Chapter 26
REID RATHE
“Dustin, wait!” I shout as he heads into the building. He says nothing, and I rip the closing door open and stomp after him. “Dustin!”
He whips around to face me. Face contorted in rage, he advances and punches me in the jaw so quickly that I didn’t see it coming. “I said to leave her alone. I told you! And you didn’t listen!”
I put up my hands, my jaw aching. “We were going to tell you—”
“When?” he shouts, his fists clenched at his sides. “Because I know my sister. She doesn’t sleep around, Reid. This has been going on for a while, hasn’t it?”
I look down at my feet and cross my arms over my chest. “Yes.”
“That’s what I thought,” he growls. “Fuck you.”
My gaze lifts to his with a frown. “Why is it so bad that I’m dating your sister?”
“Because!” He throws up his hands. “When—not if—you break up, I’ll be forced to be in the middle. I’ll have to choose: my best friend or my sister.”
“We aren’t going to break up.”
He laughs without humor. “That’s what everyone thinks.”
“We love each other, man.”
I was hoping that that statement would calm him, get him to see reason, but it just fuels his anger. His cheeks stain red. “I can’t believe you. I thought we were friends, Reid. I thought I could trust you. And then you go behind my back.”
He turns and starts to head up the stairs. “Dustin,” I call after him.
He waves me off. “Leave, Reid. Fuck off.”
And then he disappears up the next flight of steps, leaving me there reeling. What the fuck just happened? Did I lose my best friend?
I tug my hair, curse loudly, and kick the bottom step. My foot throbs as I turn around and leave the building, finding Avery and Ivy outside. How the hell did this go from the best night of my life to one of the shittiest?
Ivy has Avery in her arms as Avery sobs on her shoulder. I head toward them, fuming and feeling defeated at the same time.
Glancing up at me, Ivy asks, “How bad is it?”
“Bad,” I say, looking straight at Avery. She lifts her head to return the gaze.
“Crap,” Ivy breathes, letting go of Avery.
“What do we do?” Avery asks.
I shake my head and pull at the back of my neck. “I don’t know.”
Sighing, Ivy points to my car. “Take her home, Reid. I’ll see if I can talk some sense into Dustin.”
I nod, wish her luck, and take Avery to the car. We say nothing on the entire ride across the campus. Her sniffles nearly kill me, but I give her the silence she needs to process what just happened. Hell, I’m still processing it.
When we pull up to our apartment building, I help her out of the car and guide her inside. We take the stairs slowly and reach the hallway that separates my apartment from hers. “Avery,” I say, pulling her in close and tipping her chin so her eyes meet mine.
“I haven’t seen him that mad since…oh god, he’s going to hate me forever.”
“You don’t know that,” I whisper.
“I do.” The vulnerable look in her eyes is nearly my undoing. “I just lost my brother.”
“Hey-hey-hey,” I coo. “He’ll come around.”
She shakes her head and I drop my hand to her waist. “You may be his best friend, but you don’t know him like I do. He doesn’t change his mind often, especially when it’s something he’s passionate about.”
“We’ll figure this out,” I try to console.
She shakes her head again and steps out of my arms. “We can’t do this.”
I frown at her. “Do what?”
Waving a hand between us, she says, “This.”
“As in us?”
Sobbing once, she nods. “I can’t lose my brother, and you can’t lose your best friend. We have to end this.”
My heart cracks in my chest. “Don’t say that. Please, don’t say that.”
She bites her bottom lip and then angrily wipes at her tears. “It’s our only option.”
“But we love each other. You said so. You’re just going to walk away from that?”
“I love my brother too! He’s my brother, Reid. My brother!”
If someone cut me open and stole my heart, it would be less painful. I grip at my chest and squeeze, wanting to rip it out myself. “Please, don’t, Avery. Don’t say it.”
She looks away from me, her jaw set. “I’m breaking up with you. This is where we end.”
Tears prick my eyes, and I swear to God, my life just ended. The chase, the moments we shared, flash before my eyes until it reaches this one moment where she’s walking away from me. From us.
“That’s it? We’re just done, like that?” I snap my fingers in emphasis.
“Yes,” she says, still not looking at me. Her voice is toneless like she’s detached from her body. “I’m sorry.”
A tear falls down my cheek, and I want more than anything to go to her and try to get her to change her mind, but I know I won’t. Dustin is family, and their family is tight. They mean the world to each other. And me? I’m on the outside.
Finally, she looks back at me. “Goodbye, Reid.”
She doesn’t wait for me to say anything before she’s turning around and entering her apartment, shutting the door on me and what we shared. And just like that, I lost my girl and might have lost my best friend, all in one night.