. “But let’s be real. It’ll be you who moves on.”
He slams his fist on the arm of the recliner and whips to face me with anger blazing in his eyes. “Stop it! You gotta stop this whole I’m not good enough bullshit. It’s, well… Frankly, it’s annoyin’.”
Holding my hands up in surrender, I try to wave the white flag. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that Brynlee’s the girl for me. The one I want to spend my life with, and I don’t know if she’s ever comin’ home.”
“Maybe Darla can help,” he offers, calming down.
“Yeah, Darla’s not really talkin’ to me.”
“Heard she’s not happy with anyone right now. So…” he says and leans back in his chair, “want me to bring the beer tomorrow night?”
“Sounds good to me.”