Push

23. He Confronted the Friend

He Confronted the Friend

Toby

Ian was a dead man walking.

Even after the ten-minute drive to his place at Mosman, the betrayal howled inside me, raw and raging. My hand balled in a knot. I thumped it into my chest to dull the pain. It didn’t.

Ian was my best friend. He was supposed to raise me up and help me do the right thing, not set me up to fail. We’d known each other since we were kids. He was the best man at my wedding. My son’s godfather.

What the hell was he playing at?

I killed the car engine, closed my eyes, and leaned my head back against the seat.

I needed to think. No distractions. Even if Ian’s building was across the road, I couldn’t just barge in, fists swinging.

Gwen and Noah topped my list of priorities.

If I made the wrong move, I’d need more than a team of cowboy lawyers to fix the damage I wanted to do to Ian’s face. I needed a plan.

My phone vibrated in the center console. I glanced down and threw my head back against the seat when I saw Gwen’s name.

This was a terrible time to talk. A hellstorm of anger roared in my mind. But how many times had I let her calls slip through unanswered before? Too many. I hit the green button.

“Toby?” Worry clouded Gwen’s voice. “Are you okay?”

No. God, no. “I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? Where are you?”

“Ian’s place.”

She sucked in a breath. “Is he…?”

“Not dead yet.”

Her nervous laugh took the edge off the ache gnawing in my chest. It’d been a long time since I’d heard Gwen laugh.

“Why don’t you come back?” she asked. “I’ve been thinking… I can blow everything else off today… We should talk…”

The silence yawned on.

I could imagine Gwen on the other end of the call, wringing her hands, probably already stuck in her thoughts. I wasn’t keeping her waiting to punish her. I was busy flipping through my priorities and trying to figure out what to do next.

Eventually, I agreed with her. “I want us to talk.”

“Will you come home?”

“Not now.”

“Toby…” The tremor in her voice ate me up inside. “I’m worried about you.”

I closed my eyes and slumped lower in the seat. I didn’t want Gwen to worry, but I wasn’t leaving. Not yet. “Can we do something later?” Later, I’d be better. “As a family? A trip to the park or a walk with the stroller or something? All three of us.”

“Toby… I…”

“You said it yourself. We need to talk. Properly talk. Being out of the house might help us. Neutral turf and all that. And I…” I paused, unsure if I should admit the truth. “Gwen, I need a reason not to do some serious damage to Ian.” And I wasn’t joking.

Her hesitance was clear when she said, “Noah likes the park.”

“He does. You should’ve seen him in the sandpit this morning. The little dude might not be crawling yet, but he had an absolute blast digging and throwing sand everywhere.” A smile nudged the scowl off my face for a second. “It would mean a lot to me if we could meet up later.”

I mindlessly watched people walking down the street, waiting for Gwen to answer. Eventually, she softly said, “We could meet at the park at two.”

“Thanks. This means so much. I’ll see you at two.”

I was pulling the phone away from my ear when Gwen’s panicked voice called for me to wait.

“Toby, promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

“Oh, please. Remember who you’re talking to.” This time, I was joking. “I’m always stupid.”

She huffed. “I hate when you say that about yourself. You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for. Just… Think things through, okay? But if you do wind up in the clink…”

“Yeah, it’s all good. I know who to call.” I grinned. “I’ve heard Liam Crawford has a good lawyer these days.”

Gwen’s laugh was the last thing I heard before ending the call. I got out of the car, slammed the door shut, and took a breath as my gaze focused on the upmarket apartment block stretching down the street.

Don’t do anything stupid .

I strode to the foyer and punched the button for the intercom. Ian would be home. His day didn’t start until at least nine o’clock—including days when his patients were scheduled for appointments starting at eight.

The speaker crackled. Ian sounded slow and groggy when he answered, “Yeah?”

“Mate. You got a minute to talk?” Talk. Murder. There was a bit of a gray area.

“For you, always.” He yawned. “Come on up.”

A thousand thoughts rattled around in my empty head as I stepped into the foyer, and just like last time, I have no idea how I ended up outside Ian’s front door. I raised my hand to knock, but my knuckles hovered above the glossy black paint.

What should I do? I sighed. Other than violence, I was out of ideas. Gwen was the master at this stuff. What would she do? Castrate Ian with clever words and post the proof online, probably. She sure as hell wouldn’t walk into his apartment and punch his lights out.

I unclenched my fist and flexed my fingers. Okay. No hitting. The end goal was getting all our shit out in the open, avoiding jail, and seeing my beautiful wife and kid in a few hours’ time. Ian would sulk if I messed up his pretty face, anyway.

My brain threw a new option at me.

I grabbed my phone out of my pocket, messed around a bit trying to find the right buttons, but eventually, I found what I was looking for. I hit record. Evidence . Gwen would be proud of me thinking ahead. I’d save every word coming out of that traitor’s mouth…just in case.

I knocked on the door.

“It’s unlocked!”

Wearing only gray sweats, Ian shuffled past me when I walked into the kitchen. He gave me a half-assed wave before his hand raked through rumpled bed hair.

“You want a coffee?” he asked.

I almost laughed. The last time he’d given me a coffee and one of his magic pills, I’d been out cold for twelve hours.

I shook my head, and when Ian turned to fuss with the machine, I slipped my phone face down on the kitchen counter. Then I stood there, glaring at his back, my anger simmering just below boiling point. My fingers twitched. Go ahead and give me an excuse …

Ian glanced over his shoulder. “Everything okay, man?” His eyebrows furrowed when I didn’t reply. “Tobes? You okay?”

“No.”

“Did something happen with Gwen?”

My chest heaved under the strain of hearing her name on his lips. I clenched my jaw. My hand, too. It didn’t help. Anger surged in my veins.

“Tob—”

My fist cracked hard against his jaw, and he slammed into the marble counter with a grunt.

His head snapped up. “What the fuck ?” His voice hitched with panic, but he didn’t swing his arm to hit me back. “Fuck!” He touched a shaky palm to the red patch already blooming on his jaw. “Fuck, Toby! What in the actual fuck?”

“Did something happen with Gwen?” My laugh was cold as I stepped close enough to tower over him. “Like how you lied and told her I was out screwing around all night even though I was here? Which of your magic fucking pills did you give me?”

The color bled from Ian’s face until it was as white as his countertop. “A…benzo…” He edged away from me. “To help.”

“Oh, awesome. Best fucking help ever, mate . That was just what I needed after my wife and son were in a car accident. You didn’t even tell me!”

“Toby—I—you don’t understand.” His eyes darted for an escape route. He wouldn’t find one. I was too fast.

“You’re right. I don’t understand how the person who’s called himself my best friend for my whole life would set me up like this. So, you better start talking, because my fist is itching to know what the rest of your face feels like.”

“I—It’s just—”

My palm landed flat on his chest. “Quit stalling.” I shoved him hard against the kitchen cabinets. “Start talking.”

“Toby, it’s…” Ian’s gaze dropped to his feet. He braced his hands on his hips and drew in a couple of deep breaths. “It’s Gwen.”

I glared down at him with blade-sharp eyes. “What about her?”

“I’m…” The bastard didn’t even have the balls to look at me. “I’m in love with her.”

My thoughts scrambled in a mess of confused memories that made no sense. “No, that’s not…” I shook my head. “It’s not…”

“Not possible?” Ian’s laugh was strained. “I wish it wasn’t. And I wish I didn’t do the stupid shit I did, but you and her together… Man, it’s killed me.”

“Since when ?”

“Since forever. Since high school. I saw her first, remember?”

“Gwen’s a person. You don’t call dibs, and she’s yours. She’s not a fucking car or something!”

“No, she’s smart and courageous and so fucking beautiful—”

“Stop.”

“And, of course, she chose you. Toby Sullivan . The captain of the rugby team with the golden smile and the important family name backing him, right? I was just… Ian… Token poor kid. How could I possibly compete with you?”

“It was never a competition between us.”

“Bullshit. You could have had anyone else. You knew I liked Gwen. I was the first person to talk to her when she started at our school. Are you seriously going to stand there and pretend you have any idea how she felt wearing second-hand uniforms? Or how much it hurt when the catty bitches teased her because she read books and couldn’t afford to get her nails done?

No…” He looked me up and down and smirked. “I guess you wouldn’t, would you?”

“I’m not like that.”

“Of course you fucking are.”

I laughed in complete disbelief. “This isn’t real. Why are you saying this? You love her? You were my best fucking man when I married her!”

“Watching you marry Gwen was one of the worst moments of my life. You have no fucking idea how hard that day was for me.”

“Fuck off. You were so drunk I doubt you remember a single second of my wedding.”

“Why do you think that was? Hey? We grew up together. You’re my friend—Jesus—more than that, Tobes. Family , even. I’ve tried to push my feelings aside and focus on what’s best for you…and for her…but…”

“But you were prepared to tear my life apart? Tear my whole fucking family apart?”

“I’m not proud of what I did. For a while, I thought I could block her out.

All those other women, you know? I thought…

Fuck, half the time, I wasn’t thinking… Just…

I let it eat away at me. When you started up with Kayleigh, I thought…

Well, you were so interested in her I thought I’d finally have my chance to make it right with Gwen. ”

“I was never interested in Kayleigh!”

“Man, come on. You wasted every spare second with Kay. Coffee. Lunches. Helping her carry shit from her car. Gwen was struggling, and you ignored her. Did you ever bother sending her a fucking message? No. I did. Did you know that? If Gwen was my girl, I’d treat her like a damn queen.”

“How? With one of your magic fucking sleeping pills? By lying to her?”

“I’m not proud of how I’ve acted, but Gwen needed to know the truth.”

“Everything you told her was a lie!”

“That’s just it. It wasn’t.” Ian lifted his gaze to challenge me. “And you know it.”

I shook my head.

“Yeah, man,” Ian said. “You know it. You fucked around on her—”

“One kiss!”

“Do you hear yourself right now? You think that makes what you did okay?” Ian barked a laugh. “You wanted Kay’s attention on you. You liked it. You were ready to cast aside an amazing woman…for…who? Some bimbo who posts thirst traps of her tits and laughs at your jokes? You don’t deserve Gwen.”

My glare on Ian never wavered, but the truth hit me harder in the chest than his fist ever could. He was right. But not one word changed what he’d done or the fact I’d never be able to trust him again.

“You and me,” I said. “We’re no longer friends.”

“Toby, what the fuck? This is crazy—”

“Nah, mate. This is the sanest decision I’ve ever made.

I choose Gwen. Maybe she won’t choose me, and maybe I don’t deserve her, but I won’t let her down again.

You talk about family, but you don’t understand the meaning of the word.

I do. And I’m telling you right now, my family comes first, and the time has come for us to focus on only keeping good people in our lives.

You’ve proven to me I can’t trust you. You’re not my friend. You’re nothing.”

I turned to leave, but Ian’s hand seized my shoulder. With a hard pull, he tried to yank me back. “Toby, don’t be stupid—”

I jerked my shoulder away from his hand and grabbed my phone off the counter. “Don’t call me stupid!”

“Yeah, man… Yeah…” Ian raised his palms. “Come on, we can talk and figure it out. Hit me a hundred times if you want… But just… Don’t walk out of here angry, okay? We’ve been friends our whole lives. That’s worth something.”

“Yeah, I thought so, too.”

And I intended those to be the last words I ever spoke to him.